Trying to choose laptop based on processor

[civers1]

I'm out of the loop when it comes to mobile computing, and I'm in a time crunch. So, I thought I would ask the good members of Tom's Hardware for their input.

I'm looking for a laptop as a gift for a young teen. It will be used for school work, but I know that he will want to do some light gaming as well. For example: G mod, minecraft, maybe try some FPS on low settings, I'm not entirely sure. I am needing something before Christmas. Dedicated graphics are out of my budget but I have played some games on a Intel Bay Trail before, and although it is not the very best experience, I know that if resolution and detail are sacrificed it can be done. I am specificly wondering about the AMD A-Series APUs. Are they considerably better than Intel's offerings? I have looked at some A-6, A-8, and A-10. models that could be squeezed into the budget. But there are also some core i3 and i5 models out there too.

What do you guys think?
Are all of my replies going to explain that no kind of gaming what-so-ever can be done on a $400 laptop?

 

[Petrossa]

Hi there
The AMD GPU's will certainly have better graphics capabilities than either an i3 or i5, so if you are on a tight budget that would be the way to go.

 

[civers1]

Thanks, I am eyeballing a deal on an HP with an A10-5745M. Its a 17" refurb, which is a little bigger than what I had in mind, but I think I'll take a shot on it.

 

[Petrossa]

It should do you just fine.