Please Help Me Choose A Laptop! Dedicated Graphics i5/i7

evankayeotis

Honorable
Sep 20, 2013
2
0
10,510
Here are some general specs that are guidelines for what I'm looking for!

13.3” to 15.6” (14" is excellent) (720p minimum)
Dedicated Graphics Card (512mb ddr3 minimum 1-2 gb ddr3 preferable)
6GB DDR3 ram
i5-i7
HDMI Out
500gb HDD (minimum)
Blu Ray drive or no disc drive at all (i can always get a bluray player or external blu ray drive)
1 USB 3.0
6lbs or under
$550 Price range I don't mind manufacture refurbish or used in excellent condition.

What is your budget?
Max $600

What country will you be buying this in?
U.S.A

What size notebook do you prefer?
14-inch screen

What brands do you like or dislike?
Like: ASUS, Lenovo, Toshiba, Msi, Sager (brands that stay cool and lasts)
Dislike: Acer, HP, Dell, Sony (generally over head and are made cheaply) i

Would you consider a refurbished laptop?
Yes

What are the primary tasks you need this notebook for?
Web Surfing; Music; Playing 1080p and 5.1 movies blu ray on tv/home theater

What games will you be playing?
Soldier Front 2 Maybe some Battlefield 3 or something to get more into gaming

Where will you be using this laptop?
Use at home on desk and laptop cooler/on my lap/beside my bed occasionally for web browsing/take to school and almost everywhere i go

How many hours of battery life do you need?
I've gotten by with 2 hours. 4-5 would be extremely nice to have!

Will you be buying online or in store?
online or in store or used somewhere

Which OS do you prefer?
Windows 7mainly, but could us Windows 8 only if touchscreen

List the screen resolutions that interest you:
High Resolution (1366x768 Minumum) 16:9 aspect ratio

Do you prefer a glossy or matte screen?
Glossy is nice but Matte is fine

Is the laptops design important to you?
Yes

Approximately what date will you be buying this laptop?
As soon as i make my mind up!

How long do you want this laptop to last?
For a long while! This is going to be my home entertainment and portable friend! haha

How much storage capacity do you need?
Absolute minimum 500 GB

Are you interested in SSD for storage?
Sure but its more expensive.

Do you want a built-in optical drive, what type?
Must be blu ray or else not have any optical at all since dvd/cd is worthless to me

One I found similar to what I'm looking for:
LENOVO IdeaPad U410 non-touch (Manufacture Refurbished eBay US $469.99)
Specs:
• 14 inch WXGA HD (1366x768) LED 155 lux
• (i5-3317U, 1.7GHz/2 Cores/4 Threads/Max Turbo Frequency 2.6GHz
• 8GB DDR3 1600MHz RAM
• 774GB (750GB SATA 5400rpm HDD + 24GB Solid State SSD Drive)
• 2 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3.0, 1 HDMI Ports
• Dedicated 1GB NVidia GeForce GT610M Graphics with 1 HDMI Port
• 4.2 pounds

So basically I'm trying to play Soldier Front 2 (a free FPS i enjoy when I'm bored) (I played it on a nvidia 530m i think it was with 1 gb ddr3 ram at 1080p and high quality grapgics) and play 1080p movies on my tv/bose (bluray quality 15-25gb 5.1 audio) [Hdmi] I also carry my laptop from place to place along with my thermaltake (sometimes) laptop cooler in a swiss army bag is why i like 14" laptops! Backlit keyboards are also a plus but not required!

I'm asking if the lenovo above is the best choice for my money or if there are other options out there for the guidelines im looking for.

Thanks for your help! Will gladly answer any questions!