Best lappy under $500?

PaulieG · Aug 13, 2012

OK. I have a buddy at work who is looking for the best lappy for some light gaming, under $500. He will not buy used. So, I thought maybe some of you might be able to help him out, since I'm not really a laptop guy. Any thought are greatly appreciated.

(FIH) The Don · Aug 15, 2012

lenovo IdeaPad U400 (099328U) Notebook Intel Core ...

or if he can dig out another 50$ then this would prolly be my pick Acer Aspire V3-571G-6641 Notebook Intel Core i3 23...

Drone · Aug 15, 2012

(FIH) The Don · Aug 15, 2012

yeah but no dedicated gpu, and hd3000 just sucks balls in everything else but browsing lol

PaulieG · Aug 15, 2012

(FIH) The Don said:
lenovo IdeaPad U400 (099328U) Notebook Intel Core ...

or if he can dig out another 50$ then this would prolly be my pick Acer Aspire V3-571G-6641 Notebook Intel Core i3 23...

Drone said:
Gateway NV57H54u is under 500 bucks. (470-490)

2.3GHz Intel Core i3-2350M
4 GB RAM
500 GB HDD

edit newegg has it for 440$

Gateway NV57H54u Notebook Intel Core i3 2350M(2.30...

Both of these seem good, but can anyone find anything better than these three for the price? If these are the best three available, which would you choose, and why? He is leaning toward the Acer since it comes with the 7670M video, but I've had good experience with Lenovo, and the video is 6620g, which also seems decent. Decisions, decisions...

lenovo IdeaPad Z575 (12992KU) Notebook AMD A-Serie...

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2008029&sku=A180-156130

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006KYY0TC/?tag=tec06d-20

AlienIsGOD · Aug 15, 2012

Drone said:
Gateway NV57H54u is under 500 bucks. (470-490)

Intel HD graphics over the other 2 options? Personally i would go for the one with the 630M as OP stated its for light gaming, Intel HD can play minesweeper and solitaire

Didnt see you post Paulieg. Anything that has a somewhat decent gfx card should do the job according to Notebookcheck.com Most games can be played on medium with any of the above gfx

Drone · Aug 15, 2012

(FIH) The Don said:
yeah but no dedicated gpu, and hd3000 just sucks balls in everything else but browsing lol

OP stated that they needed it for lite gaming. HD3000 isn't that bad

PaulieG · Aug 15, 2012

AlienIsGOD said:
Intel HD graphics over the other 2 options? Personally i would go for the one with the 630M as OP stated its for light gaming, Intel HD can play minesweeper and solitaire

Didnt see you post Paulieg. Anything that has a somewhat decent gfx card should do the job according to Notebookcheck.com Most games can be played on medium with any of the above gfx

Yeah, $500 is max budget, and that was streching things, so the 630M is not an option. I forgot to check notebookcheck.com. That would have been smart. :banghead:

So, if any of these will "do the job", which is the best bang for the buck? I'm struggling b/t Samsung and Lenovo quality, vs a better gpu in the Acer. I will also consider other options, but I'm not seeing anything better than what I listed.

(FIH) The Don · Aug 15, 2012

well quality in sub 500$ lappys are somewhat equal imo, its only when you comes to thinkpad, probook, precision and such you can tell a difference

so i would just pick the one with the best specs overall, and games these days really want a good gpu, and can be played with a lower end cpu without bigger problems

so yeah, best gpu with a decent cpu in that pricerange

PaulieG · Aug 15, 2012

So, the Acer has the 7670M, so it obviously has the best gpu, but I've seem some question regarding quality of Acer products in this price range. The Lenovo has a slightly less powerful gpu in the 6620g, but I've owned 2 Lenovos, and despite price, the quality is always there, and it does thav 6gb ram instead of 4. The Samsung has a lesser gpu than both, but seems to have solid reviews. So, which lappy would you guys pick, given all of the specs?

Edit: Just added a poll.

(FIH) The Don · Aug 15, 2012

my gf has a sammy with the i3 and a gt620 i think it is, and honestly, the quality is plain out shit, no less.

but it performs well though.

about acer, i think its a hit and miss, either its good or bad, and ive think they steppud up a bit the past years

Easy Rhino · Aug 15, 2012

i picked the lenovo based on build quality. if you buy a laptop the first thing you should consider is build quality. after all the thing is mobile and you will bump it, bash it, drop it, and smash it.

anyway, what qualifies as "light gaming?"

