Laptop Suggestions for College

LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE

Country of purchase: USA

Budget range: ~$500

Purpose (netbook, ultraportable, mainstream, gaming, desktop replacement, etc.): word processing, powerpoint, light gaming, browsing, music, movies/streaming, other school stuff
Screen size preference: 14" or 15.6"

OS preference (Windows/ Mac/ Linux): Windows

Gaming requirements (example games and desired fps/settings): I have a pretty good gaming PC (4670k, GTX 770) so not the biggest thing, but maybe some minor gaming like Minecraft, random indie games, TF2, League, maybe Civ if possible.

Performance requirements (video, CAD, etc.): Not sure, can always fall back on desktop
Method of computer support (office supplier, college bookstore, self support): self support

Brand preferences and reasons (already owned accessories, familiarity, business compatibility): Asus or Lenovo preferably just because of their known reliablity/quality, but I'm open to other suggestions

Any particular style that you like (examples are great): No preference

Which of the following qualities would you prefer? (Choose one, the other, or balanced)
Long battery life -vs- Low weight: Balanced
Build quality -vs- Low price: Balanced
Low noise/heat -vs- High performance: Balanced

Would you pay a premium for something that has:
High resolution screen: Maybe - I'd go over budget if it's not over $600 but a 1080p screen is not necessary
A great keyboard: Yes
A great touchpad/mouse buttons: Yes
Great audio: No

List any features that are critical: (e.g. Optical drive, USB 3.0, SD card slot, ethernet port, HDMI port, bluetooth, VGA port, removable battery, glossy screen, matte screen, etc.)

Hey guys, hope you don't mind the different format from Reddit! I really have no knowledge on laptops at all so I would appreciate your suggestions, thanks in advance!

At your price range a high res screen is a bit out of the question so you are going to have to settle with 1366x768. An A10 APU from AMD may be your answer, but those can get hot and may require a laptop cooler. I personally have owned a laptop with an A10-4600m and it was sufficient for playing league maxed out at 1366 x 768 res (40 to 60 fps) and with lowered settings (but same resolution) on power saver (30 to 45 fps). I have not tried any of the newer APU's like the a10-5xxx series or the new a10-7xxx series, but i can say with much confidence they will perform better. If you are lucky you may be able to catch a laptop with a ULV (ultra-Low-Voltage) i5 and a discrete graphics on sale, but i highly doubt it. However, a Laptop with a Haswell (4th Gen) ULV i5 (eg. i5-4200U) and Intel HD 4400 Graphics should be sufficient for playing League and Minecraft; but maybe not TF2.

I do not live in the US so i can't really offer any suggestions, but rather than blindly buying online or listening to someone else's suggestions its a good idea to go to a physical store and test things out on your own like the keyboard, mousepad and buttons, or the screen viewing angles; these are things you should feel for yourself as you are the one using the laptop, not some guy (who may or may not be heavily opinionated) on the internet, so you need to know if you are okay with the feel of the keyboard or the mousepad. Though i will admit that sometimes you will find better deals online. so if you happen to chance upon a laptop you like online, check and see if your local bestbuy or computer store has that same model so you can have a feel for yourself.

Bottom line at the $500 price range, you can shoot for either an apu or an ultrabook with a ULV i5. With the ULV i5 you will longer battery life but not as much graphic performance, with the APU you will get more graphics performance but at the cost of battery life (and depending on the laptop model, a poop tonne of heat).

If you want portability and arent going for an ultrabook, shoot for an 14inch laptop else a 15 inch is fine.
Some ultrabooks will only give about 4gb of ram so if you like having alot of programs running that may not be for you (though its easily upgrade-able). Otherwise most of the time you will be given 6gb (or 8gb if your lucky) as that is generally what manufacturers deem as the sweet spot since 8gb is too expensive and 4gb is too little.

As for brands i personally would not recommend any low-end ACER, Gateway, or samsung.

Hope This Helps!