Best bang for my buck

[barons77]

Ok so I'm looking to get my girlfriend a laptop for her birthday. It doesnt need to be anything top of the line, just something she can watch movies and play facebook games and stuff. I want to get something relatively reliable. I'm currently choosing between these 3

HP DV7 4285-dx
i5-460m processor
HD 6370 gpu
6gb ram

Acer Aspire 7741G-6426
15-480m processor
HD 6550 gpu
4 gb ddr3

Thanks for the replies

 

[blazorthon]

What is your budget?

 

[fb39ca4]

The Acer has better specs, you won't be losing out on much by getting 4GB of RAM instead of 6. However, take into account battery life, screen, keyboard, and build quality as well. What happened to the other system, you said you were choosing between three?

 

[blazorthon]

If you can fit it into your budget, I'd recommend an APU laptop at this time. A8+affordable discrete (such as a 7670M) can be had for under $600 in some places and it's pretty fast for a cheap laptop, especially one that cheap, while still having four decent cores. If possible, a Trinity laptop would be even better, but I don't think that they're out yet (they should be soon). AMD often has better battery life than Intel right now, albeit at the sacrifice of some CPU performance (not important for gaming at this time, but Trinity helps this a lot if you're interested).

If you want Intel, then I'd recommend at least getting something with more graphics performance than either of these if you can. They kinda suck. A lot. Some Intel laptops have some pretty good graphics cards, although they tend to be Nvidia (IDK if you'd prefer AMD or if you don't care).

 

[barons77]

sorry i decided against the third. Im trying to keep it around 400-450 dollars

 

[lunyone]

If you can fit it into your budget, I'd recommend an APU laptop at this time. A8+affordable discrete (such as a 7670M) can be had for under $600 in some places and it's pretty fast for a cheap laptop, especially one that cheap, while still having four decent cores. If possible, a Trinity laptop would be even better, but I don't think that they're out yet (they should be soon). AMD often has better battery life than Intel right now, albeit at the sacrifice of some CPU performance (not important for gaming at this time, but Trinity helps this a lot if you're interested).

If you want Intel, then I'd recommend at least getting something with more graphics performance than either of these if you can. They kinda suck. A lot.

Where are these <$600 deals on the A8 + 7670m??

 

[blazorthon]

Where are these <$600 deals on the A8 + 7670m??

One good example is HP. They have one such laptop where you can put an A8 and a 7670M in the hardware through the customization menu on HP's site before you order. HP often has sales where it costs just slightly over $600 to do this and HP also gives away free coupon codes (you can often use multiple codes too). For example, I have a $100 off code and a 10% off code that I could use or just give to OP because HP keeps sending me emails with them since I registered my printer. It could cost under $500-550 (if not on sale right now) with the codes.

I've seen several other places (especially through companies that build you custom laptops from barebones kits for very low prices) that can have similar deals from time to time. Sometimes, you have to go down to an A6 if stuff isn't on-sale and you don't have codes, but it's still pretty similar if you get an A6 MX with 1600MHz memory instead of an A8 with 1333MHz memory. If you don't mind installing your own memory and selling what comes with the laptop, this is even cheaper.

Llano has been going down in price lately, especially since Trinity has gotten more attention.

There are almost as good deals on some new Intel laptops too, but they're a little harder to find IMO, although they are there. They tend to not be quite as great, but if OP doesn't want the hassle of a CF system such as what I've described, they might be preferable.

 

[lunyone]

One good example is HP. They have one such laptop where you can put an A8 and a 7670M in the hardware through the customization menu on HP's site before you order. HP often has sales where it costs just slightly over $600 to do this and HP also gives away free coupon codes (you can often use multiple codes too). For example, I have a $100 off code and a 10% off code that I could use or just give to OP because HP keeps sending me emails with them since I registered my printer. It could cost under $500-550 (if not on sale right now) with the codes.

I've seen several other places (especially through companies that build you custom laptops from barebones kits for very low prices) that can have similar deals from time to time. Sometimes, you have to go down to an A6 if stuff isn't on-sale and you don't have codes, but it's still pretty similar if you get an A6 MX with 1600MHz memory instead of an A8 with 1333MHz memory. If you don't mind installing your own memory and selling what comes with the laptop, this is even cheaper.

Llano has been going down in price lately, especially since Trinity has gotten more attention.

There are almost as good deals on some new Intel laptops too, but they're a little harder to find IMO, although they are there. They tend to not be quite as great, but if OP doesn't want the hassle of a CF system such as what I've described, they might be preferable.

Interesting information, but I'm not too hip on HP (have had some issues with them on a friends build and I've read probably too much about some of their issues). I'm not sure if HP has made some better laptops recently, but I'm just a bit cautious with them.

Do you have any particular links that I can look at that can direct me to those <$600 laptops with a8's and dedicated GPU's? I'll probably be buying this week, so I'm looking hard right now.

