Which laptop should I buy?
 

Here are a few quick criteria:
- Games, maybe a few old games or at least the ability to download steam and play some simple new games (no Chromebook)
- Needs to have basic office stuff; excel/word etc
- Portable; don’t want something huge (less than 14” screen)
- Would like to stay under $500, but open to suggestion!

These gateways are pretty good. I bought one years ago and I used it all through school. I did play some older games on it as well as Minecraft and WoW. I only really ran into issues with the low RAM when playing minecraft and running simulators for android. I thought the keyboard was awesome, one of the best i've used, and the hardware overall is great. The screen is great quality and big enough to watch movies and shows. Battery life is average. Sound quality of the speakers I would say are low, but what can you expect for a low price like this.

For the price, they concentrated on all the right aspects I would say. I've had my model for 7 years now and it's still running pretty strong. Hardware is also still really good after having it for so long. The only thing that's broken is the fan grid cover on the bottom because of the way I used to take it in and out of the backpack 2-3 times a day while in school.

Theres a lenovo option i just found with some decent specs, slightly pricey at $579.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-y...&skuId=8618406

I would look for something with amd proc and apu. Should be able to get a bit more bang for your buck

Look at this model
Lenovo Laptop G505s (59373010) AMD A-Series A10-5750M (2.50GHz) 6GB Memory 1TB HDD AMD Radeon HD 8650G 15.6"

I'm all for Amd in desktops but they don't have anything that really competes for mobile gpu cards at a decent price. There may be some out there but nothing short of the r9 really seem that appetizing.

If gaming is somewhat of a priority I'd suggest seeing what's out there in the budget with a dedicated graphics card.

I'm also searching for a laptop with the same goals in mind as you and this is what I'm looking for.

-8gb+ of ram
-dedicated graphics card preferably with at least 1 gb of dedicated memory
-15in and at the lower price range you'll be getting a 1366x768 screen resolution
-CPU capable of 3.2ghz

That's really about it. I'd make finding a laptop with a dedicated gpu your first priority. Once you start looking and finding them go look up the gpu and see what it's benchmarks for games are. It'll give a rough idea of what you can and can't play with that card. Also take into consideration what build the benchmarks were using.


Anyways. I set out with a 500ish budget in mind also and haven't found anything worthwhile under 650. I'm prepared to make the jump up to that price for something decent though.

**** just reread the 14> part. 15 isn't too big. Fits every laptop bag I've seen and I feel it's the perfect size. 14 or less would be really difficult for gaming. Words and say maybe minimap icons etc will be difficult to see.

I was turned right off Lenovo because of their Superfish debacle.
http://www.slate.com/articles/techno...ing_screw.html
http://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbr...-need-to-know/

Didnt even know about that. Thank god my computer is 4 years old and i dont use it for anything important other than school :iono:

First thing I would do is search the Dell Outlet site. With their current coupon I was able to quickly find an i7-4510 14" laptop with an AMD discreet video card for $585.

The coupon code comes up on the front of the website. It's basically a 35% discount today but is a sliding scale so it goes down each day.


(EDIT: I should have added they have quite a few that would fall well into your price range and are good buys)

and just an FYI, Microsoft office normally doesn't come with computers anymore, that's a purchase you will have to make with the laptop

unless you find a combo that its included with

I have had 2 Yogas...I love them.

Highly recommend.

Open Office

Better in every way

Check
http://www.deals2buy.com/
there are 2 laptops on sale

HP ENVY 15t 15.6" Laptop, Core i7, 8GB RAM, 1TB HD, K2T41AV
$569.99

Dell Inspiron 15 15.6" Signature Edition Laptop Intel Core i5-5200U 2.20 GHz Processor, 8GB RAM, 1TB HD - Inspiron 15 i5548-1670SLV
$449.99

nice ill look into that


im a big fan of Google Drive, it gets done what i need

Any thoughts on this one:
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Y40-80-Laptop-i7-5500U-80FA001CUS/dp/B00SIMWIZW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434043843&sr=8-1&keywords=lenovo+y40&pebp=1434043847875&perid=210 D3DE642AF46728125"]Amazon.com : Lenovo Y40-80 Laptop - Core i7-5500U, 8GB RAM, 14.0" Full HD Display, AMD Radeon R9 M275 2GB, 500GB HDD - 80FA001CUS : Computers & Accessories[/ame]

Decent specs:
5th Generation Intel Core i7-5500U Processor (3.00 GHz Turbo, 2.40GHz Base 1600MHz 4MB)
AMD Radeon R9 M275 2GB Graphics Card / Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 + Bluetooth
8.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3L 1600 MHz Memory
500GB Hard Drive + 8GB SSHD
14.0" Full HD 1080p LED AntiGlare Display (1920x1080)

Price seems real low, too: $690ish.