Laptop for general computing and 1080p playback <$500

ThrottleAbuse

Distinguished
Jul 13, 2008
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18,510
1_What is your budget? $500 Max

2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? 15-16"

3_What screen resolution do you want? Any

4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? No I have a i7 920 at home that will do the trick.

5_How much battery life do you need? A few hours max. Not real important.

6_Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)? No.

7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.) Watching the occasional movie at my folks or something. 1080p via HDMI playback is a must.

8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need? Doesn't matter.

9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post the links to them. Newegg, Bestbuy, Anywhere.

10_How long do you want to keep your laptop? Couple years.

11_What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? Any.

12_Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons. NO HP products. Ever. Long story but in short screw them and the horse the rode in on.

13_What country do you live in? Kalifornia. Yes it is different then the United States.

14_Please tell us any additional information if needed.

I hope this can help people to better find their ideal notebook.


So I am pretty open to almost any brand. I usually buy intel stuff, but I really don't care as long as I can play my movies when I need to via HDMI. I have been looking and found some gateway's that I like the price vs. performance, but I really don't know much about the AMD chips or chipsets. Here are a couple that I am comparing right now.

Gateway with Athalon II and HD 4200 graphics chip

Another Gateway with Athalon II and HD 4200 graphics chip

3rd Gateway with Athalon X2 QL65 and HD3200 graphics chip

Dell with T6600 and 4500MHD chip

So is it better to get the Athalon II chip with what I am assuming is the stronger video chip in the HD 4200 or is the Athalon X2 QL65 that much better of a chip even though it only has the HD 3200 chip? Or should I go a bit over budget and score the Dell with the T6600?

Thanks.