Currently I'm looking at:
$500 shipped!
lenovo IdeaPad Z575 (12992PU) Notebook AMD A-Series A6-3420M(1.5GHz) 15.6" 6GB Memory DDR3 1333 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW AMD Radeon HD 6650M

& @ $400 (when it comes back in stock, if it does)
ASUS K53TA-BBR6 Notebook AMD A-Series A6-3400M(1.4GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory DDR3 500GB HDD AMD Radeon HD 6650M

 

[blazorthon]

Interesting information, but I'm not too hip on HP (have had some issues with them on a friends build and I've read probably too much about some of their issues). I'm not sure if HP has made some better laptops recently, but I'm just a bit cautious with them.

Do you have any particular links that I can look at that can direct me to those <$600 laptops with a8's and dedicated GPU's? I'll probably be buying this week, so I'm looking hard right now.

Currently I'm looking at:
$500 shipped!
lenovo IdeaPad Z575 (12992PU) Notebook AMD A-Series A6-3420M(1.5GHz) 15.6" 6GB Memory DDR3 1333 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW AMD Radeon HD 6650M

& @ $400 (when it comes back in stock, if it does)
ASUS K53TA-BBR6 Notebook AMD A-Series A6-3400M(1.4GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory DDR3 500GB HDD AMD Radeon HD 6650M

http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/Laptops?SearchParameter=%26%40QueryTerm%3D*%26CategoryUUIDLevelX%3DjeEQxXjbj14AAAE0syxcZzOW%26Processor_facet_DTE2%3DAMD%26%40Sort.TieredPricing%3D0&PageSize=15

The first one with an A6 by default (should say it costs $600 and is on sale for $500) has an A6 and comes with a Radeon 7690M. You can up it to an A8-3550MX and still be under $570, but not with the 7670M, but with the even more powerful 7690M. I also have that $100 of coupon code if anyone is interested. This laptop comes with a 640GB HDD and 6GB of DDR3 memory (presumably 1333MHz, but I don't think that it specifies), is 15.6", and upping the battery to a powerful 9 cell battery instead of the default 6 cell battery brings it up to just under $600... Add in the $100 coupon and you can do even better. I seem to have greatly underestimated HP's price drops.

 

[barons77]

wow thats a great deal. id definitely be interested in the coupon code.

 

[lunyone]

Blazorthon: I would gladly accept the $100 coupon, if you don't have any use for it. You can email me at lunyone@yahoo.com, if you like. I might consider the A6 w/possibly the 1920x1080 screen, but I'd be in the $550 range, which is pushing my limits. I don't know if the upgrade to A8 is warranted, from several OC'ing posts that I've read.

What do you think about the quality of the HP laptops??

 

[blazorthon]

I don't know if the code can be used twice... However, if not, then I'l look through my emails for what other codes I have so you can both get something discounted.

Personally, HP laptops are generally decent IMO, but I'm thinking that the stock RAM might be better off being replaced since not much info is given about it. Thankfully, RAM is often one of the easiest components to replace, if not the easiest. I've read a good deal about this particular laptop and so far, what I've seen has been fairly positive, except for some people not knowing which driver to install for CF (AMD's catalyst 12.6 is what I recommend for it).

 

[lunyone]

That would be really cool Blazorthon! I appreciate whatever you can do. I was thinking the A6 3430MX would be a good compromise for $20 more Also I think I'd like the 1080p resolution monitor too

 

[blazorthon]

Oh sorry guys, the $100 coupon is only for Ivy Bridge i7 laptops and the rest expired recently... Really sorry about that guys. You can give them a try anyway, but they aren't working when I test them.
$100
NBQD6345
10%
387208462

Still, OP, you can get a laptop far better than you planed and for $500-$600 and so can you, lunyone... Nothing to balk at, but yeah, sorry about the coupon mix-up.

 

[barons77]

no problem. thanks a lot for the input

 

[blazorthon]

Glad to help

 

[blazorthon]

That would be really cool Blazorthon! I appreciate whatever you can do. I was thinking the A6 3430MX would be a good compromise for $20 more Also I think I'd like the 1080p resolution monitor too

Well, it wouldn't play 1080p with the settings maxed out in games such as BF3 and Metro 2033 (or even more intensive), but it would do very well, especially if you get 1600MHz RAM. The MXs are necessary for 1600MHz RAM support and I agree, it is a good compromise. The $50 that you save can pay for 8GB of high-quality 1600MHz memory while letting you sell the memory that the laptop comes with. A6-MX+1600MHz memory is about as good as A8/A8-MX+1333MHz memory, although A8-MX+1600MHz beats both configurations. Adding in the 7690M is just another even larger performance boost, probably more than double performance without the 7690M (which is already fairly good)... These are great laptops for the money. I think that I'll get one sometime too.

 

[lunyone]

Well the $150 for the HD upgrade on the screen is a bit steep! I think I might go with the A6 MX CPU and then later upgrade to 8 gb's 1600 mHz DDR3. I would like the HD screen, but this would put the budget up to $650 + the $20 CPU upgrade 🙁 Still is a decent price for $520 (base config w/$20 A6 MX upgrade).