Searching for a laptop that is lightweight and within a budget, and 'possibly' for gaming/multitasking?

prussia

Commendable
Oct 21, 2016
4
0
1,510
What I researched so far:

http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/inspiron-15-5000-gaming/spd/inspiron-15-5577-gaming-laptop/dncwpi401s

http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/new-inspiron-5000-gaming/spd/inspiron-15-5577-gaming-laptop/dncwpi404sstud2

http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/new-inspiron-15-7000-non-touch/spd/inspiron-15-7570-laptop/dncwkc117h

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=34-321-418

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00T4BWO28/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0725YFVDB/

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-i5578-2550GRY-Generation-Microsoft-Signature/dp/B01L8PDW96/

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-15-6-Inch-Touchscreen-Processor/dp/B00VSKTPJS/

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-inspiron-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i5-8gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1050-1tb-8gb-hybrid-hard-drive-black/5709801.p?skuId=5709801

My current [HP] laptop is 5.3 lbs and has a somewhat dead battery, so it's not good in terms of portability. I can still do stuff and play games, but there's some lag when I load too many apps.
I'm looking for a laptop that is less than 5 lbs for portability, and a battery that won't die after a year or two. Any laptop less than about $1,000. I heard Asus or Dell is good, so is Lenovo, but HP isn't that good [knowing that I own one that is 'eh']. I don't really need a laptop specifically for gaming, but some friends have said that if it can game, then it can do a lot of stuff. Is that right?
Need some help with laptop recommendations.

Can anyone help? Thanks!

[Also, where is the best place to buy a laptop? I bought my current one on Amazon. Some people have told me Best Buy is good, especially going in-person.]
 

niheerthakur

Prominent
Sep 10, 2017
1
0
510
Dell inspirion 15 7000 7567 with ips display
Acer predator helios 300
These are some good budget gaming laptops..
Also Dell is launching its new laptop with gtx1060 in few days inspiron 7577.. Wait and check
 

dannyboy3210

Distinguished
Dec 20, 2009
12
0
18,570
I bought the Dell Inspiron 15 5577 (http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_577_1198&item_id=111764 for the exact specs) about 3 weeks ago. I immediately replaced the hard drive with a solid state drive from my old laptop (480gb). It is fast, responsive, handles games well and has much better battery life than my old one. Easily 6-8 hours+ on power saving mode with wifi on and brightness at about 30%.

The only downside as you may discover from other reviews on it is the screen is not great. The viewing angle is not huge and the screen feels like there there's something on the screen having a strange effect. A few people recommended replacing the screen with an IPS one to fix this flaw.
 

dannyboy3210

Distinguished
Dec 20, 2009
12
0
18,570
I don't know what you have now, but the Acer Aspire laptop has a dual-core processor, whereas the HP Omen has an actual quad-core.
(http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-7700HQ-vs-Intel-Core-i5-7200U/m211019vsm153577) if you want to see specs, etc.
The HP Omen option has a stronger processor as well as graphics card. It will stay better longer into the future. (http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-1050-Mobile-vs-Nvidia-GTX-950M/m211022vsm27713) if you want to see the comparison.

Bestbuy is sort of a nice option, because you can see the laptops they have on display, try out the keyboard, see how responsive they are, etc. I'd also recommend taking a look for reviews on the laptops, seeing what pros and cons they have. (Do try to look for IPS screens as they have much nicer viewing angles.)

It is hard to see the HP laptop's specs as it seems to have multiple possible configurations, so if you could find a link to the version you're looking for, it would make things easier.
It looks like it has many options for storage:
1TB 7200 rpm SATA
2TB 5400 rpm SATA
1TB 7200 rpm SATA+ 128GB M.2 SSD
2TB 5400 rpm SATA+ 128GB M.2 SSD
512GB PCIe® NVMe™ M.2 SSD
1 TB 7200 rpm SATA + 512 GB PCIe® NVMe™ M.2 SSD
Figuring out which one you're looking at makes it easier to compare to the other laptop with its 1 TB 5400 RPM HDD and 128 GB SSD and 8GB of memory.

I know that sometimes keyboard layout is a big thing for people, so I would say go to various stores nearby with demo laptops to get an idea of what sort of layout you do/do not like, so you can figure out and see how responsive things are, if you like the screen, etc.

I'd try to narrow down to a specific price range so that we can look at what options there are so that we don't end up comparing apples to oranges. Generally the more expensive the laptop, the better options it has.

It may help if you were to answer some more of the questions at: (http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/50797-35-laptop-buyers)