Laptop advice (shopping)

[kiritonakama]

What Laptop should I buy. my price range is under $1000. here are the specs I would like my computer to have.
Intel core i-5 or i-7 quad core.
Nvidia Graphics 2 GB or more.
8 GB of Ram Minimum.
750 GB HDD
Backlit Keyboard.
at least 1 usb 3.0 port
13.3 - 17.3 inch screen
1920x1080 or 1600x900 screen resolution
Ethernet + wifi
Good quality build.
The Laptop doesn't need to be the newest model.
Thanks

 

[chad062388]

Good luck on finding all that for under 1K

 

[Unbiased King]

Good luck on finding all that for under 1K

You can actually.

I have a 15.6 HP Pavillion dv6 that cost ~$750 with:
i5-3210
Nvidia Geforce GT 630m 1GB
6gb RAM
750 GB HDD
Regular keyboard
3 3.0 USB ports
1366x768
Ethernet/wifi
And although HP laptops have a history of being faulty, their customer service is remarkable and compliant. I've had this baby for 6 months and still no problems.

For what you want though:
2GB more RAM (+$50)
Backlit Keyboard (+$25)

What I advise against:
Acer/Asus/Lenovo are all shit-tops. Don't even bother looking in their direction. I might even add Dell to this list considering how shitty their customer service is and the growing failure rate of their products.

The 1920x1080 (+$150) would seem great because it has higher resolution, but with a laptop-sized screen, you REALLY won't see much of a $150 worth difference, if AT ALL in a 1366x768 resolution.

2GB Dedicated Graphics (+$50) is too enormous to dedicate to just graphics. If you game/video stream often, you'll only use no more than 512MB of the dedicated graphics max. But the investment is small, so it's up to you.

i7 quad core ($150?) does pack a hell of a punch, but probably more of an overkill if anything else. Heavy gamers will NEVER use the full capacity, or ever come close, to the potential that an i7 ivy bridge quad core has; these processors are for those who run tough editing/video/graphic programs.

Best of luck to you buddy.

 

[Vilvake]

I would recommend the Lenovo IdeaPad Y500. It has everything you want for $999. Its coolest feature, in my opinion, is the SLI GT 650m 2GB graphics. You don't see power like that very often in laptops... especially in this price range. The value for the money you're getting with the Y500 is unbelievable.

You must be registered for see links

Full Specs: (It's a bit messy because I copied and pasted, you can click the above link though)

Spoiler

Model
Brand
lenovo
Series
IdeaPad
Model
Y500 (59359557)
Part#
59359557

General
Color
Dusk Black
Operating System
Windows 8
CPU Type
Intel Core i7-3630QM 2.4GHz
Screen
15.6"
Memory Size
8GB DDR3
Hard Disk
1TB
Graphics Card
Dual NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M SLI
Video Memory
2GB
Communication
Gigabit LAN and WLAN
Dimensions
15.2" x 10.2" x 1.4"
Weight
6.4 lbs

CPU
CPU Type
Intel Core i7
CPU Speed
3630QM(2.40GHz)
CPU Support
6MB L3 Cache
Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 up to 3.3 GHz

Chipset
Chipset
Intel HM76

Display
Screen Size
15.6"
Wide Screen Support
Yes
Resolution
1920 x 1080
LCD Features
LED backlight, 220 nit, 16:9 aspect ratio

Operating Systems
Operating System
Windows 8

Graphics
GPU/VPU
Dual NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M SLI
Video Memory
Dedicated 2GB
Graphic Type
Dedicated Card

Hard Drive
HDD
1TB
HDD RPM
5400rpm

Memory
Memory
8GB
Memory Speed
DDR3 1600
Memory Spec
4GB x 2
Max Memory Supported
16GB

Communications
LAN
10/100/1000Mbps
WLAN
802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 4.0

Ports
USB
2 x USB 3.0
1 x USB 2.0
Video Port
1 x VGA
HDMI
1 x HDMI
Audio Ports
1 x Microphone jack; 1 x Headphone jack

Audio
Audio
2 x internal digital array microphones
Speaker
2 x 1.5W JBL Brand Speakers with Chamber

Input Device
Touchpad
Multi-touch touchpad
Keyboard
Backlit Keyboard
AccuType Keyboard with numeric keypad

Supplemental Drive
Card Reader
6 in 1 reader (SD/SD Pro/MMC/MS/MS Pro/XD)
Webcam
Yes

General
Style
Standard
Type
Gaming & Entertainment
Usage
Consumer

Power
Battery
6-cell, Li-Cylinder battery
Battery Life
Up to 3 hours

Physical Specifications
Dimensions
15.2" x 10.2" x 1.4"
Weight
6.4 lbs

Also, don't listen to the guy above me. It's clear he doesn't really know what he's talking about. First of all, he admits to owning an HP then says to avoid Lenovo. Uh... escuse me? Lenovo is known for high quality laptops, not cheap ones. He thinks its impressive that his HP lasted 6 months without any problems. My mom has been using her Lenovo laptop for 6 years without any problems. Half a year is nothing compared to the lifespan of a laptop.

Also, what he said about 512MB of dedicated gpu memory being all you need is completely false. You can easily max out 2GB of memory now a days, in games that use high res textures either natively (Crysis 3) or through mods (Skyrim). Especially since you want the 1080p screen, which puts an even higher demand on the gpu. Getting 512mb of dedicated memory for gaming nowadays means you will already be outdated- and when you buy a computer, you need to future-proof as much as possible. Because if you don't, you'll just end up spending more money because you would need to upgrade sooner.

 

[Frankenstein]

You can actually.

