Lowest Recommended Processor Generation?

[Brady AKA MrHoot2000]

I am on Ebay right now looking for a cheap new laptop as my 2015 Surface Book finally kicked the bucket. I am eyeing both a Surface Laptop 3, an XPS 13 2-in-1 and an XPS 15. The XPS 15 has a i7-9750H, the XPS 13 2-in-1 has an i7-1165G7, and the Surface Laptop has a i7-1065G7. All have 16Gb of ram and a 512Gb SSD. The 2-in-1 is a bit more expensive on average. I mostly just use a web browser, and I sometimes mess around with FL Studio, but not much. What will be the best option for me?

 

Edit - I meant to say the 9th gen processor for the XPS 15. Sorry!

[DonGirses]

Personally I would choose based on features and ergonomics that matter to you. It's a wash in terms of performance between the XPS 13 and the Surface. If we're talking about new laptops though, how and why is there a Kaby Lake model on there? I would avoid that one if the price is close to the other two.

 

EDIT: Did you mean to say i7-8750H? Because I was not able to find a "7750H" anywhere. In that case, the XPS 15 will have more raw power but lower efficiency / fewer features as well.

[Gokul_P]

Just now, MrHoot2000 said:

 I mostly just use a web browser, 

any laptop from last 4-5 years will be able to handle basic webbrowsing. if you are a main windows user i only check the cpu generation for win11 support or just abandon windows and get into linux you will be fine there with anything even 4 or 5 the gen even before that 

[Needfuldoer]

My main laptop has just a Kaby Lake i7, and it's fine.

 

Honestly, for basic web browsing and media playback you probably wouldn't notice if the machine had a Haswell or even Ivy Bridge CPU, as long as it has a fast SSD. (Haswell can boot from NVMe without help, I think Sandy/Ivy Bridge can't without help.)

[venomtail]

I'd recommend looking at Ryzen alternatives at that generation. Around 2020 AMD's battery efficiency was unmatched compared to Intel. Have a look at the Acer Swift 3's just like I did. Sure the APU is no longer capable of the game development needs that I have now but for browser based stuff, it'll be plenty powerful while sipping battery.

[YoungBlade]

19 minutes ago, Needfuldoer said:

Honestly, for basic web browsing and media playback you probably wouldn't notice if the machine had a Haswell or even Ivy Bridge CPU, as long as it has a fast SSD. (Haswell can boot from NVMe without help, I think Sandy/Ivy Bridge can't without help.)

Can confirm. My personal laptop has an i5 3320M (2c/4t) and, with an SSD, it runs just fine for most things. Media playback above 1080p60 or 1440p30 does struggle, though it can be fine. 4K 60fps is a no-go - absolute stutterfest.

[Brady AKA MrHoot2000]

Okay, I am going with the XPS 13 2-in-1. There is a model with 32GB of ram and a 1TB SSD. Wish me luck!