[LiquidEgo]

1) What is your budget?

$600ish

2) What size notebook would you prefer?

15”+

3) Where will you buying this notebook?

US

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?

Not a dell fan, and id like an Intel processor

5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed?

maybe

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?

Gaming(nothing on max settings) and school work

7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?

Mostly home

8) Will you be playing games on your notebook? If so, please state which games or types of games?

Starcraft 2, Fallout 3, LoL, Minecraft, a SNES emulator and whatever I find on Steam(nothing will need to run on max settings, im fine with mid graphics)

9) How many hours of battery life do you need?

For the most part ill have it plugged in while im gaming

10) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?

Both are fine

11) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista or Windows 7), Mac OS, Linux, etc.

Windows 7

Screen Specifics

12) From the choices below, what screen resolution(s) would you prefer?

1280 x 800

13) Do you want a Glossy/reflective screen or a Matte/non-glossy screen?

Both are fine

Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?

No, but black is nice

15) When are you buying this laptop?

As soon as I find the one I want

16) How long do you want this laptop to last?

At least 4 years

Notebook Components

17) How much hard drive space do you need; 80GB to 640GB? Do you want a SSD drive?

500GB at least, don’t need an SSD

18) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a CDRW/DVD-ROM, DVD Burner or Blu-Ray drive?

I’d like a CDRW/DVD-ROM drive at least, no blu-ray

[coastie65]

Hi and welcome to the forums. That is a pretty tall order on that budget. Having said that I did buy a Gateway in Dec. with an Intel i3 and 500 Gb Hdd. I have loaded and run Oblivion on that thing in Medium settings and it does fine ( mind you I did not get that thing for gaming as I have this desktop for that ). I haven't tried Fallout 3 on it as yet, but I suspect it will run it. I wouldn't even begin to try The Witcher or The Witcher 2 as those would be way too much for that thing. I'll see what I can come up with for you. OK, this may do fine: http://www.tigerdire...2672&CatId=4938

This post has been edited by coastie65: 13 May 2012 - 01:32 PM

[waldojim]

It just so happens that Lenovo has a sale going on with the z570.
http://shop.lenovo.c...9%3A00001752%3A

$600 gets you an i5 2540m, Nvidia GT 540m, 750GB hard drive, and 8GB of ram.

That machine will actually do extremely well playing games.

[coastie65]

waldojim, on 13 May 2012 - 02:19 PM, said:

It just so happens that Lenovo has a sale going on with the z570.
http://shop.lenovo.c...9%3A00001752%3A

$600 gets you an i5 2540m, Nvidia GT 540m, 750GB hard drive, and 8GB of ram.

That machine will actually do extremely well playing games.

Good find.

[waldojim]

One more laptop to mention, if you are looking for something a bit more rugged: Think Pad T510. The Thinkpad line is a line of very high quality machines. Though you give up a bit of ram and hard drive space. Also, while the video card is powerful enough for light gaming, don't expect too much from such a thing.

[coastie65]

I think the first one you put is the better of the two.

[waldojim]

coastie65, on 14 May 2012 - 10:04 AM, said:

I think the first one you put is the better of the two.

Very much agreed, but the Think line is certainly more rugged, and is a tad nicer. Also, they have matte displays. I figure the differences were vast enough that it was worth mentioning that option. Though performance won't be much better than a SB IGP, and none better than IVY IGP.