Laptop for $ 500-600

[cluelesskid]

Hi,

I just want to know what are the great types of laptops can I find for that budget. I am starting as a new game design club member where I have to edit videos and render them; plus I need adequate amount of space and ram for coding different files and also to run virtual machines for mac, linux and windows without any lag. Also last but not least maybe play some game in mid setting like Tera, Diablo 3 and CSGO when the time occurs.

It would be helpful to get this laptop to meet all these criteria.

Thanks,
Abdullah

 

[Laptop_Nerd]

Hi,

Here are some of my suggestion based from your budget and where you'll be using it for.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834232600
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834298169
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834232437

But I would go for the 3rd one since you'll need a good graphics card as well considering where you'll be using the laptop for.

 

[cluelesskid]

Hi,

Here are some of my suggestion based from your budget and where you'll be using it for.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834232600
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834298169
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834232437

But I would go for the 3rd one since you'll need a good graphics card as well considering where you'll be using the laptop for.

Wow those are some great choices especially from ASUS. Better than I expected. Is there any other with dedicated graphics like ASUS X555LB-NS71? That kind of price range is ok.

I also find this computer with 12 GB memory. How much influence should memory vs GPU have when I am looking to meet my criteria.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834261454&cm_re=Intel_Core_i7_5500U_iron_egg-_-34-261-454-_-Product

 

[naturesninja]

I really wish laptop nerd would remove that "Laptop Expert" badge. I'm not normally one to call people out, but you rarely, if ever know what you are talking about and just give poor advice around the board. Laptop_Nerd is not a laptop expert by any means. He gives poor advice to people who don't know better, and they select his answer as best. It's really sad.
Here are some PROPER selections:
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315131
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834232376&cm_re=asus_940m-_-34-232-376-_-Product

 

[JeppeSchultz]

Would a laptop with these specs:
Intel Core i5-5200U
Intel HD Graphics 5500
4GB DDR3L
Be able to play light games such as CSGO and League of Legends at a smooth famerate (not necessarily at highest graphic settings)?

 

[naturesninja]

Sure, but those can be had for $400 or less. Offering one for over $500 is not cool.

 

[orlbuckeye]

The Nvidia 940 is listed as a 2nd class graphics card (Mid-range)

http/www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-940M.138027.0.html

 

[cluelesskid]

I really wish laptop nerd would remove that "Laptop Expert" badge. I'm not normally one to call people out, but you rarely, if ever know what you are talking about and just give poor advice around the board. Laptop_Nerd is not a laptop expert by any means. He gives poor advice to people who don't know better, and they select his answer as best. It's really sad.
Here are some PROPER selections:
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315131
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834232376&cm_re=asus_940m-_-34-232-376-_-Product

So are you saying the difference between i5 5200U and intel i7 5500U is not worth extra 100$?

 

[orlbuckeye]

I really wish laptop nerd would remove that "Laptop Expert" badge. I'm not normally one to call people out, but you rarely, if ever know what you are talking about and just give poor advice around the board. Laptop_Nerd is not a laptop expert by any means. He gives poor advice to people who don't know better, and they select his answer as best. It's really sad.
Here are some PROPER selections:
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315131
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834232376&cm_re=asus_940m-_-34-232-376-_-Product

So are you saying the difference between i5 5200U and intel i7 5500U is not worth extra 100$?

 

[orlbuckeye]

You are really looking to do 1000 dollar things in a 500 or 600 dollar laptop.

 

[naturesninja]

