Customized Toshiba M640... looking for opinions!

[matthewjbarnard]

After a fair amount of research, I am ready to purchase a new laptop and I have settled on a customized Toshiba M640. I would appreciate comments on the specific build or Toshiba in general. If you have an alternative you would recommend (another brand or component) that would be great too.

Additionally, I have a question about the GPU. For $120 I can upgrade from integrated graphics to a NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 525M with NVIDIA® Optimus™ Technology with 1GB GDDR3 memory . Will I notice a huge difference between this card and the Intel HD 3000? I don't plan to do a lot of gaming but I do like the option for when I travel. Would people recommend I stick with onboard and save the money or pony up for the discreet card?

-Brand: Toshiba
-Model: M640-BT3N25X (customized M640)
-Bought From/Price: ToshibaDirect $$778.00
-OS: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
-CPU: Intel® Core™ i3-2310M Processor (2.1 GHz, 3MB Cache)
-Resolution: 1366x768 native screen resolution
-RAM: 4GB DDR3 1333MHz SDRAM (2048MBx2)
-HDD: 500GB HDD (7200rpm, Serial-ATA)
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): Internet, Office Apps, & Occasional Gaming/Multimedia
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): 3-4 hours

 

[WR2]

Hello MatthewJBa​rnard;

For $120 I can upgrade from integrated graphics to a NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 525M with NVIDIA® Optimus™ Technology with 1GB GDDR3 memory . Will I notice a huge difference between this card and the Intel HD 3000?

Maybe not 'huge' - maybe just 'big' - difference.

Intel HD Graphics 3000 review
NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M review

No gaming benchmarks yet for the GT 525M so I included the GT 425M for comparison.

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[matthewjbarnard]

Thanks, I think I'm going to go ahead with this purchase... appreciate the help!

 

[matthewjbarnard]

Best answer selected by matthewjbarnard.