Looking for a laptop for high school

[1bignerd99]

Hi. I'm looking for a laptop for high school that I want to last me 4-6 years. My budget is at $900. I need it for school and for playing all source games (tf2, cs:go, portal 2), BF3 and BF4. I want discrete graphics, and at max a 14" screen size. I was looking at the Ideapad Y410P. Could anyone provide me anymore suggestions?

 

[RealBeast]

You will not find a laptop that will play BF4 well, so don't expect it. Sadly, no laptop will be a great performer for 4-6 years. Every three or so years I buy the best available laptop (like $3K range) and am always unhappy with it after 18-24 months, especially for gaming.

If you need a laptop for actual schoolwork, then get the best that you can afford, otherwise get a desktop build that you can upgrade as your budget allows.

 

[1bignerd99]

You will not find a laptop that will play BF4 well, so don't expect it. Sadly, no laptop will be a great performer for 4-6 years. Every three or so years I buy the best available laptop (like $3K range) and am always unhappy with it after 18-24 months, especially for gaming.

If you need a laptop for actual schoolwork, then get the best that you can afford, otherwise get a desktop build that you can upgrade as your budget allows.

I probably will not end up playing many newer games that that (except half-life 3 ) I would be wondering if it would still be good for schoolwork by then. I also would not mind at all playing on lower settings. Any other suggestions would be welcome, but I need it to last me at least 4 years for other uses (schoolwork, internet, etc.) and especially those listed games.
I was considering building a desktop and getting an asus 11.6 X401A but my dad wants me to just get a laptop (right now he does not like my core 2 duo, 8400gs machine, he is on the verge of tossing it) and he is paying half, so it is mostly his decision.

 

[RealBeast]

If he really wants a laptop then I would look at the Dell Alienware 14" with an upgrade to the 256GB mSATA SSD and upgraded video from: http/www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-14/pd?oc=dkdaj01h&model_id=alienware-14 It is a bit beyond your budget, but perhaps it will help make the point that a laptop with equal capability is far more costly than a desktop.

 

[1bignerd99]

If he really wants a laptop then I would look at the Dell Alienware 14" with an upgrade to the 256GB mSATA SSD and upgraded video from: http/www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-14/pd?oc=dkdaj01h&model_id=alienware-14 It is a bit beyond your budget, but perhaps it will help make the point that a laptop with equal capability is far more costly than a desktop.

What are your thoughts on that y410p? I might buy a replacement ssd in the future (to replace the hdd, as the included one is m.2), but I believe that this would be a good compromise between price+performance and is in my budget and size, while still being portable.

 

[RealBeast]

The Ideapad Y410P is a very nice laptop that will do a good job for you -- and those are great prices on an i7 laptop. As you noted, the only slow part is the HDD and you can trade up to an SSD when your budget allows.

If you have the option, pay the extra to get installation media, and when you get it write down your Windows 8 activation code -- you will need it when you swap out the drive or ever need to fix the installation.