Which One Is Better?

My son needs a laptop to do homework, and so far I found two that would fit in my budget, but I don't know anything about anything. I have nailed down to these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0178FGO2...TF8&colid=1DSG0WP6HDT1Y&coliid=I34GBIV4W7QJSR

and this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EVNC1Q...UTF8&colid=1DSG0WP6HDT1Y&coliid=IMSYTE2MSO0VI

I know the price is decent, but I need advices on the rest!

 

Out of the two the second one has the edge it has a usb 3 slot.
There's very little in it, it also give you windows office 365 for one year.

N 3050 cpu is quite slow take a look at passmark.com to see it's rating.

A little more home work may help you find a faster machine.

 

If you are not wanting a laptop, then have you thought about a barebones pc,
this type of small pc and could be the answer.

To explain it's a part built cube size pc, all you have to do is put ram, harddrive into it.
You can use your old operating system,monitor and even use your old laptop hard drive.

https://www.cclonline.com/product/1...42GHz-Gigabit-LAN-Intel-HD-Graphics-/BRB0395/

They are very cheap, and quite power full.

Using the passmark.com web site to see which is the best cpu for your set price.

I have one it's great.

Take a look at amazon

 

Thank you @something back I will do a bit more digging and reading !

 

Greetings!

Of the two options you listed, I'd probably choose the second one as well, due to the slightly faster CPU and the USB 3.0 port.
That being said, I think both of them aren't close to being best choices. The issues with both are as follows (in order of importance, as I see it):

1. Storage Capacity: Both of them seem to only have a 64 gb SSD, which is nice, but I don't think it is enough, even for a homework machine.

2. RAM Capacity: Due to relatively recent events (The mainstream release of DDR4 mostly) DDR3 has fallen significantly in price. I'd say only having 2gb of RAM is far from enough, as I have experienced Windows 8 on a machine with that amount of memory and it is anything but pleasing.

3. Computing power: Well, you can't expect much at this pricepoint, but getting something more up to date wouldn't hurt, since Celerons are quite old and underpowered by today's standards.

Before looking for other options, I assumed you wouldn't consider buying something 2nd hand. If you are ok with that option, there are good options out there, but the risks are high as well. This is what I found:

1. https://www.amazon.com/Asus-Premium...11,p_n_feature_fourteen_browse-bin:2057440011

This might be outside your budget at 325$, though the newer CPU, 4gb of RAM and the Terrabyte of storage will suffice for extended use (I have had a similar one for 2 years and I can't complain about it).

2. https://www.amazon.com/Acer-15-6-in...4011,p_n_feature_twelve_browse-bin:9521909011

This is slightly cheaper and has a slower CPU, though still a decent one. Same amount of RAM and storage as the previous.

Both of these options will make a significan difference in what using a computer means, compared to your choices. Yes, they are more expensive, but if you are trying to buy something that will last a couple of years, per say, I'd make sure its quality is satisfactory.

What I'm trying to say is: In the computer market, there is a sweetspot for the best value you can get for you money, and that sweetspot is neither at the highest of highs, nor at the low end, which your choice are part of. What I would personally suggest is that you save a little bit of extra money to get your son something that won't be a displeasure to use. To be frank, anything at that price point is simply not good by today's standards. That being said, I understand money doesn't grow in trees and how valueable 100 extra dollars can be, but if you could invest that extra money into this laptop it would make a world of difference. I trust that you will know what the best decision is.

Hope this helped, best of luck!

 

Yes, this helps tremendously with your clear explanation! I will have to make tree grows money, and wait until I have enough Bookmarked your links in my amazon account! Thank you!

 

I would choose the second one anyway even though it is slightly more expensive.

The reason for this is the processor. Celeron is pretty old whereas Dual core, would at least help you support all the latest software.

In my opinion, the second one is the best bet.

 

Running Windows 10 with 2 GB of RAM can be a hassle, although I guess for light browsing and homework it could work but I imagine your son is going to be frustrated. The second one is the better out of the two, but I would suggest adding 2 GB of RAM at least if the laptop has the possibility.

 

Judging from the specs of both of these, they are pretty low end standard laptops and ram might be a little bit of an issue; however, if they are for homework only purposes I'd opt for the cheaper one even though the other one isn't that much more expensive. If all you wanna do is type out reports or search a few pages, it should be fine. Just don't clutter up the hard drive with needless material, and perhaps invest in an external hard drive if he needs to save a bunch of material.

 

Yes, all he will be doing is homework, and browsing a bit! I have and external hard drive for him to save whatever he needs.

I am starting from the ends first, and probably will have to go up in price. Thank you for your help!

 

I will choose the second one.