Buddhaelt :
Calculagator :
That seems steep to me too. The 840m will play games but only on low settings. If you want a good gpu for gaming you should look for a 970m or 870m.
Here's a good article with some decent recommendations for your price range.
http
/www.anandtech.com/show/8771/best-1000-laptops-holiday-2014
appreciate the info & the article, pretty informative. Have a question or two if you don't mind. I'm also interested in the Dell Alienware 17
http/www.conns.com/computers/laptops/dell-alienware-17-gaming-laptop-alw175312slv.html but, it only has an 860m installed and no ssd. It's $1999.00. I'm seriously thinking of getting it instead but, have reservations about whether it's worth that kind of money. Since It has the same processor(i7-4710MQ), is the 860m gpu going to make that much of a difference. My kid is 13 and I'm hoping to get something that will still wiz in 4 or 5 yrs. In the article, there's mention of the Lenovo Y50 with a 860m at under $1000 & the Clevo P650SE($1350) with a 970m at about the same price as the HP Envy($1399), still, their using a TN 1080 panel, smaller also. As far as I know, all these laptops are using a TN 1080 panel that's why i was wondering about the difference between an 840m, 860m & 970m. Is it a matter of response time such as in refresh rates or just night & day and too much to mention. Lots of what if's, sorry about that, didn't mean to go over board but, I have to buy with a conn's account and their probably not available anyway, I'll check, just one of my financial nuisances but, the Alienware and Envy are available at conn's. Appreciate your opinion.
Thanks Calculagator
Buddhaelt
Those are good questions. I think 2k is way too much though you may be able to get them to price match a lower price. The GPU matters a lot but only for playing games. A 970m is maybe twice as powerful as an 860m.
I think it is unreasonable to expect a laptop to be high end for more than 3 years. Most 13 year olds are very hard on laptops. If you expect your kid to keep this in good condition for more than a year or two, you could be setting him up for failure. Of course, that depends on the kid and you would know better than me. If you want it to last and keep its speediness, you definitely want an SSD.
Concerning TN vs IPS. You should get a screen with 1080p resolution. IPS has better viewing angles, contrast, and displays more colors. TN can have less blur and lag for high speed games. IPS is much better for professional work, photography, and movies. For gaming it is a matter of opinion-some people actually prefer TN panels. For your purposes it probably doesn't matter too much.
You might check with Conn's to see if they would special order something for you or at least price match an online retailer.