Is a Intel Core i3 Processor good?

I'm starting CC next week tuesday and I need a Laptop and I was wondering Is a Intel Core i3 Processor good for someone who is majoring in Computer IT? I was thinking about buy a mac but thats really expensive lol or should I the mac? Or buy a laptop with an I5 core processor? I was thinking about a toshiba or a lenovo

Added (1). the toshiba I was looking at has an I3 and 8GB with a 1TB HDD

Added (2). i'm willing to spend at least 600. No dell laptops tho

It's better than an 8088 but, hardly state of the art. If you're going into IT, get at least an i5.

Get a Windows based machine dual bootable for Linux.

I3s are quite lethargic compared to a 5 or 7 - Macs are expensive for parts and apps - Toshibas are fairly good I find Lenovos a bit flimsy. Set a budget and then shop around for the best machine that fits

Benchmarks are better than brand sub-titles of CPUs
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/...u_list.php
i3-6100U @ 2.30GHz 3434
i3-4100M @ 2.50GHz 3486
i5-4200U @ 1.60GHz 3267
i5-6300HQ @ 2.30GHz 5713
i7-4500U @ 1.80GHz3798
i7-5700HQ @ 2.70GHz8658
The i3/i5/i7 does not state enough about performance.
Newer CPUs in laptops have stronger graphics processing in general.
RAM is relatively inexpensive and will fool you into thinking a laptop is better than it really is.
In the USA, it is about $4 to $5 per gigabyte

Macbooks are very expensive.
You are looking at laptops lower in price and performance than most IT majors buy. I expect you would replace it in a year or two when you figure that out.

Only MSI designs and builds their own laptops, and Thinkpads are a co-design with other manufacturers, but the rest of the laptops are just brand names. Toshiba does not make any laptops anymore. Almost all laptops are Taiwan company designed, and produced in mainland PRC China.

Without naming a country, it makes no sense to recommend anything. Prices and models vary by country.

Yes, they are pretty good. It depends what are you going to use your computer for.

IT isn't very demanding. All your laptop really is in IT is a dumb interface for some type of Remote Desktop program and other diagnostic tools that are mostly just limited by the interface speed to your network. How quickly you can work with a Server is more a limit of how responsive the server is, network connection and speed you are capable of thinking and working input devices not your laptop.

Since this is for college courses your computing demands are even less. I'd be more concerned about weight and battery life as you'll be carrying it around all day. If you want it to feel fast an SSD on a i3 will feel much faster in most situations than an HD on an i5.

All that being said with a $600 budget I'd strongly consider the HP Pavilion 13-s128nr x360. It is pretty lightweight at 3.77lbs. It is a 2in1 so it can double as a tablet. The battery life is up to 11 hrs 45 min. It has a nice and sharp 1920x1080 screen. It also has an i5-6200u CPU, 8GB RAM and a 128GB SSD. The real downside is it is pretty thick.
http://www.amazon.com/...014X4UAUI/

This Dell Inspiron i7359-4371SLV is quite a bit thinner. It uses a 500GB HD + 8GB SSD hybrid drive instead. All the other specs seem the same as the HP. I'd get this if you want something thinner to carry around. Although I'd dump the hybrid drive as soon as you can afford it in favor of a large SSD. Given that it likely has an M.2 port for it's current SSD. You might be able to install an ultra fast Samsung SM951 if you saved up. Although I have no way of knowing if it will fit.
http://www.amazon.com/...00TUQ6HM0/

Really my key points why I selected those laptops is lightweight, good battery life and at least 1920x1080 screen. Being as they are being used for college and IT. You should get practice on proper security and setup hard disk encryption on them. Also get in the habit of using a password manager like Lastpass.

Getting in IT, buy a PC laptop. Stay away from Mac and you will have less problems. PC is better for programming and code. Mac is better for 3D graphics and computer art.