attn: Turkey / Geeks

[Duo]

Thanks for all the input guys, I'm leaning toward Kera's recommendation right now which seems like as Bob said gains a lot of performance for not too much more, but Archi if you can get that model # I'd like to take a look at that too. Any more input is welcome....I'll pull the trigger within another week.

[Turky]

Okay, since you're a lazy ass and didn't seem to pursue my method of selecting a good laptop, I'll do some of the work for you.

Take a look at this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834230021

Do you see what you get for about 150 more dollars? Better GPU. You may not believe it, but the 5870 runs circles around the 6650. When you're looking at GPUs, the digit places are important. A 6000 series may be the next generation from a 5000 series, but the second digit is also important. In this case, a 5870 series tops a 6650 series without a sweat. You may confirm this with the links I provided in my previous post.

Put in scientific/math terms, an [X][Y]00 series can usually be expected to perform better than an [X+1][Y-D]00 series. Keep in mind that X, Y, and D are positive integers less than and not equal to 10, and where Y-D is in modulus 10 and {X,Y} are in [1,9].

It's hard to make assumptions for any arbitrary X+ E though, where E is also [1,9] mod 10. For example, an nvidia 8600GT is sure to run circles around a 6800GT. After two first-digit generations or more, there is enough difference for the second digit to be lesser, and still outdo the higher second digit GPU.

Get aspergersmathraped, by the way.

Also, it's a quad core! And i7 not i5 on the processor. And the Vram is GDDR5, not GDDR3. That's a huge jump in geek terms. This is what Bob/Maximus meant by getting a lot more for not much more money.

This one's marked down about 180 bucks, not just 70 like the one kera posted. We always like laptops that are marked down and are also worth their salt.

Anyway, think about how something like that would last you in the long run. I would say it's worth the extra $150.

Now that you can see what kinds of things I can find with 2 minutes of investigation (and 25 minutes of posting this shit), maybe you can find something that suits you for the best deal. Just select a price range, limit the gpu type to dedicated, and then look among the specific GPU models in the dropbox. Remember, you want to focus on the highest first and second digits. If you're not sure what the GPU model numbers mean, just check the benchmarks with the link I gave you!

However. I don't know how pressed you are for cash vs. how pressed you are to be able to play games on a mobile platform. If you're just looking for a laptop that can play games from 5 years ago, or if you hope to play games from now or the future. I think the best method here is basically feast or famine. Go for a minimal gaming laptop at 500 bucks or so, cheapest dedicated GPU you can get. Or, make it worth your bucks and go for something like I've just shown you. (there's only two laptops with the 5870).

But don't just settle for mediocrity that won't last you long anyway. Any of that make sense?

I like how I can make anub-style posts that are (hopefully) worth reading.

[Kerafym]

This looks pretty good, but I'm pretty bad with laptops and it's slightly over your budget.

@trk.



You're probably not going to find one very much better than the one I linked in that price range, but bobkey are right in that a little more goes a long way at this price range.

The one I linked would shit all over JA and Source engine games, but wouldn't handle upcoming titles very well (low/medium, if I were to wager a guess). I'm pretty sure the one Turkey linked would handle Skyrim, Dues Ex, etc.

[Duo]

Okay, since you're a lazy ass and didn't seem to pursue my method of selecting a good laptop, I'll do some of the work for you.

I did do it faggot, and the one you posted is $225 over what I wanted to pay initially.

[Maximus]

(Skip down to the Summary Recommendation for the tl;dr types)

trk@not halpful suz

The reason you're getting so few good answers is there's so many choices at this price point it's hard to know where to start narrowing it down. I find it's most helpful to give people a finite range of options and let them decide based on how much cash they're willing to put out or other things like brand preferences.

________________________________
Caveats:
I can't in good conscience recommend anything at the $600 point for gaming. You're pretty much stuck with integrated graphics at that point, or maybe something negligibly better like a Radeon 6400/Geforce 300 series. As soon as you say the word "gaming", in any capacity, you need to plan on $700.

Be aware any recent drivers from AMD have issues with older OpenGL based games (read: JKA) which will require the yews of 1) old drivers or 2) other workarounds; so you may want to consider nvidia graphics if you want ease of yews in that area.
______________________________
Features/Performance Analysis:

It looks like standard features for this class include the following: 15" @ 1366x768 TN panel LCD, dual channel DDR3 RAM, 5400RPM HD, DVD+-/RW, at least one USB 3.0 port, 802.11n Wifi, 1Gb ethernet, HDMI and VGA out, 6 cell battery, and 1.3-2.0MP integrated webcam.

Going down the benchmark list, I eliminated anything with a 3dmark06 score of less than 5000. My Geforce 7900 GS from 2007 gets around 4000, and it's rather limiting in some games.