PaulieG · Aug 15, 2012

Easy Rhino said:
i picked the lenovo based on build quality. if you buy a laptop the first thing you should consider is build quality. after all the thing is mobile and you will bump it, bash it, drop it, and smash it.

anyway, what qualifies as "light gaming?"

Light gaming, as in the ability to play mostt modern games on medium settings with playable framerates. He's not really a gamer, maybe playing 2-3 hours a week. Primarily games like Diablo 3, Witcher 2 etc.

Easy Rhino · Aug 15, 2012

Paulieg said:
Light gaming, as in the ability to play mostt modern games on medium settings with playable framerates. He's not really a gamer, maybe playing 2-3 hours a week. Primarily games like Diablo 3, Witcher 2 etc.

ahh, then i think that lenovo lenovo IdeaPad U400 (099328U) Notebook Intel Core ... should do the job. really any of those 3 probably will do, but i go with the lenovo because of build quality and style.

digibucc · Aug 15, 2012

i would agree with lenovo before acer, i don't know of the samsung.

Easy Rhino · Aug 15, 2012

digibucc said:
i would agree with lenovo before acer, i don't know of the samsung.

my brother has a samsung and he likes it. the build quality seems a bit cheap to me though.

Liquid Cool · Aug 15, 2012

Click

In the $500 range you're dealing with the Core i3/i5 combo's usually with the HD 3000. There are pockets of water in the deep dry desert of the '$500 notebook that will play most modern games on medium settings'. Although, refurbs have been usually settled for. I myself ended up with the DV6-6135dx for $500. Best money I ever spent.

The notebook I linked to above is a little more than $500, but he'll be happy with it for years. I'm resisting buying one myself at this price.

I'll be looking at laptops today online, if I run across anything that even remotely fits the bill, I'll stop back in and throw up a link.

I'll add...as mentioned, it doesn't hurt to look at refurbs. Lenovo, HP, Dell Outlet. All of the major manufacturers have sites that cater to purchasing refurbs.

Best,

Liquid Cool

PaulieG · Aug 15, 2012

Easy Rhino said:
ahh, then i think that lenovo lenovo IdeaPad U400 (099328U) Notebook Intel Core ... should do the job. really any of those 3 probably will do, but i go with the lenovo because of build quality and style.

Easy Rhino said:
my brother has a samsung and he likes it. the build quality seems a bit cheap to me though.

I just think the Z575 looks like a better value. It's cheaper, and has a better gpu, but I am leaning toward Lenovo at this point. I would like a few more opinions before I make a final decision.

JrRacinFan · Aug 15, 2012

My .02, I would shoot for an AMD APU based laptop. Wouldn't need the dedicated graphics, might help keep heat and battery consumption down.
lenovo IdeaPad Z575 (12992KU) Notebook AMD A-Serie...

Liquid Cool · Aug 15, 2012

JrRacinFan has a point. I've seen a few guys mention the A10 alone without a discrete graphics card will do the job rather decently...

Finding that A10 on sale w/o the graphics card somewhere might be possibly for $500? I'll look around.

LC

P.S. If the budget...'is the budget'. That Lenovo doesn't look too shabby, but I've tried to game on my 6620...it blows. If I didn't have the HD6750m backing it up, I would have trashed it long ago.

Easy Rhino · Aug 15, 2012

Liquid Cool said:
Click

In the $500 range you're dealing with the Core i3/i5 combo's usually with the HD 3000. There are pockets of water in the deep dry desert of the '$500 notebook that will play most modern games on medium settings'. Although, refurbs have been usually settled for. I myself ended up with the DV6-6135dx for $500. Best money I ever spent.

The notebook I linked to above is a little more than $500, but he'll be happy with it for years. I'm resisting buying one myself at this price.

I'll be looking at laptops today online, if I run across anything that even remotely fits the bill, I'll stop back in and throw up a link.

I'll add...as mentioned, it doesn't hurt to look at refurbs. Lenovo, HP, Dell Outlet. All of the major manufacturers have sites that cater to purchasing refurbs.

Best,

Liquid Cool

wow, $50 more bucks gets you A LOT more laptop.

