PapaBless

Hey everybody, Got a big check from a summer job today. My old macbook air is getting pretty busted but is going well. I'm looking to upgrade my laptop to something more powerful, but not ultra gamer oriented. I'm looking currently at a variety of thin and light laptops like the XPS 13 2in1, New HP Spectre, Thinkpad X1, and the Macbook pro 13 and the Air 13 (bring the hate). My main use cases are just a bazillion chrome tabs, Netflix streaming, and the occasional lightroom/photoshop, and minecraft. I have the budget to get the Macbook Pro, but I'm struggling to accept the fact that the air will probably give me more than enough room to work with. Maybe its fear for buyers remorse but I can't help but feel I'd rather go overkill than spend appropriately, maybe I just haven't had enough experience as an adult yet. If I were to do under budget I'd spend the rest on a nice pair of headphones or some clothes. I've never used a windows laptop as a daily driver, and part of me is a little scared with the bloatware, new OS, crashes, longevity, and lack of support horror stories if I switched. Heck, I didn't even know laptop drivers were a thing until a year ago. I still don't know how you're supposed to go through that. I know I get more bang for the buck yadayada by leaving mac and the apple keyboard shenanigans are pushing me away, but I seriously need a reality check. This is the last time I can spend my money like this. I want to start saving for Grad school so this new laptop has to last me at least 4 years. Am I blowing Windows 10 out of proportion? Do I need the macbook pro? Which one should I get anyways? Thanks.

CSGO on low or Minecraft or games like DOTA and LoL should be fine for now but I wouldn't push it.

Go for the i5. The numbers sure put the FX way ahead but the architecture of the i5 is much better and more efficient. Plus you have more room for overclocking if you want to and the spectrum for upgrades is definitely higher. But that's just my POV Good luck

Thank you all so much for the great responses! This is my first post and I really think that this is a great community Papa Bless up it's much appreciated!!

Hello all, So I was wondering, how is it possible that the i3 is debated as the best budget gaming pc CPU at around $117 USD when just around the corner there is the AMD FX 8350 for $30 extra. The FX is quad core with 4.0 ghz vs the i3 which is dual core and clocks at 3.7 so how the heck is intel better???? Thanks so much!