Budget Laptop Advice Needed

[Pezcore27]

1. What is your budget? $400-500 USD

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? 15.6" screen size

3. What screen resolution do you want? 1366x768 (15.6" screen resolution as minimum)

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? both

5. How much battery life do you need? 5+ hours preferred

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)? Low is fine

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.) Web Surfing, E-mailing Photos, Uploading Photos, Light Gaming

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? 500gb preffered

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links. www.microcenter.com

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? 2-3 years

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? DVD ROM/Writer

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons. HP, ASUS, ACER

13. What country do you live in? USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed. See Below

I currently have a nice gaming tower, but I am looking for a decent budget laptop to take with me when I travel for work or just for when I am lounging around the house. The only games that could possibly be played on this will be GW2 and Diablo 3. I do not care about playing on the highest settings, as long as I can log on and play, I am fine with that.

I found this laptop from Microcenter and it seems to be a pretty decent deal.

http/www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0383134

I am planning on buying either tonight or tomorrow so just wanted some opinions on this laptop as I am new to laptops.

Thanks!

 

[WR2]

Staples has a special on for
Samsung Series 3 15.6" Laptop $450
AMD A6-3430MX 1.8Ghz APU, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 15.6" 1366x768 LCD w/ Radeon HD 6520G graphics.

 

[WR2]

MicroCenter has a Samsung Series 3 for $469.99 with a bit slower A6-3420MX APU

Lenovo G570 15.6" Laptop $450
Core i5-2450M 2.5Ghz CPU, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 15.6" 1366x768 LCD w/ HD 3000 Graphics

HP ProBook 4530s 15.6" Laptop $430
Core i3-2350M 2.3Ghz CPU, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 15.6" 1366x768 anti-glare matte LCD w/ HD 3000 Graphics.

 

[WR2]

Besides the $400 Pavilion g6 Core i3 notebook you already mentioned:

@ $400 from Microcenter: Acer Aspire AS5560 15" Laptop
AMD A6-3400M 1.5Ghz APU, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 15.6" 1366x768 LCD w/ Radeon HD 6520G graphics

 

[cbrunnem]

Stay away from and cpus they aren't very good.

 

[Avro Arrow]

AMD CPUs aren't any good? Well my laptop has an AMD A8-3500M and I'm damn glad I have the Radeon HD 6620G graphics over the COMPLETELY HORRIBLE Intel HD 3000 excuse for a graphics processor which is all you get with an Intel laptop at your price point. The difference between the speed of an Intel i5 and the Quad-Core AMD-A8's CPU side are mere seconds of load time that you'd never notice. On the other hand, the difference in graphics quality and performance is HUGE. Here's the tomshardware review of the AMD A8-3500M:
http/www.tomshardware.com/reviews/a8-3500m-llano-apu,2959.html
Here's an almost identical to mine (this one is a tad faster than mine) for $500:
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215258
This thing can even play Skyrim at medium settings, so you know everything else will be ok. Read the review, remember that the ones doing the review are generally more qualified than we lowly forum posters (which is why they do the reviews and we just post).

 

[cbrunnem]

AMD CPUs aren't any good? Well my laptop has an AMD A8-3500M and I'm damn glad I have the Radeon HD 6620G graphics over the COMPLETELY HORRIBLE Intel HD 3000 excuse for a graphics processor which is all you get with an Intel laptop at your price point. The difference between the speed of an Intel i5 and the Quad-Core AMD-A8's CPU side are mere seconds of load time that you'd never notice. On the other hand, the difference in graphics quality and performance is HUGE. Here's the tomshardware review of the AMD A8-3500M:
http/www.tomshardware.com/reviews/a8-3500m-llano-apu,2959.html
Here's an almost identical to mine (this one is a tad faster than mine) for $500:
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215258
This thing can even play Skyrim at medium settings, so you know everything else will be ok. Read the review, remember that the ones doing the review are generally more qualified than we lowly forum posters (which is why they do the reviews and we just post).

take it easy there you known amd fan boy. i said amd CPU not APU and you say that now but wait till hd 4000 it will be much closer.

 

[Pezcore27]

Sorry I had honestly forgot about this thread, until I got the e-mail reminder.

I ended up picking up the HP laptop I origonall linked. It worked great for the diablo 3 open beta weekend and plays some other games just fine on med. settings, so it is exactly what I was looking for in a budget, around the house laptop.

 

[Pezcore27]

Best answer selected by Pezcore27.