Looking for a new laptop for Gaming and schoolwork

[Matthew Castaneda]

I'm looking at a couple laptops at different price ranges. I'll be using whichever one i pick for Gaming and schoolwork. Not sure what my budget is yet so these range from about 400-850 usd. Do you recommend any different ones for the price range? And are my choices good?
If you recommend one it should have all these qualifications:
CPU: Intel i5 or i7
GPU: preferably Nvidia but others are fine
Hard drive: 750gb+ (ssd doesn't matter)
Memory: 6gb+
Optical drive: dvd
Screen size: 15.6"
OS: Windows 8+
Preferred brands: MSI, HP, Lenovo, ASUS (open to other brands too)

The laptops I've picked:
MSI GP60 Leopard-010 http/www.xoticpc.com/msi-gp60-leopard010-p-6964.html
MSI cx61 2pc http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152586
HP Pavilion 15t-n200 TouchSmart http/www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/HP-Pavilion/F4W68AV?HP-Pavilion-15t-n200-TouchSmart-Notebook-PC-ENERGY-STAR-
Lenovo ideapad g510 http/shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/g-series/g510/

 

[wrathofdragon]

if you know a bit about computers, you should go to craigslist and look for a good used one. (i got a TOshiba Satellite S855 [6gb ram, core i-5 2450M, 7670m Radeon HD, 750 GB HDD, Extra charge battery, HDMI cables, Rat3 mouse, USB neon keyboard light, 1tb External HDD, and an awesome QuiteZ 8 fan cooling pad Custom made for this laptop] for only 500$$, just the laptop is listed at $788.59 at my local WorstBuy)

~~word of warning though, check it out before you buy it so that its not stolen or ruined~~

 

[HoneyNut]

Hey wassup, the one i'm suggesting is at around $800, but it has way better specs than all of those laptops. (BTW, honestly I feel like i'm super Lenovo biased, but that's just me) You can look at the Lenovo Y series, they all have i7 processors (quad core, great for multitasking) 1TB of space (most of the models have ssds with the hard drive) better GPUs than the 4 you picked, BUT the big drawback is the screen size and resolution. The Y510p's cheapest model has 15.6, but only has 1366x768 resolution. The next cheapest model on the 510ps exceeds your budget. On the Y410p, the 2nd and 3rd cheapest models have 1600x900, but only have screen sizes of 14.

IMO hardware wise, the Lenovo Y series beats all the 4 computers you picked in most aspects and fits in your budget.
Here's the link for the Y series.

http/shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/

I'm pretty sure there are similar laptops like these at somewhat similar prices like some of HP's laptop if you customize them, but they don't come with a one year warranty, and if you do put a one year warranty on the HP, it's probably going to go out of your budget range if you put similar specs to the Y series.

 

[Matthew Castaneda]

Thanks HoneyNut, i already looked at the Lenovo y's, and the y510p has the extra slot for a 2nd gpu or an optical drive, but they have never released the actual optical drive for it, and i want one of those. So for that price point, i still prefer the msi's. Maybe I'm just msi biased. Thanks for the answer though!

 

[HoneyNut]

Have you looked at the HP Envy Series?

 

[Matthew Castaneda]

HoneyNut, just found a y510p with an optical drive, I'm considering that laptop now.

 

[Matthew Castaneda]

Don't really like the Envy's, the silver metal look makes them look like MacBooks (bleh) plus most don't have optical drives.

 

[HoneyNut]

Haha, that came out of nowhere.

But yea, I was confused when you said that they didn't have optical drives.

 

[Matthew Castaneda]

Yeah, thought that the "ultrabay" on the y510p only cane stock with a 2nd gpu.