Looking for a laptop around $700-$900, any suggestions please?

xcrusher

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1. What is your budget? around $800 don't want to go above $1000.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
I like big screens so 15 in to like 17.

3. What screen resolution do you want?
full 1080p or as close as possible.

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
desktop replacement pretty much.

5. How much battery life do you need?
A large amount, the laptop should be able to last a few hours. I would prefer a laptop with good battery life, it's really important to me.

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)?
I don't really play many pc games now because my computer can't really handle any but I would like to start in the future. Not really too sure what games I would play because I'll be playing most games on my ps3.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
I'm an computer engineering major so would like a laptop that can do everything that is required. Also may need to run autocad.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
I don't care much about this because i don't have a lot of music or movies. I don't know how much games take up these days so maybe around 320gb or higher.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
the usual like amazon, newegg or tigerdirect. other sites will be fine as well.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
many years, 4+

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
just dvd rom

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 just want a brand that is known for putting out quality products that last for a long time.

13. What country do you live in?
the united states.

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
USB 3.0 ports definately an hdmi port and ethernet port(not 100% sure if i'll be needing it though because my college may have student wifi.

All help is appreciated, thank you.
 
This is probably the difference between a great $800 computer and a $1000 one.

Did I get this right?
What you're telling us is that you want the BEST gaming laptop that fits in your budget because you don't know what you need?
 

xcrusher

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Yea I guess, but I doubt I'll play very hardware intensive games and I don't think I'll care about playing WitH the highest settings or resolution. I would prefer if the laptop didn't go above $900 unless it was a huge deal.
 

userxvi-JOE

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Well the only computers that last 4+ years are the ones with a 5 year warranty and the ones that run very cool, the cool running ones usually have 2nd and 3rd rate parts, like low end i5 or Dual core AMD APU's with no graphics cards installed.

A 5 year warranty on a gaming laptop may run you well into 400$ ,maybe 200, I don't like to relly on warranty and I don't trust insurance companies even if my life depended on it.

or change your wants to 2-4 years, because lets be honest, the current technology isnt there yet.

for 900$ you could probably end up with a nice core i7 and a good medium high range video card from Nvidia or ATi, as a matter of fact we just might hunt those deals down for you, if possible.

for about 800$ you could take the easy road and just get yourself an HP DV6 or DV7.
they come with AMD APU's, Intel Nvidia pretty much everything middle-high on the market a very large customer base out there.
I would suggest you go with one of these, there's so many of them out there already, finding replacement parts is an utter breez if anything ever does go wrong.
 

edit1754

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HP DV6t (i3-3110M, NVIDIA GT 650M, 15.6" 1920x1080 matte IPS display) - $724 + tax ($769 + tax w/ i5-3210M)
- http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/load_configuration.do?destination=review&config_id=7367534
- Use coupon code: NBY8552
- Don't: Downgrade to the 1366x768 display, unless you need the large text. You generally shouldn't buy the HP DV6 in any configuration that includes the 1366x768 display. 15.6" 1366x768 displays make things onscreen large, and tend to be low-tier LCD panels with very poor image quality due to low contrast.
- Don't: Downgrade the GPU to the GT 630M unless you only plan on doing light / moderate gaming. The GT 650M is considerably faster.
- Don't: Downgrade the GPU to integrated graphics unless you only plan on doing very light / no gaming. Integrated graphics will probably provide disappointing game performance in the majority of modern titles.
- Note: You can select one of the previous-generation SandyBridge CPU options if you do not select the GT 650M.
- Consider: Backlit keyboard, Larger/faster HDD.

Sager NP6165 (i5-3210M, NVIDIA GT 650M, 15.6" 1920x1080 glossy display) - $920 no tax
- http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np6165-clevo-w150er-p-4344.html?wconfigure=yes
- http://www.malibal.com/boutique/pc/configurePrd.asp?idProduct=557
- Select Windows 7 under Operating System if you cannot acquire your own copy for cheaper.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y580 (i7-3610QM, NVIDIA GTX 660M, 15.6" 1920x1080 glossy display) - $949 + tax
- Sign up and sign in here: http://shoplenovo.i2.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/na/StdAffinityPortal/en_US/Lenovo:EnterStdAffinity?affinity=barnesnoblegold (Barnes and Noble Gold discount page)
- http://shoplenovo.i2.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/barnesnoblegold/StdAffinityPortal/en_US/config.workflow:ConfigureMtmAsItem?mtm-item=:000001C9:0000393A: (i7-3610QM, GTX 660M, 15.6" 1920x1080, 500GB 7200RPM) - $949
- http://shoplenovo.i2.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/barnesnoblegold/StdAffinityPortal/en_US/config.workflow:ConfigureMtmAsItem?mtm-item=:000001C9:00003943: (i7-3610QM, GTX 660M, 15.6" 1920x1080, 1TB 5400RPM + 32GB SSD for hybrid cache) - $1039
- These models come with the 1920x1080 display. There are other models that come instead with a 1366x768 display, but those models are not recommended unless you need the larger text. 1366x768 resolution in a 15.6" display makes things onscreen large, and 15.6" displays that have 1366x768 resolution tend to have very poor image quality due to low contrast.
- Click the green "Activate eCoupon" button in the cart.
 

xcrusher

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Thanks for the replies but, Any other suggestions with deals like those? I don't want a HP laptop because they have horrible fan placement and get really hot. The lenovo is a little more then I want to spend. A laptop equivalent to that of the HP with the latest core i5 or i7 and the 650m from a different company like asus would be very nice.
 

xcrusher

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Equivalent laptop to the dv6t-7000 with GT 650M for 800$? won't happen.

You can get the Acer V3 with GT 640M (15.6") or GT 650M DDR3 (17.3" I think) for around 800$ but it has 720p screen and overall not that good laptop

Would you recommend going with the cheapest lenovo y580 then? I haven't heard much about the sagger/clevo brand so i don't know if I feel comfortable buying it.
 

edit1754

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The cheapest Y580 model that comes with the 1920x1080 display would be a good choice.

I just updated my post to include the more recent discount. The cheapest 1920x1080 model is now $949, but it is the 500GB hard drive model. The 1TB hard drive model that was $999 does not have a proper discount for the time being.

Don't buy one of the 1366x768 models, unless you require the large text for eyesight-related reasons. The 1366x768 display is poor in quality and makes it difficult to fit much onscreen.