Sandy Bridge vs Ivy Bridge ultrabook?

[EcoBoost]

So I'm thinking of getting a used laptop, since it'd be useful for school, two of my friends are willing to sell me their laptop, but I don't know which one is better. Both are asking the same price, have 8GB of RAM, 1366x768 displays, and similar features, weight, battery life, etc. The only difference is the CPU generation and the storage.

 

One is an HP Folio i3 with a Sandy Bridge i5 and a 120GB Intel 520 SSD. The other is a Samsung ATIV Book 5 with an Ivy Bridge i5 and a 500GB Hybrid SSHD. 

 

Which do you guys think is a better trade off? Ivy Bridge CPU or a legit SSD instead of an SSHD? 120GB is more then enough for me since I don't store much on my laptop, so that's something to consider. 

 

Thanks!

[79wjd]

What are the specs of the cpus? and what are you going to be using it for? 

 

I'd go Sandy+ssd unless you needed the extra gpu power. 

 

if you need to do anything graphically demanding. Ivy iGPUs are better than Sandy iGPUs -- but the regular cpu performance is very similar. 

[Hyrikan]

The SSD is obviously a big upgrade over an SSHD (although I find that an SSHD does improve speed quite a bit overall) BUT I would !never! go with a Sandy Bridge over Ivy Bridge when it comes to notebooks. The power efficiency really does make a huge difference so that the imho most important characteristic of a notebook, the battery life, tends to be much better with Ivy Bridge.

[EcoBoost]

What are the specs of the cpus? and what are you going to be using it for? 

 

if you need to do anything graphically demanding. Ivy iGPUs are better than Sandy iGPUs -- but the regular cpu performance is very similar. 

The most demanding thing I'll probably do with it is edit (maximum 720p) video with it. You think I'll lose much going with Sandy over Ivy? It's the i5-2467M vs the i5-3337U if that helps.

[TheSLSAMG]

I would buy the HP, partially because SSDs make system performance snappier and also because Samsung's laptops are quite crap from my experiences. I have a Samsung Series 5 (i5 Ivy, 8GB RAM, 750GB HDD) and it's slower than my Mac Mini (i5 Sandy, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD) or my Toshiba Satellite (i3 Sandy, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD) due to all of the factory bloat, not easily removed unless you reinstall the OS.

[TheSLSAMG]

The most demanding thing I'll probably do with it is edit (maximum 720p) video with it. You think I'll lose much going with Sandy over Ivy? It's the i5-2467M vs the i5-3337U if that helps.

You won't be losing that much, possibly 10% at the most.

[Ryan Leech]

Don't get anything with a 1366x768 display, PLEASE!

[Hyrikan]

Don't get anything with a 1366x768 display, PLEASE!

 

Why shouldn't you? It's no big deal on a 13'' display...

[simtransporter]

Well... I know that Ivybridge is slightly faster than sandybridge, it also has a better iGPU and it should be more power efficient which i guess is important for a notebook and it's battery life.

However having said that, I do think an SSD adds more value than a slightly faster CPU in most cases. It's a tough decision.  If you went with the ivybridge notebook you should be able to upgrade the hdd for an ssd later on, I guess you could also sell the hdd if you don't need it anymore.

[EcoBoost]

The SSD is obviously a big upgrade over an SSHD (although I find that an SSHD does improve speed quite a bit overall) BUT I would !never! go with a Sandy Bridge over Ivy Bridge when it comes to notebooks. The power efficiency really does make a huge difference so that the imho most important characteristic of a notebook, the battery life, tends to be much better with Ivy Bridge.

Apparently in testing the HP with the Sandy i5 actually gets slightly better battery life then the Ivy i5 Samsung, due to it having a larger battery. It's only a 15 minute margin though, so irl it might just be around the same. It's just the extra GPU horsepower vs SSD speed that I'm looking to decide between 

[Ryan Leech]

Why shouldn't you? It's no big deal on a 13'' display...

