Should I upgrade or buy a new laptop?

[0x4D6178]

Hey guys, I currently own a Dell Inspiron 5000 Series 5547 with the following specs:

 

Core i7 4510U 2.0-2.6 GHz

8GB DDR3 RAM

FHD Touch Display

Intel HD Graphics / AMD Radeon R7 M265

5400rpm 1TB Hard Drive + 8GB SSD (Hybrid)

 

This laptop is about two years old, it gets the job done but I feel like its a bit slow. I hear the fans come on while doing not-too-demanding tasks (at least so it seems).
I thought about replacing current hard drive with a SSD and upgrading ram to 16GB as it's relatively cheap, and get a significant performance boost (at least so I read).

 

On the other hand I thought about buying a new laptop with better specs for better performance and "futureproofing".

I considered mostly the Dell XPS 15 high-end model.

 

My main usage is programming which is generally not a very demanding task (simply writing right?). However with many tabs open, a quite demanding IDE, some other programs running in the background things get a bit tougher for my machine.

 

What are your thoughts? Should I upgrade my current laptop or buy a new one for long-term usage?

If you have any alternative suggestions I will be glad to hear (different laptop purchase / other things I could upgrade / a whole different approach - perhaps software?).

[don_svetlio]

XPS 15 9550 is a fantastic device. I highly recommend it

[Orangeator]

The graphics card shouldn't matter much as you just want to program and your CPU you have currently should suffice for it. Honestly, I would just upgrade the laptops RAM and upgrade the HDD to an SSD. Doing that you will notice a significant boost in performance due to the faster read, write, and response time of an SSD over a traditional HDD. Upgrading the RAM really won't change anything unless you tend to have a lot of browser tabs open or you are a heavy multi-tasker, in those cases, yes by all means add an extra 8GB. 

[Aleemageddon]

In terms of futureproofing HP make very good long lasting laptops in their pavilion range and in fact I have had one for four years and I would still be using today had I not dropped it and broken the screen (they discontinued replacement screens for my model) and I decided that I wanted to upgrade as it was so I have a new one, however there is a very good current model of hp pavilion with nvidia graphics, not the 10 series though, that I would recommend if you're looking for long lasting

[don_svetlio]

2 minutes ago, Aleemageddon said:

In terms of futureproofing HP make very good long lasting laptops in their pavilion range and in fact I have had one for four years and I would still be using today had I not dropped it and broken the screen (they discontinued replacement screens for my model) and I decided that I wanted to upgrade as it was so I have a new one, however there is a very good current model of hp pavilion with nvidia graphics, not the 10 series though, that I would recommend if you're looking for long lasting

HP Pavilion and Acer Aspire are have the highest failure rate on the market. Don't give bad advice.

[Aleemageddon]

1 minute ago, don_svetlio said:

HP Pavilion and Acer Aspire are have the highest failure rate on the market. Don't give bad advice.

really? I didnt realise, but I saw loads of good reviews for my Acer and my hp lasted ages... so I guess I was just lucky with my hp?

[don_svetlio]

1 minute ago, Aleemageddon said:

really? I didnt realise, but I saw loads of good reviews for my Acer and my hp lasted ages... so I guess I was just lucky with my hp?

Insanely lucky. The series you should be recommending for longevity are

Lenovo ThinkPad
HP EliteBook
Dell Latitude

[Pendragon]

1 hour ago, don_svetlio said:

XPS 15 9550 is a fantastic device. I highly recommend it

@0x4D6178

 

There's one a XPS15 on Dell Outlet for 1400. FHD/16/512/Large battery. I would pick it up instantly before it gets taken.

[Pendragon]

@0x4D6178

Another great option is the E5470 series from Dell Outlet. For around 1k, you get to pick up a laptop with a i7-6820HQ with no dGPU. Latitude build quality and Dell 24 hour on site service for it's business customers. Had to post that one first cause XPS15 with i7's get sniped on Dell Outlet within hours. 

[0x4D6178]

2 hours ago, Aleemageddon said:

In terms of futureproofing HP make very good long lasting laptops in their pavilion range and in fact I have had one for four years and I would still be using today had I not dropped it and broken the screen (they discontinued replacement screens for my model) and I decided that I wanted to upgrade as it was so I have a new one, however there is a very good current model of hp pavilion with nvidia graphics, not the 10 series though, that I would recommend if you're looking for long lasting

So far the Inspiron is holding on great. As I mentioned the issue is that sometimes it's a bit slow (nothing too serious though). That's why the smartest choice right now would probably be upgrading the SSD and RAM. However, I might need to upgrade it anyway sometime in the future so perhaps a new laptop would tackle both of the problems.

 

1 hour ago, Pendragon said:

@0x4D6178

 

There's one a XPS15 on Dell Outlet for 1400. FHD/16/512/Large battery. I would pick it up instantly before it gets taken.

I'm not from the US so outlets are quite irrelevant to me unfortunately.

[Pendragon]

1 hour ago, 0x4D6178 said:

I'm not from the US so outlets are quite irrelevant to me unfortunately.

Where are you located?