Looking for a Laptop under $500 (Work, Entertainment, "gaming)

[Red_1]

I do not know much about laptops, since I have been out of the computer world for a bit. Anyways I am a college student, and I am looking for a nice laptop under $500, I am willing to go up to $600 if needed to be ( I really don't want to due to well... COLLEGE) So I do a lot of writing, online pdf reading, surfing on the web, and watching netfilx. And the final part I do game so it would be nice to have a laptop that I can play games on such as Civ V, KSP, Minecraft. (fyi I do have a gaming computer so I do game on the desktop) In all a laptop that I can do some light gaming. Please help


*Edit*

( Is this a good one? http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834312830 )

 

[Red_1]

Anyone???

 

[OculusDRifter]

I think that Lenovo would be pretty decent, but you've got to keep your expectations low on the gaming capabilities with your price point. As in...you're not playing any games that haven't come out yet and you're probably not playing any games that have come out in the last 3 years that weren't designed to run on mobile devices.


My personal preference for laptops are refurbished E class Latitudes from Dell but they would push the top of your budget up a couple hundred bucks. I'll explain why I think they're worth it.

Pair one with an E-Port PRO2x replicator and you can dock and use it in "Desktop mode" at will. If you go with this configuration, you'll be able to hook a desktop monitor(or an HDTV with an HDMI-DVI cable) to the docking station and when you dock, your laptop will output its display to the monitor with no effort; the laptop identifies that it is docked and the port replicator does the work after you set it up once. The nifty thing here is that you can dock your laptop with the screen open and you'll be able to switch to a dual monitor setup with just 1 external monitor. As you might imagine, if you set up a dual external monitor setup (the PRO2x has two DVI-in and 2 DisplayPorts) and open your laptop, you immediately switch over to a 3-monitor desktop configuration that can be freely undocked and transported with the push of a button on the docking station.

Now, I personally think they are worth the extra money for how versatile they are (They're business class laptops) but it's going to be tough for you to find a laptop that will last you very long within your price range -unless you find something on a deep sale price. I'm looking at newegg right now for you:

(Had a couple spec'd out, but scrapped them when I came across this one)
...it really depends on how comfortable you would be with a refurb:
Dell Latitude E5410 Intel Core i5 520M(2.40GHz) 4GB RAM, 160GB HDD (meh) 14.1" screen ...this one would be weak on the gaming, but it's $343

Here's another:
(Open Box) Asus A55VD-NS51 Intel Core i5 3230M(2.60GHz) 6 GB Memory 500GB HDD 15.6" and an NVidia GeForce GT 610M...for $449.99

Another one:
Acer Aspire V5-572G-6679 Intel Core i5 3337U(1.80GHz) 6GB Memory 500GB HDD 15.6", NVidia GeForce GT 720M - $599.99

Send me a PM and I'll try and hook you up.

 

[jaguarskx]

The Lenovo G505s is not a bad choice and it should be fine for the games you want to play... but I'm not sure KSP is.

 

[jaguarskx]

Here's another:
(Open Box) Asus A55VD-NS51 Intel Core i5 3230M(2.60GHz) 6 GB Memory 500GB HDD 15.6" and an NVidia GeForce GT 610M...for $449.99

I would not bother with this one because the GT 610m is pretty weak. The integrate Intel HD 4000 actually has slightly better overall performance so having the GT 610m is more or less a waste.