Resolution isn't just a number...

 

1366x768 IS THE DEVILLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[79wjd]

Why shouldn't you? It's no big deal on a 13'' display...

lol 1366x768 is trash even on 13" 

 

Apparently in testing the HP with the Sandy i5 actually gets slightly better battery life then the Ivy i5 Samsung, due to it having a larger battery. It's only a 15 minute margin though, so irl it might just be around the same. It's just the extra GPU horsepower vs SSD speed that I'm looking to decide between 

Go with the HP. 

[EcoBoost]

Don't get anything with a 1366x768 display, PLEASE!

As horrible as it is, there's nothing I can get for the price (400 canadian) new or used with anything higher then that. My old laptop was a 15.6" 1280x800 and I didn't have too much of an issue with the screen

[Hyrikan]

Apparently in testing the HP with the Sandy i5 actually gets slightly better battery life then the Ivy i5 Samsung, due to it having a larger battery. It's only a 15 minute margin though, so irl it might just be around the same. It's just the extra GPU horsepower vs SSD speed that I'm looking to decide between 

 

Ok thank you for the heads up, I didn't research the the exact models so my general assumption seems to be off in this specific case.

 

Resolution isn't just a number...

 

1366x768 IS THE DEVILLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I partially agree with you, but since we're talking about a school notebook there's really no need to go 1080p if you can save money for it. It's not like he's trying to game on that thing and for word/excel etc. 1366x768 is totally fine.

[Ryan Leech]

As horrible as it is, there's nothing I can get for the price (400 canadian) new or used with anything higher then that. My old laptop was a 15.6" 1280x800 and I didn't have too much of an issue with the screen

1280x800 is waaaaay better than 1366x768

[Hyrikan]

1280x800 is waaaaay better than 1366x768

It's the difference between 16:10 and 16:9 not more and not less.

[Ryan Leech]

Ok thank you for the heads up, I didn't research the the exact models so my general assumption seems to be off in this specific case.

 

 

I partially agree with you, but since we're talking about a school notebook there's really no need to go 1080p if you can save money for it. It's not like he's trying to game on that thing and for word/excel etc. 1366x768 is totally fine.

My problem is not with the number of pixels, it's with the way the pixels are layed out and spaced with 1366x768

[Hyrikan]

My problem is not with the number of pixels, it's with the way the pixels are layed out and spaced with 1366x768

Ok then I don't quite get it, sorry. The pixels are layed out and spaced exactly the same way as they are on any 16:9 display which is the industry standard since around 2009, after panel manufacturers stopped producing 16:10 panels for desktop monitors.

[Ryan Leech]

Ok then I don't quite get it, sorry. The pixels are layed out and spaced exactly the same way as they are on any 16:9 display which is the industry standard since around 2009, after panel manufacturers stopped producing 16:10 panels for desktop monitors.

The problem is that there is a 2% overscan with 1366x768 that causes pixels to become distorted and blurry. The picture gets bent in odd ways and pixels are sometimes pushed beyond the borders. 1366x768 was created by panel makers only to increase panel yields. It is absolute rubbish imo.

[Sharp_3yE]

One is an HP Folio i3 with a Sandy Bridge i5 and a 120GB Intel 520 SSD

 I just want to point out what you called the untrabook. You said "HP Folio i3" which there isn't an model name "Folio i3" but there is a "Folio 13" which would be a 13in screen. So, IDK if you mistyped that or your friend said i3 and that meant that the ultrabook uses an intel core i3 model. Just wanted to make sure unless you can prove me wrong.

[EcoBoost]

 I just want to point out what you called the untrabook. You said "HP Folio i3" which there isn't an model name "Folio i3" but there is a "Folio 13" which would be a 13in screen. So, IDK if you mistyped that or your friend said i3 and that meant that the ultrabook uses an intel core i3 model. Just wanted to make sure unless you can prove me wrong.

 

Yeah I meant Folio 13. Oops