$500 Laptop for Mom

[simonb530]

I need to find a laptop for my mom. She will use it for internet surfing and playing very low end games like from bigfish http/www.bigfishgames.com/.

requirements
around $500
Screen Size 13-15.6"
weight - around 5lbs (less is better)
Brands: i prefer asus; she prefers hp but open to any
Also she has a tendency to drop stuff (about a foot in height) so durability big plus
would like to get one that would last at least 3-4yrs

a couple laptop I have looked at for here are:

$470 - ASUS A53E-AS31 15.6-Inch Laptop - I3 2350M 4gb ddr3
http/www.amazon.com/ASUS-A53E-AS31-15-6-Inch-Laptop-Black/dp/B007MW13YG/ref=sr_1_5?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1339099277&sr=1-5

$450 - ASUS X53Z-RS61 15.6-Inch LED Laptop - AMD A6 3420m, 6gb ddr3
http/www.amazon.com/ASUS-X53Z-RS61-15-6-Inch-Laptop-Mocha/dp/B00739VH8A/ref=sr_1_9?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1339099825&sr=1-9

$430 - ASUS U32U-ES21 Ultra-Portable 13.3-Inch Laptop - AMD E450 1.65Ghz, 4gb ddr3 - lower hardware but lighter will the computer last 3-4yrs

http/www.amazon.com/U32U-ES21-Ultra-Portable-13-3-Inch-Laptop-Silver/dp/B00713DPM4/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1339099236&sr=1-1

My main questions is which cpu is better for her an amd to intel with only doing light gaming.

Any help is greatly appreciated

 

[Chainzsaw]

Hello,

Last Xmas I got my mom a Acer A6 (forgot exactly which one) and it's been really good. She also does light tasks as well (FB, Poker, light gaming).

I would stay away from that 13.3Inch one - it's very slow.

I'm sure others can give you reccomendations as well.

 

[roymustang]

I just got this one for $550 and I absolutely love it.

http/www.amazon.com/ASUS-U31SG-AS31-13-3-Inch-Laptop-Black/dp/B00713CSWM

It's small, light, and thin with a good CPU and even a discrete nvidia GPU that turns itself off to save battery when it's not needed. A lot of similar laptops sell for $700-800 so I was quite surprised to see this one at $550. Seemed like a great deal to me and had every feature I was looking for. Can't recommend it enough.

The only cons are the 5400rpm hard drive and the lack of USB 3.0. In all honesty 5400rpm is not that bad and it uses less battery than a 7200rpm. I'll probably upgrade it to a SSD somewhere down the line when I find a good deal. And as for USB 3.0 I don't have any USB 3.0 devices so I don't really care. I have a whole bunch of USB memory sticks but they're all 2.0 and I don't use them that much.