[DARKlead]

Hey guys,

 

Hope all is well. First off, purchasing will be in Canada, or America. Not really sure which one. We're Canadian, however, we live right next to the border. It's occasionally cheaper just to order a bunch in America, then pick it up.

Anyways, looking for a new laptop for my mum. Her current one is about 6 years old. It gets extremely hot, even if it's just on. Battery is shot to nothing. It's basically a desktop. You always need to be beside a power outlet.

 

She's looking for a new laptop that'll stay cool, but still quick. Powerful enough to run Candy Crush, and large excel/PPT/DOC files/presentations. It also needs to support gigabit wifi (up to 300mbps). We've been browsing local shops, and found a nice deal. $570CAD for an i5-6200U, 8GB DDR4, 1TB HDD @ 7200RPM, but lacking a full HD monitor.

I'm subscribed to amazon emails regarding new technology and deals. I came across this one: https://www.amazon.c...=A1B4CYN9CRUXLC

As you can guess, I'm a little but suspicious of a deal that good. I'm also unsure as to why a 6th gen processor (Skylake) would be using DDR3 RAM, given it supports DDR4. I've never heard of Az-Store before, they have no reviews and (just) launched.

 

Too good to be true? Or just an epic deal? She's hoping to spend around $500CAD, but if it makes a massive difference, can go up to ~750CAD...

 

Due to a few things, we have a "NAS" on our home network. 1TB drive. It's not really a NAS though. It's my custom rig sharing space with a million user accounts on my PC, using windows to allow "access" to people with these names. Jerry-rigged NAS haha. 

We're looking for this system to last us a solid 6 years again, potentially more.

 

FYI: This is an ongoing process, and has been for a solid month. She may wait until the black Friday to buy something.

So, suggestions, feedback?

Any input is helpful. Don't be afraid to talk techy with me. 

Edit: I have a fractured wrist. So excuse my terrible typing and grammar.

Edit 2: Sold out now. Suggestions on other wicked deals, or wait?

Edited by DARKlead, 21 October 2016 - 12:47 PM.

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   DARKlead,

 

Not sure how much the notebook was before it sold out but wouldn`t expect it to be overly expensive, the SSD sounds nice but will soon fill up and the main battery is fitted internally meaning that you would need the services of a tech or tech store should you ever need to replace a bad battery, both negatives.

 

The budget will restrict you to a dual core Intel processor but will get you a quad core AMD spec notebook Ideapad 310 80ST0005US  US and Ideapad 310 80ST0005US Can equivalent here

 

As you can guess, I'm a little but suspicious of a deal that good. I'm also unsure as to why a 6th gen processor (Skylake) would be using DDR3 RAM, given it supports DDR4.

 

 

JAFYI: The i5-6200U Skylake spec CPU that is in the notebook at your link is compatible with DDR3L 1600MHz, LPDDR3 1866MHz and DDR4 2133MHz, the DDR3 RAM has been used to save a few $s.

[phillpower2]

   DARKlead,

 

Not sure how much the notebook was before it sold out but wouldn`t expect it to be overly expensive, the SSD sounds nice but will soon fill up and the main battery is fitted internally meaning that you would need the services of a tech or tech store should you ever need to replace a bad battery, both negatives.

 

The budget will restrict you to a dual core Intel processor but will get you a quad core AMD spec notebook Ideapad 310 80ST0005US  US and Ideapad 310 80ST0005US Can equivalent here

 

As you can guess, I'm a little but suspicious of a deal that good. I'm also unsure as to why a 6th gen processor (Skylake) would be using DDR3 RAM, given it supports DDR4.

 

 

JAFYI: The i5-6200U Skylake spec CPU that is in the notebook at your link is compatible with DDR3L 1600MHz, LPDDR3 1866MHz and DDR4 2133MHz, the DDR3 RAM has been used to save a few $s.

[DARKlead]

Hi phil, thanks for the response.

 

The laptop was ~800CAD with 41% savings. (~$475CAD after savings, before tax. So about 545CAD with tax). I'm not overly worried about storage because of my system, that everyone has access to. (We also have a Teamviewer group established if you're off our network).

 

Although the system allocates 1TB to the network, an additional 2TB storage could be allocated before we start to run into issues....

A few questions though. (Hope you don't mind!).

 

- Given the only games that will be played are online FB games, is the R5 needed? Just seems to be a bit overkill. Nothing else would be played. She doesn't use Steam or anything, her current graphics, the iGPU from intel seems to do just fine. (Looks like the R5 is a separate card, please correct if I'm mistaken)

 

- Will she notice a difference with the RAM speeds? 

 

- Intel vs. AMD, 2v4 cores, much of a difference? I thought Intel was better with cores (1v1).

 

- Lastly, would we be better off waiting until Black Friday to pick something up?

 

[SpywareDr]

Personally, I'd be waiting for Black Friday deals.

[phillpower2]

Hello DARKlead,

 

Update info acknowledged and understand why the SSD made sense 

 

The laptop was ~800CAD with 41% savings. (~$475CAD after savings, before tax. So about 545CAD with tax)

 

 

The original 800CDN seems steep but 545CDN not so bad, the end user not being able to replace the battery themselves is really what would put me off, fwiw, my suggestion was the best bang per buck pre Black Friday deal that I could find, couldn`t get anywhere near the spec of the ASUS F556UA-AS54 for the same price going the Intel route.

 

To your questions;

 

The R5 is integrated into the processor, specs here

 

For the intended use there would be no benefit of having RAM any faster than 1600MHz.

 

Intel v AMD is a long debated episode, years back Intel were deemed to be better but not any more and it really is a matter of personal preference, this as long as the processor that is decided on is up to the task, for example, a dual core CPU would not be any good for professional video rendering whereas an adequately powerful quad core CPU would be (8 core would be better), the more cores the more tasks that you can have going on at the same time etc. 

 

If your mum can nurse the present notebook along until Black Friday then I would suggest waiting, I never like paying any more than I have to and would not suggest any one else did either if they can avoid it.