Help looking for a budget Minecraft laptop

[Mackans Mum]

Hi,

My daughter wants a gaming laptop but it is basically for playing Minecraft, watching Netflix and YouTube videos, web browsing, etc. If I was in the UK I would go into a shop and ask their advice but I’m in Sweden now so I generally buy from HP direct because of reliability and support, and I know the spec of business laptops.

My daughter wants it for Christmas and I want to buy it soon and put it by for her. I have narrowed it down to two options but don’t know which one to pick.


HP Envy 15-j160 i7-4700MQ (2.4 GHz, 6 MB cache), 8 GB RAM DDR3L SDRAM, 1 TB HD with flash cache NVIDIA GeForce GT 840M g (2 GB dedicated DDR3) 4490kr
OR
HP Pavilion 15-p155no AMD Quad-Core A10-5745M APU (2.1 GHz, 4 MB cache), 8 GB DDR3 RAM, 500 GB HD, AMD Radeon R7 M260-grafik (2 GB DDR3L dedicated) 7990kr
OR

I would prefer to buy her a desktop because it is more expandable and had looked at this one:

HP Pavilion 500-3170no AMD Quad-Core A10-6700 APU (3.7 GHz, 4 MB cache), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745 (4GB DDR3 dedicated), 12GB (1x8 GB + 1x4 GB), 1 TB HD, flash cache (16 GB) 5490kr


Which one of these is the best for my daughter’s uses or are there any other better ones out there on the same budget?

She really wants a laptop and it will be predominately used for Minecraft with mods, shaders (I think that’s what it’s called), etc.

The maximum budget I want to spend is around 8000kr (600 GBP) but I would prefer to spend about 5000kr (350 GBP). Remember I’m in Sweden so we have limited choice here.

Thanks in advance
.

 

[jaguarskx]

Desktops are more expandable, but laptops are good from a student perspective because they are portable and can be used to take notes in class and do homework just about anywhere.

The HP Envy 15-j160 will definitely have no problems playing Minecraft, but the CPU itself is overkill since the game does not use 4 cores. If you can drop down to a dual core CPU it will cut down on the price and improve battery life.

 

[DarthVader61425]

If I was you I would definitely go for the desktop because if she wants to run shaders at a decent FPS she's gonna need a very good computer or laptop but to get a decent gaming laptop you'll have to pay more than the desktop, but for the desktop you need to buy headphones, a screen, a keyboard and a mouse so both of them have downsides.

Laptops are only good if you travel a lot or move out a lot but if you go on vacation like 2-3 times a year I don't see why you should get a laptop but here are my choices I ranked them, basically 1 is better than 2 and 2 is better 3.

1. Desktop : HP Pavilion 500-3170no AMD Quad-Core A10-6700 APU (3.7 GHz, 4 MB cache), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745 (4GB DDR3 dedicated), 12GB (1x8 GB + 1x4 GB), 1 TB HD, flash cache (16 GB) 5490kr

2. Laptop : HP Envy 15-j160 i7-4700MQ (2.4 GHz, 6 MB cache), 8 GB RAM DDR3L SDRAM, 1 TB HD with flash cache NVIDIA GeForce GT 840M g (2 GB dedicated DDR3) 4490kr

3. HP Pavilion 15-p155no AMD Quad-Core A10-5745M APU (2.1 GHz, 4 MB cache), 8 GB DDR3 RAM, 500 GB HD, AMD Radeon R7 M260-grafik (2 GB DDR3L dedicated) 7990kr