I have a 15.6 HP Pavillion dv6 that cost ~$750 with:
i5-3210
Nvidia Geforce GT 630m 1GB
6gb RAM
750 GB HDD
Regular keyboard
3 3.0 USB ports
1366x768
Ethernet/wifi
And although HP laptops have a history of being faulty, their customer service is remarkable and compliant. I've had this baby for 6 months and still no problems.

For what you want though:
2GB more RAM (+$50)
Backlit Keyboard (+$25)

What I advise against:
Acer/Asus/Lenovo are all shit-tops. Don't even bother looking in their direction. I might even add Dell to this list considering how shitty their customer service is and the growing failure rate of their products.

The 1920x1080 (+$150) would seem great because it has higher resolution, but with a laptop-sized screen, you REALLY won't see much of a $150 worth difference, if AT ALL in a 1366x768 resolution.

2GB Dedicated Graphics (+$50) is too enormous to dedicate to just graphics. If you game/video stream often, you'll only use no more than 512MB of the dedicated graphics max. But the investment is small, so it's up to you.

i7 quad core ($150?) does pack a hell of a punch, but probably more of an overkill if anything else. Heavy gamers will NEVER use the full capacity, or ever come close, to the potential that an i7 ivy bridge quad core has; these processors are for those who run tough editing/video/graphic programs.

Best of luck to you buddy.

Listen to this guy OP. I second every single one of his points, he knows what he is talking about. (Dell is shit too, no need to hesitate )

 

[Vilvake]

Listen to this guy OP. I second every single one of his points, he knows what he is talking about. (Dell is shit too, no need to hesitate )

He was right on a couple points. Just remember OP... 512MB of gpu memory is NOT enough, and Lenovo laptops are NOT flimsy and cheap.

 

[kiritonakama]

Hey...thanks for the useful info Vilvake and Unbiased King. I apreciate the time you took to help me out. =D

 

[Unbiased King]

He was right on a couple points. Just remember OP... 512MB of gpu memory is NOT enough, and Lenovo laptops are NOT flimsy and cheap.

Here are the laptop malfunction rates for general brands.

You must be registered for see links

You said your mother had her Lenovo for 6 years, meaning it was not manufactured at the time of the given data. One can infer that Lenovo has become shitty over the years in terms of quality, or even that she falls out of the 1/5 category.

The data shows that HP has the highest malfunction rate, so my reason for boasting how long I've gone without a trip to HP-China is to encourage the OP be open-minded to HP products, as contradictory as it sounds.

No reason to be condescending about anything; we have the same intentions: to help the OP find a good laptop.

For your point about graphic card size, I concede and revise my advice; 2GB will be beneficial only while you have the means to use it to it's full potential (the i7 quad processor, 1080p) so go for the full package if you intend on pursuing your original package.

 

[Vilvake]

Here are the laptop malfunction rates for general brands.

You must be registered for see links

You said your mother had her Lenovo for 6 years, meaning it was not manufactured at the time of the given data. One can infer that Lenovo has become shitty over the years in terms of quality, or even that she falls out of the 1/5 category.

The data shows that HP has the highest malfunction rate, so my reason for boasting how long I've gone without a trip to HP-China is to encourage the OP be open-minded to HP products, as contradictory as it sounds.

No reason to be condescending about anything; we have the same intentions: to help the OP find a good laptop.

For your point about graphic card size, I concede and revise my advice; 2GB will be beneficial only while you have the means to use it to it's full potential (the i7 quad processor, 1080p) so go for the full package if you intend on pursuing your original package.

Sorry, it wasn't my intention to sound rude or condescending.... I admit that sometimes I am when I'm trying to get my point across.

And about the Lenovo quality thing.... my mom's laptop is in the thinkpad line, which is designed to be more sturdy. However, I was recently looking for a laptop myself, and I was impressed with the quality of the ideapad line as well. It may be possible that Lenovo has made strides in quality recently. My point to the OP was that he should give Lenovo a chance because they, in my opinion, offer the best laptop for his needs.

 

[Grim]

Good luck on finding all that for under 1K

exactly my thoughts, with those specs you're aiming for ASUS ROG or Alienware.. what I don't understand why is it so difficult to get 2/3k$ for a machine you desire... there's many ways to get it...''if you work'' called CC

 

[Stencil]

exactly my thoughts, with those specs you're aiming for ASUS ROG or Alienware.. what I don't understand why is it so difficult to get 2/3k$ for a machine you desire... there's many ways to get it...''if you work'' called CC

Alienware isn't worth it, owned by Dell, and way overpriced. But then again, all laptops kind of are...


It isn't worth getting 2GB GPU if you're getting a laptop, unless you're going to be running Guild Wars 2 on max settings in world battles .-.

 

[Vilvake]

exactly my thoughts, with those specs you're aiming for ASUS ROG or Alienware.. what I don't understand why is it so difficult to get 2/3k$ for a machine you desire... there's many ways to get it...''if you work'' called CC

I already linked him to one for $999

Alienware isn't worth it, owned by Dell, and way overpriced. But then again, all laptops kind of are...


It isn't worth getting 2GB GPU if you're getting a laptop, unless you're going to be running Guild Wars 2 on max settings in world battles .-.

You'd be surprised how easily you can max 2GB. I think that's the minimum he should get, especially to set himself up for the future. (Especially with new consoles coming out. With them will come better, more demanding engines)

You're right about Alienware, though. They're the Apple of the gaming laptop market.

 

[kiritonakama]

Update:
I bought the Lenovo Y510p. It has all the features I wanted, and was reasonably priced. ~850 dollars for 1080p, 1 tb hdd, backlit keyboard, 2GB nvdia GT750 graphics, quad core 4th gen i7, 24GB mSATA drive, and power to boot!

Thank you all for helping me. =D