Hello Logan, Pistol, Qain, Wendell and the community,
I have been looking for a laptop to replace my aging Samsung R522 (2009 model). I have selected 2 that like:
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/acer-acer-aspire-v7-15-6-ultrabook-gunmetal-intel-core-i5-3337u-24gb-ssd-500gb-hdd-12gb-windows-8-v7-581-6489/10254572.aspx?path=226359e5ff9e81e3595821eea0ca4579en02&SearchPageIndex=1
or
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/asus-asus-r405cb-14-1-laptop-black-intel-core-i5-3337u-750gb-hdd-8gb-ram-windows-8-r405cb-fb51-cb/10256770.aspx?path=668e4849c241528be776cbc69a135632en02&SearchPageIndex=1
I will be using the laptop for general students purposes (Mostly MS office) and entertainment (Youtube, movies). I might do some gaming but I do have pretty powerful desktop for that exact purpose (4670k, GTX 770).
Now I like the Asus because of the GT 740m and faster RAM (8GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1600mhz). I dislike that it's a 14.1" laptop. I don't see my self being able to get used to a 14.1" screen.
I like the Acer because it's listed as "Ultrabook" (it's behind most of Intel's requirements though) and comes with a SSD boot drive (I believe), it is thinner and is a 15.6" laptop but it has slower but more RAM (12GB SODIMM DDR3 at 1066mhz, 12GB is a gimmick?)and has the HD 4000 chip. It also looks like it will come with a lot of bloatware
They both have the same CPU (i5-3337u), identical battery life (5ish hours) and they will both be on sale for 599.99 as of Friday, August 23rd
I really hate that both laptops have such a weak resolution of 1366x768. Temperature is also one of my concers. (My Samsung R522 runs a 55-65C after 1-2 hours of use)
Which would you guys recommend?
-Now I can easily wait another couple of months for more Haswells to pop up (the Pentiumns and i3s) or for the Ivy-bridges to receive even larger price cuts.
*And if any of you would like to recommend a different laptop, it has to be from Futureshop.ca/Bestbuy.ca (I want to use a gift card I have instead of my money, the gift card was won in a contest so I'm going to set a budget of 800$ max).
*You can also recommend cheaper/weaker latops (i3 or Pentium) if you believe I won't be needing or take advantage of the i5 in those machines