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I will start studying AI next week and I am having a really hard time figuring out which laptop to buy. There is so much choice and laptops with the same CPU, RAM and SSD storage very wildly in price. The minimum set by my university is very low, their requirement are an HD graphics 610 (so 7th gen intel, pretty much any), 4gb RAM and 256gb SSD. Good things to know: I will be running Linux as required by Uni and I will be programming and multitasking.

I want a 512gb SSD, 16gb RAM, IPS panel (everything mentioned below is with these specs) and then I am unsure about the CPU and display size. Is 15,6 nice to have for programming/multitasking or is 14 inch enough? I will run a second monitor at home. I am really not up to date about the strength of processors today and what I would need for a pleasant experience, which is something I would like your help with.

I want to be able to use it for around 3-5 years depending on how it holds up. I could get the newest I/R5 for €550-800 on sale and the newest I/R7 for around €700-800 on sale. Is it better to get a relatively expensive I/R5 or a relatively cheap I/R7? My budget is €800. Laptop pricing really confuses me, some with the best R5 are more expensive than those with the best R7...

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you can help me make a choice. I am turning crazy with so many options. Thanks :) Please let me know if I should change the way I post next time, I'm new here. I read similair questions but didn't really find an answer that applied to me.

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Some of the options I'm considering if you're interested (all 16GB, 512GB and IPS): Newest I7 14 inch for €780 https://outlet.mediamarkt.nl/computer/laptops?product_id=182125&sort=p.price&order=DESC Used to be €950+ but can't be bought elsewhere anymore: https://outlet.mediamarkt.nl/computer/laptops/asus-vivobook-s-s433eq-eb006t-ID166284?sort=p.price&order=DESC

Newest R7 15,6 inch for €700?? and €750, both down €50 https://www.campusshop.nl/hp-15s-eq2511nd-461v2ea/80059446/product#specificaties https://www.megekko.nl/product/2057/297883/Laptops/HP-Pavilion-15-eh1213nd-Ryzen-7-5700U-15-6-laptop

Newest I5 15,6 inch for €720 not that much discounted https://www.paradigit.nl/outlet-lenovo-ideapad-3-15itl6-82h800tumh/80060457/product/3928 https://www.paradigit.nl/outlet-asus-vivobook-15-s513ea-bn1021t/80060569/product/3928

Newest I/R5 for €570 and up, about €50 discount https://www.campusshop.nl/laptops/laptops/#price/brand/feature/8891EEBE24220E37,8891EEBE1D1EB131/sorting/Price/page/1

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  • Define AI, are you going for machine learning and tensorflow like applications ? or other uses that runs on the CPU only.
    – Neil
    Aug 31, 2021 at 8:27
  • And if you need machine learning, maybe a laptop with RTX graphics would be best.
    – Irsu85
    Aug 31, 2021 at 9:06
  • @Neil , I am not sure. In the second year there will be some training of models which would be a bit faster with a GPU of course, but I know that one student completed the bachelor with an I5 5200u and Geforce 920M. Some of the GPU intensive tasks can also be done with Google Colab for example. One student did say he kind of missed a dedicated gpu, but it wasn't too big a deal. I'm not sure I can even get a dedicated GPU at this pricepoint too.
    – PapaBeer
    Aug 31, 2021 at 12:23

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After your answers to comments I'll recommend going for a mid-range AMD CPU based machine but I'll insist on going for a dedicated nVidia GPU. It will grant you autonomy and allow you to use CUDA enhanced frameworks.

This one should be perfect (a little over budget but it's never lost, newer GPU means longer support and more efficiency).

https://www.campusshop.nl/lenovo-legion-5-15ach6-82jw003fmh/80059484/product/11542

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