Laptop for regular use, i3, 8 GB RAM, upto 50K

BhargavJ

In the zone
1) What is your budget?

INR 40K, max 50K

2) What size & weight consideration (if any) would you prefer?
  • Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
3) What are the primary tasks you will be performing with this notebook?

Regular use, like internet browsing, watching movies.
Also, gaming, but not the heavy shooter kind, more like arcade mobile games.

5) Any typical configuration in your mind you're eying for ?

i3. 8 GB RAM. 1 TB HDD. Maybe also a 256 GB SDD if the price doesn't shoot up too much.

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
a. Like: Dell, HP.
b. Dislike: Not sure about Asus, Lenovo.

6) Anything else you would like to say?
  • Screen resolution : 1080p FHD
  • Battery back up : the more the better
  • Purchase place : Amazon or Flipkart, or another online site
This laptop is for my sister, who needs it mainly for the regular use I've mentioned above. She also needs it to store photos, which is why the 1 TB HDD is necessary. An HDD-only config will be a bit slower, but should suffice for the usage mentioned.

From what I've researched, 11th gen is better than 10th gen, but consumes more power. The price difference doesn't seem to be more than 2K.

I think 4 GB RAM would be too low. I have 8 GB RAM in my Dell laptop and even then, with a lot of tabs open in Firefox, I find it sluggish.

I found two on the Dell site; both have:

11th Generation Intel® Core™ i3-1115G4 Processor
Intel® UHD Graphics with shared graphics memory
8GB, 8GBx1, DDR4, 2666MHz

With 1 TB HDD only:
Rs. 41,490
*www.dell.com/en-in/shop/laptops-2-...top/spd/vostro-15-3500-laptop/icc-d584011win8

With 256 GB M.2 SSD and 1 TB HDD:
Rs. 45,989
*www.dell.com/en-in/shop/laptops-2-...top/spd/vostro-15-3500-laptop/icc-d584014win8

Same config (i3 11th Gen - 8 GBs - 1 TB HDD) in HP:

15s-du3038TU

Rs. 41,990
*www.amazon.in/HP-Processor-39-62cms-i3-1115G4-15s-du3038TU/dp/B08S3MGDS3

15s-dy3001TU

Rs. 40,990

*www.flipkart.com/hp-15s-core-i3-11...ppn=browse&ssid=5rqirh1jyzliygw01628250122053

I haven't found any with a backlit keyboard.

Any pros / cons of the above laptops, and any suggestions for other ones?
 
If you can live with 14" screen, this is an excellent laptop for the money:
*www.amazon.in/dp/B0928SZKL1/
Has backlit KB.

Otherwise this:
*www.amazon.in/Dell-Inspiron-3505-Graphics-D560485WIN9BE/dp/B097C2NN72/
Likely lacks backlit KB.
 
OP
B

BhargavJ

In the zone
If you can live with 14" screen, this is an excellent laptop for the money:
*www.amazon.in/dp/B0928SZKL1/
Has backlit KB.

Otherwise this:
*www.amazon.in/Dell-Inspiron-3505-Graphics-D560485WIN9BE/dp/B097C2NN72/
Likely lacks backlit KB.

None of these have a 1 TB HDD, which is a requirement.

Also, these are all Ryzen ones, and in the past, I remember people complaining about AMD processors running hotter than Intel; don't know if this is the case now. If I was going to use the computer, I wouldn't mind AMD, but since this laptop is for someone else, I don't want to recommend Ryzen and then hear complaints about overheating. :)
 
None of these have a 1 TB HDD, which is a requirement.

Also, these are all Ryzen ones, and in the past, I remember people complaining about AMD processors running hotter than Intel; don't know if this is the case now. If I was going to use the computer, I wouldn't mind AMD, but since this laptop is for someone else, I don't want to recommend Ryzen and then hear complaints about overheating. :)
Get an external HDD, or if the laptop has a free 2.5" slot, add an internal HDD. 1TB 5400RPM HDD is very slow & Win10 is too heavy these days & needs SSD. I don't think HP 14 has a 2.5" drive slot.

Now Intel is the one running hotter & giving lower battery life. The tables have turned.
 
OP
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BhargavJ

In the zone
Get an external HDD, or if the laptop has a free 2.5" slot, add an internal HDD. 1TB 5400RPM HDD is very slow & Win10 is too heavy these days & needs SSD. I don't think HP 14 has a 2.5" drive slot.

I had thought of the same thing at first - a 256 / 512 GB internal SSD and an external 2 TB HDD but my sister wanted a large internal HDD. Adding an internal 1 TB HDD to an SSD-only laptop would cost around 4K, while an external 2 TB one would be around 5K, so external HDD is the better choice.
 

SaiyanGoku

kamehameha!!
I'll see if I can convince my sister about an SSD-only option. There's also the other Dell option of SSD+HDD for ~46K.
*www.amd.com/en/products/apu/amd-ryzen-3-5300u

*ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ar...1115g4-processor-6m-cache-up-to-4-10-ghz.html

You want to choose a 2c/4t processor over 4c/8t one?
 
I had thought of the same thing at first - a 256 / 512 GB internal SSD and an external 2 TB HDD but my sister wanted a large internal HDD. Adding an internal 1 TB HDD to an SSD-only laptop would cost around 4K, while an external 2 TB one would be around 5K, so external HDD is the better choice.
If they don't understand, just make it clear to them to expect that the laptop will lag & it's not a fault of the CPU or RAM. Even dual-core i3/R3 are powerful enough to easily handle most tasks, but Win10 just needs a fast storage, which HDD can't just meet.

I myself placed an order for that HP14 for my cousin, at least her family values my opinion. That seller is not amazon fulfilled, so placed the order with a different seller at 45k.
 
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