Can you not build a PC? You would lose a ton of performance by spending a premium on laptop. You really need the best processor you can get for the money and this is incredibly hard if you want a cheap laptop. I had a decent spec Sony Vaio which I used to 3d render on for university a few years ago and it was adequate. This was about $1000 though. Could've spend $350 and had a better PC that would be faster!