"General Mainstream Usage: HP Envy 15t-j100 ($699)
I just mentioned the AMD version of the HP Envy 15, but personally I would rather pay a bit more for the Intel Haswell variant. The base cost is only $50, and for that you can get a Core i5-4200M, 6GB RAM, and a 750GB hard drive (with the same 15.6" display). $50 extra adds the 1920x1080 display, which is what I'm recommending. If you're wanting a bit of the SSD experience without actually going for a full SSD, you can also add a 24GB mSATA SSD for $39, but I'd be more inclined to skip that and potentially add in a 240GB mSATA SSD when you can afford it. You can add a discrete GPU (GT 740M or GT 750M)...
It is a tough mate. As 256GB SSD will cost about $200. Graphics may cause $100 for older ones and newer ones at about $300. Why is it expensive well it is a laptop.
"General Mainstream Usage: HP Envy 15t-j100 ($699)
I just mentioned the AMD version of the HP Envy 15, but personally I would rather pay a bit more for the Intel Haswell variant. The base cost is only $50, and for that you can get a Core i5-4200M, 6GB RAM, and a 750GB hard drive (with the same 15.6" display). $50 extra adds the 1920x1080 display, which is what I'm recommending. If you're wanting a bit of the SSD experience without actually going for a full SSD, you can also add a 24GB mSATA SSD for $39, but I'd be more inclined to skip that and potentially add in a 240GB mSATA SSD when you can afford it. You can add a discrete GPU (GT 740M or GT 750M) as well if you're interested, but that pushes the price a little too high and honestly it's not necessary unless you're interested in gaming. If that's your primary interest, we have some other possibilities that might be more interesting."