Which laptop to buy??

[ryanavolpi]

Hey, i'm trying to buy a new laptop for playing games like starcraft 2, editing photos with gimp/photoshop, and doing school work. I have my eye on three different ones and can't decide which one to get. My price limit is 700$ but i'm willing to go over slightly. Here are the three i've been looking at:



1. A customized HP Pavilion dv6zqe series: 675$

Color dark umber edit

Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edit

Processor AMD Quad-Core A8-3500M Accelerated Processor (2.4GHz/1.5GHz, 4MB L2 Cache) edit

Graphics card 1GB GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6750M Graphics [HDMI, VGA] edit

Memory FREE UPGRADE to 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) edit

Hard drive 640GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection edit

Primary battery High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery edit

Display 15.6" High Def LED HP Brightview (1366x768) edit
Primary optical drive SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support edit

Personalization HP TrueVision HD Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone and HP SimplePass Fingerprint Reader edit

Networking 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R) edit

Keyboard Standard Keyboard with numeric keypad edit





2. Refurbished HP ENVY Beats Audio Edition 14-1260se: 700$


Operating System: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Processor: Intel Core i5-480M Processor 2.66GHz with Turbo Boost
Technology up to 2.93 GHz

Memory:

• 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 DIMM)

• Max supported = 8GB

Accessible Memory Slots: 2

Video Graphics:ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 switchable graphics with 1024MB
DDR3 with up to 3738MB total graphics memory

Hard Drive: 750GB (5400RPM) Hard Drive (SATA) with HP ProtectSmart Hard
Drive Protection

Finish and Features:

• Aluminum in black with soft-touch surfaces threaded throughout the
body

• HP TrueVision HD Webcam with integrated microphone

Multimedia Drive: LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support

Display: 14.5" diagonal High-Definition(8) HP BrightView LED Display (1366 x 768)

Network Card: Integrated 10/100BASE-T Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)

Wireless Option: Wireless LAN 802.11b/g/n WLAN

Digital Media: Multi-Format Digital Media Card Reader for Secure Digital cards
and Multimedia cards

Audio: Beats Audio

Keyboard: Full-size backlit island-style keyboard

Pointing Device: HP Clickpad with On/Off button





3. ASUS G73JW-XT1 Refurbished Laptop (Scratch & Dent): 715$

Display 17.3-inch Full HD LED-backlit

widescreen resolution 1920 x 1080

Processor Intel Core i7-740QM Quad Core
processor 1.73GHz

Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Chipset / GPU ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 with 1GB GDDR5 VRAM

Memory 8GB DDR3; 8GB Maximum
Hard Disk Drive 500GB 7200 rpm SATA

Optical Disk Drive Blue-Ray/DVD Disk Combo Drive

Communications 10/100/1000 Ethernet
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi CERTIFIED

Input Devices Keyboard, Touchpad

Devices Multi Media Card Reader
Integrated Webcam

Power Supply 8-Cell Lithium-ion

Dimensions (W x H x D) 16.2 x 2.25 x 11.8 inches

Warranty 90 Day

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ryanavolpi]

Oh and if you would rather suggest a laptop better than these and within my price range that would be great too.

 

[ryanavolpi]

Unfortunately it seems like that deal has expired. Thanks for the help though.

 

[andrewcarr]

If I had the money this is the laptop I would buy. Although I only look at ASUS and MSI when it comes to gaming laptops.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230131
You might be able to find some other brands cheaper but their quality will be worse too.
This is the MSI laptop but it isn't as good.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152298

 

[ryanavolpi]

Those both look quite however, not to be picky or anything, they're a little bit on the pricier side of things.

 

[andrewcarr]

I wouldn't consider buying a used (refurbished) laptop at this price. Also you want a 540M for gaming. Then you want to have the quality so it lasts. For all these things I don't think $65 is too much.
ASUS comes with a one year replacement plan no questions asked even if it is entirely your fault.
http/completewarranty.asus.com/Content/US/ADP/ADP.aspx
ASUS laptops carry other warranties making the price premium worth it if anything goes wrong (even if for most people nothing does).

 

[ryanavolpi]

I get what you mean, the only problem is that I just checked and the shipping is 54$ making it 130 or so dollars out of my stiff price range.

 

[Pyree]

In order of gaming performance:

ASUS G73
HP Pavilion <too bad the tiger direct run out of stock or at $530, it is the clear winner
HP Envy

 

[ryanavolpi]

Thanks for the help everyone, so, would the ASUS G73 b able to play Supreme Commander 2 on high, battlefield Play4Free on High, and Starcraft 2 on at least Medium

 

[andrewcarr]

That ASUS you listed is good. Where do you live Canada? If so then you can buy off newegg.ca but prices are about $20 more on average and shipping is more.

 

[ryanavolpi]

I actually live in the USA.

 

[Pyree]

That laptop can run Crysis on high.

 

[ryanavolpi]

Wooo... SWEET!! Thanks.

 

[ryanavolpi]

I was planning on buying the pavillion at 530 until it ran out.

 

[ryanavolpi]

Best answer selected by ryanavolpi.
n
nOh, and if you could I would really appreciate it if you replied to my other question. My brother wants a laptop too but cheaper. http/www.tomshardware.com/forum/74437-35-good-laptop-please-help

 

[Pyree]

ok

 

[ryanavolpi]

Thanks Pyree your amazing.

 

[Maziar]

This topic has been closed by Maziar