Student/Gaming Laptop under $850

Kardius

Honorable
Apr 7, 2012
4
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10,510
Hi all,

I am just trying to get information on a decent student laptop, that I can use for some minor gaming on the side. The one I am currently using, just had some issues last night, that I wouldn't feel comfortable fixing. Not to mention it's about 5 years old now, and it's time to move on for an upgrade.


1. What is your budget?
Around $850.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
Don't care.

3. What screen resolution do you want?
I use 1080 on my desktop... So I would look for something similar. I am going to be mostly using it for student material, with light gaming on the side. (Light gaming being WoW, Oblivion (Skyrim is on desktop), and maybe some lighter indie games)

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
I'd like it to be portable, because i'd be taking it with me to classrooms as well as work. But I am not picky about weight.

5. How much battery life do you need?
I would say 3-4hrs. But I'd mostly have it plugged in I hope.

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)?
World of Warcraft - Medium to High
Oblivion - Same

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Microsoft Office, Watching Videos on Netflix / Comcast, and Music.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
Preferably something about 500gb, but I can make due... Or just replace the HDD at a later date.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
I am looking at using a student discount, so probably microsoftstore.com or anywhere else that offers student discounts in the US.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
A few years to be honest. I don't plan on putting anything to demanding on it. I have a decent desktop for gaming.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
DVD-Rom would be preferable here.

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.
I am not picky, but I don't want to get stuck with a Toshiba again. I have a Toshiba satellite currently, can't remember which laptop is not with me. But downgrading from Vista to XP was such a pain in the #$%. Don't get me wrong though, it's served is purpose rather well in the past few years.

13. What country do you live in?
US

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
I am currently looking at the HP Pavilion dv6-6c53nr but would like some other suggestions. I would sell the Xbox if I purchased that Laptop.
 

edit1754

Distinguished
May 14, 2012
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I was about to suggest the HP DV6-6C53NR to you, before I saw that you were already considering it.

It has one of the best GPU/display combinations within your budget, with a Radeon 7690M XT and a 15.6" 1920x1080 matte display.

Ensure that, if you get this laptop, that you go into the BIOS and change the switchable graphics settings from DYNAMIC to FIXED.
 

Aerohitman

Distinguished
Dec 10, 2011
18
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18,560
I saw this on newegg for 719 for a while and now it's deactivated.Do those usually come back or is it a done deal? Im also looking for a laptop but closer to the 700 range and i found this laptop on the microsoft online store for 800 plus a free xbox if you're a student, so if i could sell it for 100-150 i would be great,but that's a gamble.
 

thegraciousgoat

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Aug 24, 2011
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18,560
I just bought the acer aspire 5560g-7809 and it was only 450 dollars and I play league of legends and diablo 3 and play all settings on max and never drop below 60 on lol and never drop below 30 on diablo 3, its a very good laptop imo

Edit: acer does give off a lot of heat, i run about 160 degrees when gaming but it hasnt got above that but i am getting a cooling pad, but the cpu max temp is 100C so its fine on that
 

edit1754

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May 14, 2012
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On the Microsoft store for $799, it is still a good deal for a laptop that has a 15.6" 1920x1080 display and a GPU that is faster than a GT 630M.
 

dobosmoez

Distinguished
Jan 29, 2012
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18,560


Where did you pick that up?!?! (I'm in Canada)
 

AbdulRehman

Honorable
Sep 1, 2012
1
0
10,510
hi
i need laptop for gmaing
my requirment is only high processor
2 gb graphic card nd 8 gb ram
.
i dont care about, weight, design, batery, touch, even i dont need dvd rom or blu ray rom
and price range up to 700 euros
 

airanp

Honorable
Aug 8, 2012
142
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10,660


If I may, if you are gunning for good performance with school work being the focus and light gaming being a side not and around 700 then I would suggest the HP dv6z-7000. With the A10-4600m and 2Gb 7730m it will run you $674.99 before any student discounts. You could add in a fullHD screen for $150 more if you wanted to but really for a 15.6" what people consider garbage (1366x768) is actually not that bad. And that is with a 750Gb HDD. Just my two cents though.

And to subdue all the nae sayers out there the new Trinity APU's are proven to be a more well rounded setup than intel based systems. Yes the i series crushes them in pure computation power but they get better battery life and much much better results with the integrated graphics. And if the dedicated graphics do not have to kick in to play the game then that's even more battery life over intel variants. =)