What's the catch?

[Quackamo]

Hey everyone. For a while I've heard that Sony Vaios are pretty bad and overpriced, but yesterday I stumbled upon this on ebay: http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331012505957?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
For those too lazy to click the URL, it has an i5 processor and Nvidia GT 740M for around $900 (seemingly cheap compared to others I've seen). I'm very aware a desktop would be much better value for money, but that isn't really an option as I'll be moving around a lot for university and I want something to play fairly modern games at medium+ settings with a smooth framerate.
The most demanding games I want to play are like Just Cause 2, GTA IV, Saint's Row III. Would this laptop be able to handle those games? If not, could someone point me in the right direction for under about £600 (~$950)?

Other choices (both Lenovo): http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181153250633?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360728695527?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

How do these two compare?
Thanks, and sorry for the long post.

PS. Aside from gaming, I'd just be browsing forums/YouTube, uni work (word processing stuff, nothing demanding), and listening to music.

 

[synthaside]

That laptop's fairly tidy , what you have found there is someone selling off last generations old third gen I5 chip , intel released the 4th gen mobile chip-sets very this quarter ( IE Aug-September ) So there will be some stock sell off on the older generation I5 ..... this does not mean that is is a bad purchase .... the newer i5's are less power hungry , but not a whole lot more bang for buck.

That looks like a pretty tidy machine .... HOWEVER the same seller actually has an I7
Toshiba S50-10V with the same nvidia 740 .... for the same price .

Normally for games i don't rate the i7 on desktops but on a laptop its a different chip entirely.

The downside is a smaller screen , which is my eyes is a benefit .... speaking as a comp science graduate who used to lug a heavy machine in and out ever day .... get a second larger screen and connect it to the laptop for use in your digs , and you can use that as a TV replacement as well , If for some reason the machine struggles to push both displays you can close the laptop lid and run it just as on the standalone monitor. a nice 22 inch panel will run you under 100 quid. and can even be bought way later

best of luck

 

[Quackamo]

Ahh thanks for the info, synthaside. Yeah I'm not too concerned about the screen size because as you said, I could just connect it to a bigger monitor/TV. I'm mainly just wanting performance. Would the i5 processor let the laptop down for gaming because of it being dual-core, not quad-core?

That looks like a pretty tidy machine .... HOWEVER the same seller actually has an I7
Toshiba S50-10V with the same nvidia 740 .... for the same price .

Really? I've searched the seller's page and can't find anything, could you post a link?