The i7 5500u is just a slightly overclocked i5 5200u from the factory. It's not the traditional i7 that I would recommend over an i5 due to the large price gap. There actually is a quad i7 with a 940m on newegg that sells for $599 (look below add to cart)http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0AJ39Y8056&cm_re=acer_940m-_-34-315-062-_-Product , but they are currently out of stock, otherwise I would have recommended that for your rendering, vm, needs. If you are willing to wait you can put it on auto notify to let you know when its back in stock. It usually pops up every few weeks, and sells out quickly. Most laptops in the $500-800 range will contain the u series i5's and i7's, therefore I don't recommend any other laptop until you hit the $800+ price due to anything in between usually only having the advantage of a 950m, and that's not something to pay hundreds more for. Laptop prices are weird, and can wildly fluctuate between features and price. So as of the moment, there are only three or four laptops I can honestly recommend to someone under $1k as good performance/price values. The others would be overpriced for what you get. The Acer I linked earlier can be equipped with an extra 8GB of RAM and an SSD with the factory 1TB HDD put into the empty drive bay for less than $600 (it's $489 at time of posted link).
i5/940m/16GB RAM/250GB SSD/1TB HDD/1080p for $600 won't be touched or anything else even come close to hardware for your $. The ASUS is also good, but is more of a brand preference option vs actual value. Either way, good luck to you!

 

[naturesninja]

I must apologize to laptop nerd for my response earlier. I was being a bit immature, and everyone has a right to their opinion. My apologies, and hope that good future collaboration only comes of it.

 

[cluelesskid]

I must apologize to laptop nerd for my response earlier. I was being a bit immature, and everyone has a right to their opinion. My apologies, and hope that good future collaboration only comes of it.

I think I can stretch my budget to 800-900 $, but no more than 900. Also I want to know what can i get if I am willing to pay 1000$. How much would that two option open up my possibilities more to meeting all my criteria for running virtual machines, coding software, rendering files/ videos and playing high quality games like Fury 4, tera, CSGO and any other games.

 

[naturesninja]

At $900: i7 4720HQ/4GB 960m/8GB RAM/1TB HDD/1080p IPS/available m.2 SATA slot: http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314849&cm_re=960m-_-34-314-849-_-Product But it's currently sold out, so you'd have to put it on notify. There is also a 17.3" version of this for $1k that is available, though. There are a few other brands all over $900 that have similar specs, except they don't have IPS panel monitors or the 4GB 960M, which would help out if you wanted to plug in a second monitor for multitasking over the 2GB version. It would also perform a tiny tiny bit better in some games. If you wanted to skip the IPS, at just over $1k You can move up a step to a 17.3"/4800MQ/870m which would perform a little better in everything over the the Acer I linked: https/www.dealscube.com/index.php?module=listings&controller=listing&action=details&id=4408&gclid=CPCK2bPP8McCFQ86gQod0OYMGw
There aren't really any ones I recommend in between the $500-600 ones I posted earlier and these. Simply because the next step up over the $500-600 ones will start at about $850 right now. And the $900 Acer I posted is a big step up over any of those. So the extra $50 will net you a better CPU, GPU, Screen, and a M2. SATA slot. For $50 difference is why I can't recommend any others.

 

[orlbuckeye]

These babies are coming from Acer as they are getting serious with gaming laptops

http/www.acer.com/predator/en_US/predator_17.html

 

[cluelesskid]

At $900: i7 4720HQ/4GB 960m/8GB RAM/1TB HDD/1080p IPS/available m.2 SATA slot: http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314849&cm_re=960m-_-34-314-849-_-Product But it's currently sold out, so you'd have to put it on notify. There is also a 17.3" version of this for $1k that is available, though. There are a few other brands all over $900 that have similar specs, except they don't have IPS panel monitors or the 4GB 960M, which would help out if you wanted to plug in a second monitor for multitasking over the 2GB version. It would also perform a tiny tiny bit better in some games. If you wanted to skip the IPS, at just over $1k You can move up a step to a 17.3"/4800MQ/870m which would perform a little better in everything over the the Acer I linked: https/www.dealscube.com/index.php?module=listings&controller=listing&action=details&id=4408&gclid=CPCK2bPP8McCFQ86gQod0OYMGw
There aren't really any ones I recommend in between the $500-600 ones I posted earlier and these. Simply because the next step up over the $500-600 ones will start at about $850 right now. And the $900 Acer I posted is a big step up over any of those. So the extra $50 will net you a better CPU, GPU, Screen, and a M2. SATA slot. For $50 difference is why I can't recommend any others.

