Need help on deciding which laptop to get

[Jared_1]

Hello!

 

I've been searching for the last few months for a new laptop. I've narrowed it down to 2 laptops from Lenovo. I did look at options from Dell, HP, etc. but they didn't have what I was looking for vs. the prices. I'm looking for some advice on what to do.

 

The 2 laptops I'm stuck on is the Lenovo Ideapad 330(15) or the Lenovo V330 (15).

 

They both have 15.6 inch 1080p screens, 4 core 8 thread processors of similar performance, 8GB RAM, 1TB 5400RPM HDDs.

 

The Ideapad 330 has a Ryzen 2500U with integrated Vega 8 GPU but only has one SATA drive slot.

 

The Lenovo V330 has an Intel i5-8250U with Intel HD 620 graphics but it has a SATA drive slot as well as an M.2 slot.

 

I'm leaning more towards the AMD model since it has better on board graphics but it's only got the once drive slot. Either way I'm replacing the hard drive with an SSD but I was thinking with the Intel model, I could boot from an M.2 SSD and use the HDD for storage.

 

My price range is around $500. For the interested, this is what I want on my laptop. At least a quad core, 4GB+ RAM, on board graphics that will be enough for day to day tasks and light video editing and a 1080P screen. I mainly use my laptop for working in Google Earth and some video editing, watching Youtube, etc.

 

Funny enough my old Dell Studio 1737 does these tasks without issue but the hinges are destroyed and the iGPU isn't up to the task of acceleration in today's programs.

[DrMacintosh]

I would not get the V330. The Intel HD 620 is next to useless. I'd take the hit of only having 1 SATA slot for having an objectively better computer. 

 

If you can't afford a large enough capacity SSD, you can always carry an external USB HDD with you. 

[Jared_1]

2 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

I would not get the V330. The Intel HD 620 is next to useless. I'd take the hit of only having 1 SATA slot for having an objectively better computer. 

 

If you can't afford a large enough capacity SSD, you can always carry an external USB HDD with you. 

That was my thinking. I've got a 240GB SSD on my desktop and I think that a similar capacity drive would work just fine. Thanks!

[genexis_x]

Both models are mediocre. Don't just look at specs

 

I suggest you to increase your budget to around $600. If cannot, go used

[Jared_1]

8 minutes ago, ZM Fong said:

Both models are mediocre. Don't just look at specs

 

I suggest you to increase your budget to around $600. If cannot, go used

What would you recommend for around $600?

[genexis_x]

11 hours ago, Jared_1 said:

What would you recommend for around $600?

Aspire 5