I need advice on buying a laptop

[JimmyJoeBob]

I've moved on from my last thread to here and I think ive narrowed it down to the HP Envy. I trust the brand and the laptops I'm looking at both seem sound

Option 1 (preferred)
http/m.store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/Laptops/hp-envy---15z--m7k39av-1#

Option 2
http/m.store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/Laptops/hp-envy---15t-l4r36av-1#/choices/choice/L4R36AV.OperatingSystem

I am a student so no, a desktop is unnecessary. I plan on doing schoolwork with light gaming. I want to be able to run LoL and other low intensity games on at least mid settings smoothly (low settings are fine if I can save money)

I'm just wondering what options I should look at and if you think they are fine computers for school and light gaming

Thanks ahead of time for any help

 

[middlemarkal]

the second one with a gpu 940m or 950m, less then that and most games won't play.

 

[JimmyJoeBob]

Ugh I've heard so many different things from so many people tho

 

[itmoba]

Do not buy an HP laptop as they are notoriously poorly built machines. However, if you're settled on HP then you should go with the second option. You should probably upgrade (1) the graphics card to an Nvidia GTX 950M to do any kind of gaming at medium quality, and (2) the HD to an SSD as it's less likely encounter a mechanical failure. As a student, the last thing you want is for the HD to encounter a mechanical failure, especially when you've written a 20-page essay analyzing E.A. Poe's "The Raven" or have written thousands of lines of code for some final project. Of course, if you're good at practicing making frequent backups you won't need to worry as much. If this isn't the case, then an SSD is the way to go.

 

[RoMee187]

I would go with the second one as well.
(1) I don't like integrated graphics, they share your system's ram
(2) With the second one you can install 2 drives (SSD+HDD)
(3) Discrete graphic card
(4) The second one is a little more future-proof

 

[Iamsoda]

the second one with a gpu 940m or 950m, less then that and most games won't play.

GTX 860m plays a mean 1080p high. To the OP: Buy a Lenovo y50 used for about $500-600. It is really good for gaming at 1080p.

 

[1shado1]

the second one with a gpu 940m or 950m, less then that and most games won't play.

GTX 860m plays a mean 1080p high.

The 860m is a better GPU than the 950m.

 

[Iamsoda]

the second one with a gpu 940m or 950m, less then that and most games won't play.

GTX 860m plays a mean 1080p high.

The 860m is a better GPU than the 950m.

Yep the 950m is better power efficiency.

 

[velo3100]

This is the best for you: http/m.store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/Laptops/hp-envy---15t-l4r36av-1#/choices/choice/L4R36AV.ProcessorGraphics out of the 2 choices above.