New Laptop Time Please Help

[edenconnell]

Hey guys...

Am deciding between two different ASUS laptops...

Need your assistance

Keen to buy from B & H Photo in US as the prices are better than Australia...

These are the contenders:

ASUS G51JX-X5 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._Computer.html US $1400 with $100 rebate so US $1300
This has i7 processor with short battery life around 2 hours

ASUS UL30Vt-A1 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._Computer.html US $735.00
This has Dual Core processor with long battery life around 10 hours

Main use for the laptop will be:
Websurfing
Email
Editing photos with Lightroom and Photoshop
Editing videos once I buy my new Canon 7D
Will use the computer most of the time at home but do like it to have a long battery the i7 laptop battery will last two hours at max

Wants:
At least 500GB drive
Fast computer that will not lag
Good battery life (have been using Asus netbook whilst travelling the battery lasts for around 5 hours this is great but need to update)
HDMI connection could be good

Questions:
1. Either Dual Core or i7 (of course i7 is faster but for my needs will I really benefit)?

2. HDMI is it a lot better than a usual VGA connection? I have a 24 inch Samsung monitior that I will use to edit photos most of the time

3. Is i7 processors that much better for my intended use?

Thanks in advance!!

Will tell you the outcome once I purchase which will be hopefully in a few days!

[nissanman]

3. Is i7 processors that much better for my intended use?

Most certainly! A 4 or 6 core cpu will always be far superior when dealing with multimedia.
Gaming.... Well stick to a 4 core or good dual core if you cant afford to jump to i7.
Have you got the specs on what i7 it is? vs what dual core model they offer in it?

I currently run the whole CS4 suite, Lightroom 3 and Sony Vegas on a 2.4ghz QUAD CORE system (desktop, but for the purposes of cpu's etc, you can compare laptop to desktop if they use the same chips)

However i was running the same software on a 2.66ghz DUAL CORE System and it failed dismally.
To be honest, it worked and did what you needed, but it was quite slow processing anything larger than a 5mp shot. It lagged quite bad when processing in Photoshop and Lightroom (open at the same time) especially.

My current system is a 2.8ghz quad core with 4gb 800mhz ram with an average 1gb ddr3 graphics card (considered ancient in today world ). This works well with processing my 12mp E-620 shots. It copes with photoshop, lightroom, illustrator and the usual Outlook and Firefox open quite well. Its not blistering quick but it keeps up with my needs.

Bottom line, get the i7 and try and source a better battery perhaps

BTW - HDMI output is great. Our current laptop doesnt have it, its a pain. Have to resort to hooking up the desktop....

Cheers,
J