Buying a laptop

[CharlieKasper]

I will need a laptop for the next four years for my University work, so I thought of taking this opportunity and buy a laptop that can run games well. I will be buying the laptop from USA within 5 months (to avoid the various taxes imposed by Indian Government). I can buy it anytime, tomorrow, next month, after 5 months, whenever the time is suitable.

My budget is Rs. 50,000 ($817) (Could push to Rs. 55,000 ($897)). My budget is fixed in Indian Rupees instead of dollars as the Rupee value constant changes everyday.

I will be using the laptop mostly for my University and personal use. Presentations, Assignments, high level programming, engineering related stuff in the next four years, entertainment, a bit of photoshop and random usage and media and of course, gaming. What I want is it should be able to run all the latest games at decent FPS. Doesn't have to be 1080p or 4k maxed out yolo swag settings. Anything at moderate settings with decent FPS is good enough.
For specifications, I have come to know that a quad core i7 doesn't give any major performance boost over the dual core i5 (assuming both have everything else the same), so I can go with i5 and even choose i5 with a better GPU than an i7 with a weaker GPU. 8 GB of RAM and anything over 750 GB of HDD (doesn't have to be SSHD or SSD) is what I am looking for. I won't be able to play all games at 1080p with a low-mid level laptop GPU and processor so I can sacrifice a 1080p display for a 1336x768 display but I would of course prefer a 1080p if its possible with the price range.

Now, based on what I am looking for. I have found a few laptops.

• Lenovo Y40
  Everything in the Laptop is REALLY nice except that it has AMD R9275M. I have always heard about technical and heating issues related to AMD GPUs and in general under performing against their NVIDIA equivalents.
  There are two versions, 500 GB and 1 TB being sold for $800 and $840 respectively (after instant savings).
  
  4th Generation Intel Core i7-4510U Processor (2.00GHz 1600 MHz 4MB)
  Windows 8.1 64
  14.0" FHD LED AntiGlare Backlight (1920x1080)
  AMD Radeon R9 M275 2GB
  8.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3L SDRAM 1600 MHz
  Hybrid 1TB 5400 RPM+8GB SSHD
• HP ENVY 15t
  On customising it with the mentioned specifications, it costs $820 (after discount) which I think is reasonable since it provides an optical drive, fingerprint sensor and NVIDIA graphics card.
  
  4th generation Intel® Core™ i7-4510U Dual Core Processor
  Windows 8.1 64
  15.6-inch diagonal Full HD WLED-backlit Display (1920x1080)
  2GB NVIDIA GeForce 840M Graphics
  8GB DDR3L System Memory (1 Dimm)
  Free upgrade from 1TB to 1.5TB 5400 rpm Hard Drive ($90 savings)
  SuperMulti DVD burner
  Standard Keyboard with Fingerprint Reader
  

Now, that's all I could find reasonable at the price I want. I personally prefer HP since I find it gives better specs for the price but I have heard complaints of HP laptops HDD or heating issues.

If anybody has some better alternatives and opinions, you're most welcome to mention them. Thank you.

[Badboyz]

Give a try with the new razer laptop.I've heard it is working without any problems so far.Click Razer Blade for the specs.

[Kewlizm]

Give a try with the new razer laptop.I've heard it is working without any problems so far.Click Razer Blade for the specs.

Razer blade is $2000...... he said up to $897...


I actually would recommend the lenovo Y40. I had one but I gave it to my brother as a gift. It performs extremely well. And yeah I have heard about that ATI rumor too, but I don't think it is true. I have had two computers with ATI GPU (one being the Y40) and I NEVER had a heating issue.

HP on the other hand DOES heat up. I have had one HP laptop and it did heat up ALOT. I think it is because HP uses weak fans... not sure though. But my advice: Do not buy a HP

[Mark]

From HP user , i would tell you to pay attention with it. My laptop overheats as well like others. It's a dv6 , not one of models very "bugged" but still.

Maybe try to see some Dells , they are pretty fine..

[Kewlizm]

Maybe try to see some Dells , they are pretty fine..

Dells are pretty good too yeah.

[CharlieKasper]

Razer blade is $2000...... he said up to $897...


I actually would recommend the lenovo Y40. I had one but I gave it to my brother as a gift. It performs extremely well. And yeah I have heard about that ATI rumor too, but I don't think it is true. I have had two computers with ATI GPU (one being the Y40) and I NEVER had a heating issue.

HP on the other hand DOES heat up. I have had one HP laptop and it did heat up ALOT. I think it is because HP uses weak fans... not sure though. But my advice: Do not buy a HP

How does the R9 275X perform against the GT840M? I cant find any gameplay videos of it or comparison between the two.

Also, any Dell alternatives within my budget that meet my requirements ?

[Kewlizm]

http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-17-7737/pd?oc=dncwj1905b&model_id=inspiron-17-7737

That's one option.

Try searching the inspiron model. They are cheap and pretty good too.


Oh and about the R9 275X vs GT840M. If I remember correctly the Gt840M performs slightly better due to a higher clock speed. I would recommend the GT840M.