Help finding a great $650 laptop

Hey all,

As always, when I'm stuck and need an excellent answer, I turn to you all. This time, I'm having trouble deciding on a laptop that has to handle numerous roles (hopefully).

What I'd like is a computer that is portable (so no desktop replacements, but I'm no feather weight so it can have some heft) and also can handle light multimedia (ie watching DVDs) and most taxing, have the ability to be used for some light gaming (I'm not interested in playing Crysis on my computer but hopefully a game like NWN2... maybe even HL2).

My price range, I understand, is definitely the limiting factor at 650 bucks. So far in my search I've found a refurbished Gateway http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] etailspecs but every time I think I've found the answer for myself, I come here and someone far more knowledgeable finds a deal for twice the computer and half the cost.

What I'd really like a Core 2 Duo and a lot of RAM. My biggest concern is about the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 because I have no idea how they preform with games. I know that a dedicated card will vastly out preform an integrated one but I don't have that sort of coin. I've also tried building custom computers on Dell etc but the cost of upgrading the memory to 2GB is steep and even if I installed my own, thats still another 100bucks.

Thank you all in advance for any advice or links you may supply.

You can go with the Dell, you can find something decent within your budget there. Dell Vostro 1400 Intel Core 2 Duo 2GB 120GB $599:
http://www.dealstudio.com/viewtopi [...] 564&ru=282
Or if you can get add a liitle more money you can get the Toshiba Satellite A215-S7437 2GB 200GB Notebook $700:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspag [...] ID=1680882

Hey everyone,

Thanks for getting back to my question. I've definitely come around to see the intellegence of ordering a custom made (ie Dell). I put together a Vostro the other night for 650 and it had everything that I need.

One final question for you all though: is a Core 2 Duo @ 1.4Ghz or a nVIDIA® GeForceTM 8400M GS with 128MB going to bottle neck games? I would assume that the video card would but wanted to ask. Thanks!