Need Help Finding the Best Bang for your Buck Laptop!

jarblater

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Jan 21, 2013
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Hi, and thanks for reading.

-I have a $400 dollar budget,

-screen resolution doesn't matter,

-but higher resolution is always better,

-I am replacing my XPS 1640 (Core 2 Duo P8600, Mobility Radeon HD 3670, 4 GB DDR3, 500 GB 5400 RPM, Windows 7) because I need higher performance, and I dropped it on the charger port so the battery no longer charges and when I tried to repair it I stripped one of the screws I needed to remove in order to be able to re-seat the charger port

-Battery life doesn't matter

-I will be playing games (Crysis 3, League of Legends, Star Craft 2: Heart of The Swarm, Bioshock: Infinite, World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, Planetside 2) in game settings don't matter as long as they are technically playable (35 FPS)

-I am considering buying from Xotic PC, TigerDirect and Newegg
--http://www.xoticpc.com/custom-gaming-laptops-notebooks-business-government-laptops-ct-118_100_104.html
--http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/guidedSearch.asp?CatId=17&sel=Price%3BPrice5
--http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006740%20600165139%204019&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20

-I plan to keep the laptop for as long as possible under optimistic circumstances, I will probably upgrade when I finish school in 2 years

-I have no preference over brands, manufacturers, etc. I just want the highest speed to price ratio I can possibly get

-I live in the United States

-If I can sell my current laptop I will not add what it sold for to my budget; I am studying my associate's degree right now and I am considering game development, I do not receive financial aid (yet), I am clumsy so the sturdier the better, I would prefer Windows 7 vs. 8

Thank you ahead of time for any answers, I appreciate all replies ;)
#Jarblater
 

jarblater

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Jan 21, 2013
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I submitted a quote request to NoCompromiseGaming, thanks for the pointer ;D!
 

JD88

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Feb 25, 2013
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That's actually not true. The 4555m is also a Trinity APU based on Piledriver.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-A-Series-A8-4555M-Notebook-Processor.81873.0.html

The only difference is clock speed in this case. The one you listed is slightly faster, albeit a worse overall unit IMO.

If you could swing a little extra cash. This is a really solid deal:
http://www.logicbuy.com/deals/dell-inspiron-15r-core-i7-laptop/35236.aspx?config=43227
 

jarblater

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Jan 21, 2013
19
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I wish I had a little extra on the budget otherwise I probably would get a much more decent system. I might be able to spare an extra $50, but any more than that and I'll have to use credit. (No big credit purchases for me until I'm out of school, maybe a game but not a laptop).

Is there anything out there (older systems) with give or take some equivalent to an i3 3220 and any DX11 discreet graphics? That's majorly what I'm trying to find.

Even a 4xx Geforce or a 5xxx ATI would be just fine compared to what I have now.
 


Hi :)

I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole...its REFURBISHED :(

You NEED to increase your budget DRASTICALLY (think $1500 PLUS) for those games...or BUILD a GAMING PC...

All the best Brett :)
 

jarblater

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Jan 21, 2013
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Thanks for the reply :)

Why is it bad that it's refurbished?

I wish I could, but I can't increase my budget. So, I just need something that runs Skyrim and stuff like that, and I've seen some reviews of the A8 4500m playing Skyrim pretty smoothly, so I thought a step up to the A10 4600m would be relevant.

Also, I need something with mobility so I can do my homework wherever I am since I'm going back and forth between places. It's more for homework but I play games on my spare time, and I'm looking into programming. Basically I just need something that is more powerful than my current system, which has a P8600 and a Radeon HD 3670 in it.

(For me that fact that it can do at least 20 FPS on low settings is phenomenal!)
 


Hi :)

You NEED to THINK about WHY its refurbished,,,, something went drastically wrong with it and it was returned and repaired... :(

All the best Brett :)