Cheap laptop buying help

[MaddMo0n]

So I need a new laptop for school, I want a gaming laptop but most gaming laptops are too expensive. However I still do want a laptop that can play most games at a decent resolution and fps. I don't play very intense games mainly because my computer cannot handle them very well, but I would like to get into Cs:GO and Cs:Source. 

 

My schools requirements (because laptops are a part of the curriculum) are;

• 13″ Screen
• 1024×768 resolution
• Intel Core2 Duo 1.73 GHz (or equivalent, eg. AMD product)
• 1 GB Memory
• 120 GB Hard Drive
• Wireless Network Adapter (must support 802.11 n)
• Optical drive (DVD±R DL / DVD±RW / CD-RW)
• Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7/8
• 5 hour+ battery life

I would prefer to have at least;

• 15.6″ or 17.3″ Screen
• At least a 1366×768 resolution
• Intel Core i5 (or AMD)
• 4 GB Memory
• 500 GB Hard Drive
• Microsoft Windows 7/8

My budget is under $650   

So if you could help me pick out a laptop I would really appreciate that, thanks.  

[connorpiper]

Does this laptop have to have an Optical Drive?

[Clyne]

This would be a good choice.

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-K550CA-EH51T-15-6-Inch-Touchscreen-Laptop/dp/B00F3TZCEC/ref=sr_1_12?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1407374485&sr=1-12&keywords=asus+laptop

[ROK]

I'd grab http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/g-series/g50-70/?sb=:000001C9:000122E5:

or http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/flex-series/flex-2-14/?sb=:000001C9:00011E8E:

[KemoKa]

Fish around the net for a laptop with an A10 or at least a dedicated graphics chip you can swap with something more powerful. My laptop has an A10-4600m and can comfortably get 28 fps on medium settings at 768p when running Unigine Valley. It's not even the most powerful mobile A10, so if you can find a 5750m that would be your best bet. It's not a gaming laptop but as long as you keep it plugged in it should fare pretty well on most games. just don't expect to be running any anti-aliasing or iso-filtering, that'll just kill your fps. I was benchmarking with Unigine so that's pretty impressive. I have tried games like X3 (which is relatively recent) and they run like butter on an APU. They're also quite a lot more energy-efficient than I expected. I shoved an SSD in my laptop and it now gets around nine hours on a charge. before that it could stretch to seven.

It's not going to be the most flashy, detailed, high-res gaming experience you've ever had, but it'll certainly do what you need it to. It's also a lot better in multiple threads than the i5s or i3s.

Alternatively you could wait for the mobile Kaveri APUs to come out, but I have no idea when that will be. If they do the laptops they are installed in are going to kick intel's graphical asses.

The laptops make good heaters in the winter as well. :3

[PaulKolby]

It's an hp laptop customize it to ur needs i recomend getting the graphics card at least first one on the list

http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/Laptops?SearchParameter=%26%40QueryTerm%3D*%26categoryusagelaptops_dte2%3DHigh%2Bperformance%26ContextCategoryUUID%3DjeEQxXjbj14AAAE0syxcZzOW%26%40Sort.TieredPricing%3D0&ShopByUse=High+performance

[KemoKa]

It's an hp laptop customize it to ur needs i recomend getting the graphics card at least first one on the list

http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/Laptops?SearchParameter=%26%40QueryTerm%3D*%26categoryusagelaptops_dte2%3DHigh%2Bperformance%26ContextCategoryUUID%3DjeEQxXjbj14AAAE0syxcZzOW%26%40Sort.TieredPricing%3D0&ShopByUse=High+performance

This is going to sound like a really biased statement based on my crippling stigma towards HP (because it is and I do have one) but...

Urrrrgh, haven't you seen they have real laptops on there? I'd rather go with an Alienware. At least they're made by dell. A gaming laptop that smells of cat wee is a lot better than one that's gonna break.

[PaulKolby]

Sorry had to add something get the first laptop when u scroll down and get the a10 and graphics card and it should meet ur needs lovely also it plays games great is slim but does not have an optical drive

[PaulKolby]

Hp isn't that bad my friend has this exact same laptop and it isn't bad quality i do admit hp sucks at least in the past but this laptop suprised me in the quality i mean it isn't any Alienware but it's half the cost and still decently powerful and best bang for the buck

[KemoKa]

Hp isn't that bad my friend has this exact same laptop and it isn't bad quality i do admit hp sucks at least in the past but this laptop suprised me in the quality i mean it isn't any Alienware but it's half the cost and still decently powerful and best bang for the buck

true, HPs are very value oriented, but I had one once. Ran off an old mobile Llano APU and it sucked horribly. It was so slow and so bogged down by HP's stupid bloatware that I lost all desire to use their stuff again.

That said, I have a Toshiba laptop, which I feel has a slightly black-and-white consumer reputation. many swear by them as being dependable and indestructible (I'm one of them) but a lot think they're cheap, unreliable junk. I personally reckon they're brilliant because Toshiba produces under Japan's crushing quality standards, unlike HP, whose laptops, printers and products in general, as far as I have used them, leave much to be desired.

[Jerakl]

Yeah my schools got it now as well. I might pick up a g550jk, but I'll follow this thread to see if I can find anything decent

[PaulKolby]

I mean the guy who posted this topic wanted a cheap gaming laptop this is a cheap gaming laptop i personally have a lenovo y510p which is amazing build quality but it is not on lenovo's website anymore and wasn't in the persons budget so that's why I said hp cheap as hell and decent graphics but this one isn't complete crap like the usual hp