Laptop stolen - Need advice on replacement please

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FlashSA

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I had a Dell Inspiron 5020 i5 Laptop with 3 year on site warranty which was 2 years old and taken during a burglary at my house last week.

Insurance will be paying out shortly, so am starting to look for a good deal replacement wise. The laptop sits switched off most days at home and we only use it for a bit of Word/Excel office stuff, saving photo's from mobile devices, browsing the web and occasional DVD ripping / MP3 Ripping / CD/DVD Writing. For these tasks the Dell never even blinked.

My question is, do I need to spend the tom and get another i5, or will I not notice any performance drop-off if I purchase an i3 this time around? How does an i3 with 4GB RAM perform for all of the above tasks? I am just nervous to safe some money and go i3 and then end up being disappointed.....
 
Not an Apple fan... hence android tablet and smartphone in my house :)
 
I would go for the best you can afford, they tend to last longer.

Depends on what you want to spend.

The ACER TMP 453 is quite a nice model that has come out. Cost price is around R8800 or so, retail would probably charge you 10-12k. Has a 3 year onsite warranty.
 
If you're worried about being disappointed, why not just find an i5 equivalent from Dell again? How much is your insurance paying you out?
 
For your use, there won't be any discernable difference between an i3 and i5 processor. Dell still sells the N5050, so there's that option. There's also the new N3520, which is quite nice. However, if you're only occasionally ripping and writing to a disc, why don't you look at an Ultrabook and get yourself an external writer? They're pretty cheap these days.

Dell Inspiron 13z 13.3" @ R6131
Lenovo Ideapad S400 14" @ R6124

The S400 is very handsome and will be a little faster, but the 13z comes with the three-year NBD warranty.
 
Last edited:
NAG - Wesley said:
For your use, there won't be any discernable difference between an i3 and i5 processor. Dell still sells the N5050, so there's that option. There's also the new N3520, which is quite nice. However, if you're only occasionally ripping and writing to a disc, why don't you look at an Ultrabook and get yourself an external writer? They're pretty cheap these days.

Dell Inspiron 13z 13.3" @ R6131
Lenovo Ideapad S400 14" @ R6124

The S400 is very handsome and will be a little faster, but the 13z comes with the three-year NBD warranty.
Click to expand...

That 13z is very appealing and if I think back, it's been over a year since I actually put a dvd/cd into the tray in my last laptop so I won't miss the optical drive and can always buy an external..... memory card reader is missing though which is a bit sucky......

I am trying to stay under 5grand for the replacement though, but a device like this could push me over this figure......
 
Some more info:

Before the break-in, I had a Blackberry Torch (piece of k@k), Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Dell Inspiron as listed in the OP. Thieves took both the tablet and the laptop so all I have left is the rubbish Blackberry.

I am due for a phone upgrade and will be going for a Galaxy S4 as soon as they land here. So, now do I get a 15.6inch i3 laptop and another tablet, or I am thinking the S4 will take care of my evening couch surfing (used the tablet for couch surfing and watching series) so I should get an ultrabook and not replace the tablet (just settle outstanding amount with FNB). A 15.6 laptop is too bulky to watch movies in the lying down position but I reckon an ultrabook will be much better.

Thoughts?
 
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