Looking for <$750 Laptop For College, Light/Medium Gaming

[cousi2344]

1. What is your budget?
Expecting to spend between $500 and $750.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
15.6" or less due to backpack constraints.

3. What screen resolution do you want?
Doesn't matter.

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Doesn't matter.

5. How much battery life do you need?
4 or more hours would be preferable, but the more the better.

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)?
Rocket League, Battlefield 4, Stellaris, Rebel Galaxy, Total War Attila, Arma 3 (Low to Medium).

If I could get something that will run Hitman 2016 at lowest settings I'd be ecstatic. However, I have a sufficient gaming desktop, so this is more of a best case scenario -- I'd only go that high-end if the price is right.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Programming, basic school/leisure activities, messing around with Unity, etc.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
Doesn't matter too much, since I have a 960GB SSD I could swap in if necessary. If possible, I'd love for there to be a 2nd hard drive bay so I can use my SSD alongside whatever it comes with.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
Doesn't matter.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
Hopefully through college (3-4 years)

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
Would like at least a DVD drive, but anything else is a bonus.

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.
Doesn't matter as long as the build quality is alright.

13. What country do you live in?
USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
Looking to replace a Lenovo Y480 that died on me yesterday (i7, 650M graphics, 8GB RAM). I'd be great with around that level of performance, although I'd even take a downgrade for a good deal since I didn't have my desktop when I bought the Y480 and that's taken on the majority of the gaming and other high-load activities.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Chugalug_]

I'll get a couple of options back to you in 10.

 

[Chugalug_]

I'm afraid there's not much that will let you run Hitman 2016 at playable frame rates in that price range, you'd need a 970M to do that, but they start in the mid-high 900s unfortunately.
Here is what I recommend: http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315302&cm_re=Lptop-_-34-315-302-_-Product
It will let you do light gaming like CS:GO and League at great settings at 60fps.

 

[cousi2344]

I'm afraid there's not much that will let you run Hitman 2016 at playable frame rates in that price range, you'd need a 970M to do that, but they start in the mid-high 900s unfortunately.
Here is what I recommend: http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315302&cm_re=Lptop-_-34-315-302-_-Product
It will let you do light gaming like CS:GO and League at great settings at 60fps.

Yeah, I figured that Hitman would be a pipe dream. Anyway, would this:

https/www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-NVIDIA-Windows-E5-575G-53VG/dp/B01DT4A2R4/175-9095633-8972462?ie=UTF8&ascsubtag=4ef53748126a11e68f96669e9dd9ded80INT&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=slicinc-20

be a better option than the one you linked? This got shown to me in a thread on another forum, the only major difference I'm seeing is an X tacked on to the GPU name (940M vs. 940MX). Is there actually a difference between those two, and would it be worth paying $20 more for?

 

[Chugalug_]

That's a great deal.
The MX isn't much more powerful than the 940M, but I'd buy it for the SSD, as it will be much faster at booting.
I've only ever found overpriced laptops on Amazon, but that's a bargain.

 

[cousi2344]

That's a great deal.
The MX isn't much more powerful than the 940M, but I'd buy it for the SSD, as it will be much faster at booting.
I've only ever found overpriced laptops on Amazon, but that's a bargain.

Thanks for the help! I just saw one more while I was looking: http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315305&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-Skimlinks-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3987228&SID=skim94719X1549180X785f17574e26bcae6343b4e87aa66fcf

How do you think this compares to the two we've already discussed? Also as a comment on the SSD, I have a 960GB SSD in my old computer that is still working, and I should be able to throw that one into whatever new computer I get. So the size of the SSD that comes with it doesn't matter too much to me.

 

[Chugalug_]

I guess you can, although i'm confused as to why you needed a 1TB SSD in the first place!
Nah, not great value.
The second one is the best out of the three, enjoy!