Ok,

I came down to three computers:
http/www.amazon.com/GL551JW-DS71-15-6-Inch-GeForce-Discrete-Graphics/dp/B00T7XRH2A/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8
http/www.amazon.com/MSI-GE72-APACHE-264-17-3-Inch-Gaming/dp/B0141H0AI4/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8
http/www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-VN7-591G-70RT-15-6-Inch-Gaming/dp/B00WJSQRNK/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1443728649&sr=8-5&keywords=GTX+960M

The review section scares me for all 3 laptops especially Acer; so I was thinking of ASUS where there is way more positive review. So can you help me decide?

Of course if you have better offer then please do tell.

 

[Mike Fulton]

Hi,

I just want to know what are the great types of laptops can I find for that budget. I am starting as a new game design club member where I have to edit videos and render them; plus I need adequate amount of space and ram for coding different files and also to run virtual machines for mac, linux and windows without any lag. Also last but not least maybe play some game in mid setting like Tera, Diablo 3 and CSGO when the time occurs.

It would be helpful to get this laptop to meet all these criteria.

Thanks,
Abdullah

May I suggest that you consider a used machine? A few months ago I got a really nice Asus G750JW for $800. It was in practically brand-new condition and I saw plenty of other options in the $500-$600 range that would easily meet your criteria.

If you buy off Craigslist, you do have to be careful about getting a stolen machine, but it's not that hard to avoid. One good test is to ask when they bought it and why they're selling it. This is an in-person or telephone thing, not email or texting. The bad guys usually have to stop and think a few seconds about their answer about before responding. The OK guys have reasonable answers and don't have to stop and think about it.

 

[cluelesskid]

Hi,

I just want to know what are the great types of laptops can I find for that budget. I am starting as a new game design club member where I have to edit videos and render them; plus I need adequate amount of space and ram for coding different files and also to run virtual machines for mac, linux and windows without any lag. Also last but not least maybe play some game in mid setting like Tera, Diablo 3 and CSGO when the time occurs.

It would be helpful to get this laptop to meet all these criteria.

Thanks,
Abdullah

May I suggest that you consider a used machine? A few months ago I got a really nice Asus G750JW for $800. It was in practically brand-new condition and I saw plenty of other options in the $500-$600 range that would easily meet your criteria.

If you buy off Craigslist, you do have to be careful about getting a stolen machine, but it's not that hard to avoid. One good test is to ask when they bought it and why they're selling it. This is an in-person or telephone thing, not email or texting. The bad guys usually have to stop and think a few seconds about their answer about before responding. The OK guys have reasonable answers and don't have to stop and think about it.

I will not try used machine because of the limited warranty but might go for refurbished because they have 1 year warranty usualy, and if you guys find similar specs at lower price for refurbished laptop. I will consider that as an option.

 

[naturesninja]

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152739R&cm_re=960m-_-34-152-739R-_-Product Open box, but still retains full factory warranty.

Refurb- http/www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-Y50-1080P-IPS-Quad-Core-i7-4720HQ-8GB-1TB-8GB-SSHD-GTX960M-Gaming-Laptop-/151825026659?hash=item23597a0e63

New other- http/www.ebay.com/itm/New-Lenovo-Y50-1080P-IPS-i7-4720HQ-8GB-1TB-8GB-SSHD-GTX960M-2GB-Gaming-Laptop-PC-/161840157609?hash=item25ae6cd3a9

 

[cluelesskid]

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152739R&cm_re=960m-_-34-152-739R-_-Product Open box, but still retains full factory warranty.

Refurb- http/www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-Y50-1080P-IPS-Quad-Core-i7-4720HQ-8GB-1TB-8GB-SSHD-GTX960M-Gaming-Laptop-/151825026659?hash=item23597a0e63

New other- http/www.ebay.com/itm/New-Lenovo-Y50-1080P-IPS-i7-4720HQ-8GB-1TB-8GB-SSHD-GTX960M-2GB-Gaming-Laptop-PC-/161840157609?hash=item25ae6cd3a9

So I ended up buying this :
http/www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-ge72-apache-pro-242-17-3-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-aluminum-black/4544311.p?id=1219764043956&skuId=4544311

Is there anything I should know about? Before getting this type of laptop?