The single most important upgrades I would recommend are 1) better GPUs (duh) and 2) 7200RPM HD. The latter may be somewhat surprising, but I couldn't believe how much faster my 4 year old laptop felt after going from a slow Seagate 5400RPM to a Western Digital Caviar Black 7200RPM. It was enough of an upgrade to make me put off buying a new laptop for a year (I don't really game on it any more, just yews it for productivity). This may be the biggest factor in your request for "a reliable computer that can keep lots of things open at once and store lots of data without slowness or crashing".
Dual core vs quad, 4GB RAM vs more, CPU architecture are not going to be that big a deal in most general yews situations. Intel Sandy Bridge (Core iX 4-digit) will outperform AMD Llano (A6/A8) in actual benchmarks, but AMD isn't going to be limiting in most situations. If you're considering an AMD and have concerns, we can check benches for specific applications.
______________________________
Recommendations (similar items grouped together):

Acer 15", i5 SB (SB = Sandy Bridge hereafter) dual core, Geforce 540M, $679
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834215119

Acer 17", i5 SB dual core, Radeon 6650M, $679
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834215122

For the AMD fan,
HP 15", AMD Llano quad core, Radeon 6620G, BD-ROM, $724
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834157877
At the HP site, a customized Pavilion dv6zqe Llano based system runs $734 with quad core, 6645M graphics (hybrid crossfire with APU/GPU), 15" screen, 7200RPM HD, and BD-ROM.
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopp ... zqe_series
HP has equivalent Intel systems at 15" and 17" as well.

At the Dell outlet, an XPS 15 (L502x) with dual core i3, Geforce 525M, and 7200RPM HD runs $669.
http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSale ... 1&fid=2149

XPS 17 (L702x) for 17" screen starts at $729. They have better graphics but more pixels to push so it's probably a wash in terms of performance.
http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSale ... 1&fid=6589

__________________________
Summary Recommendation:
Hang out around the Dell Outlet and pick up a refurb XPS 15 that you like. I've had good success with 2 refurb Dells; Turky has one also. Specific models will come and go by the hour so if you like it, grab it. Dual core Sandy Bridge Core i3 or i5, Geforce 500 series, 7200RPM HD, maybe a BD-ROM, higher end wireless card or bigger battery if you're into that kind of thing. 4GB RAM seems standard, nowadays $50 will get you 8GB if you feel the need to upgrade later, but it's a poor spec by which to choose systems due to the easy upgradability. You should be out the door in the $700-750 range. If 17" is a priority, look at the XPS 17 for $100 more, or compromise drive speed for the cheaper Acer above.

[Max Rambone]

Acer Aspire 5742G-6846 $599

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-AS5742G-6846 ... B004ETSGIQ

Seems to be hard to find, but Bob's machine is roughly the same price with an i5, so that may be the better way to go in that price range.

Acer 15", i5 SB (SB = Sandy Bridge hereafter) dual core, Geforce 540M, $679
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834157948

Good luck, buddy.

BTW, thanks for the suggestions back when I built my tower, Bob....

Still running strong except for the video card which was fine until it crapped out....on and the RAM toasted on me....need to RMA.

~archi

[Maximus]

Acer Aspire 5742G-6846 $599

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-AS5742G-6846 ... B004ETSGIQ

I noticed at some point that Kera and I recommended the same Acer...

The main reason I stay away from them is things like this review of the one you posted:

"The real issue is the build quality. The screen is poor; lots of glare, screen-door effect (as another reviewer already mentioned). Sometimes on battery, the screen will randomly dim and then return to normal. The case is flimsy. When closed, the back of the lid has a lot of "give," enough to make me nervous about possible damage to the screen. The keyboard doesn't respond well, and the surface below the keys sags when typing."
http://www.amazon.com/Acer-AS5742G-6846 ... B004ETSGIQ

This is my impression of "off the shelf" systems in general. Dell puts somewhat more effort into their build quality. One of the biggest complaints I have about my existing laptop is the terrible LCD quality (there have been a lot of improvements in 4 years, especially since LED backlighting).
This page shows the specs for the Dell laptops; go to the Compare Side by Side tab:
http://content.dell.com/us/en/home/d/he ... px?ref=CFG
The 15.6" B+RGLED 1080p is one of the best panels you can buy in a laptop. The regular one isn't too bad; at least the contrast is good and the color gamut is pretty standard. I feel sorry for anyone who buys the 15z with the cheap panel... it would probably be as bad as mine.

[piipe]

nerds

[Maximus]

If it were not for nerds then your quality of life would be about what it was a few centuries ago... carrying water from a stream in buckets, rubbing sticks to make fire, living in mud huts and caves, subsistence farming...

You're welcome.

[Turquoise Dragon]

Actually, I may enjoy something like that. Shit wasn't as complicated then, albiet life was much harder and shorter. And I'd have a legit reason for all my weaponry.