AlienIsGOD · Aug 15, 2012

Ya the link that Liquid Cool posted would be the best option for gaming, $50 more.... your friend could wait 1 extra paycheck and be alot more satisfied IMO.

PaulieG · Aug 15, 2012

JrRacinFan said:
My .02, I would shoot for an AMD APU based laptop. Wouldn't need the dedicated graphics, might help keep heat and battery consumption down.
lenovo IdeaPad Z575 (12992KU) Notebook AMD A-Serie...

AlienIsGOD said:
Ya the link that Liquid Cool posted would be the best option for gaming, $50 more.... your friend could wait 1 extra paycheck and be alot more satisfied IMO.

He is too damn impatient, not to mention they will probably be gone by then. Oh, and with tax he will end up about $80 over budget.

JrRacinFan · Aug 15, 2012

Other than that, all you can do is check a Costco, Sam's Club, Best Buy or Office Depot locally. =/ I think i have a guest pass to Sam's if you need it.

PaulieG · Aug 15, 2012

We've got a new player to add to the mix. This is a refurb. What do you guys think?

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnline...arch.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dfh&cs=22&puid=99690a6b

Processor	5800x(2)/5700g/5600x/5600g/2700x/1700x/1700
Motherboard	MSI B550 Carbon (2)/ MSI z490 Unify/Asus Strix B550-F/MSI B450 Tomahawk (3)
Cooling	EK AIO 360 (2)/EK AIO 240, Arctic Cooling Freezer II 280/EVGA CLC 280/Noctua D15/Cryorig M9(2)
Memory	32 GB Ballistix Elite/32 GB TridentZ/16GB Mushkin Redline Black/16 GB Dominator
Video Card(s)	Asus Strix RTX3060/EVGA 970(2)/Asus 750 ti/Old Quadros
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe 500GB/WD Black M.2 NVMe 500GB/Adata 500gb NVMe
Display(s)	Acer 1080p 22"/ (3) Samsung 22" 1080p
Case	(2) Lian Li Lancool II Mesh/Corsair 4000D /Phanteks Eclipse 500a/Be Quiet Pure Base 500/Bones of HAF
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova 850G(2)/EVGA Supernova GT 650w/Phantek Amps 750w/Seasonic Focus 750w
Mouse	Generic Black wireless (5)
Keyboard	Generic Black wireless (5)
Software	Win 10/Ubuntu

System Name	Ivy Biatch
Processor	i5 3570K
Motherboard	ASSRockzz z77TOTHEEXTREME!!!!
Cooling	bleh
Memory	2x4gb crucial 1866
Video Card(s)	HD7770, yes it does BF3
Storage	120gb Vertex
Display(s)	226BW
Case	whats that, oh my table
Audio Device(s)	stock onboard thing
Power Supply	HX850W
Software	7

System Name	Ivy Biatch
Processor	i5 3570K
Motherboard	ASSRockzz z77TOTHEEXTREME!!!!
Cooling	bleh
Memory	2x4gb crucial 1866
Video Card(s)	HD7770, yes it does BF3
Storage	120gb Vertex
Display(s)	226BW
Case	whats that, oh my table
Audio Device(s)	stock onboard thing
Power Supply	HX850W
Software	7

Processor	5800x(2)/5700g/5600x/5600g/2700x/1700x/1700
Motherboard	MSI B550 Carbon (2)/ MSI z490 Unify/Asus Strix B550-F/MSI B450 Tomahawk (3)
Cooling	EK AIO 360 (2)/EK AIO 240, Arctic Cooling Freezer II 280/EVGA CLC 280/Noctua D15/Cryorig M9(2)
Memory	32 GB Ballistix Elite/32 GB TridentZ/16GB Mushkin Redline Black/16 GB Dominator
Video Card(s)	Asus Strix RTX3060/EVGA 970(2)/Asus 750 ti/Old Quadros
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe 500GB/WD Black M.2 NVMe 500GB/Adata 500gb NVMe
Display(s)	Acer 1080p 22"/ (3) Samsung 22" 1080p
Case	(2) Lian Li Lancool II Mesh/Corsair 4000D /Phanteks Eclipse 500a/Be Quiet Pure Base 500/Bones of HAF
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova 850G(2)/EVGA Supernova GT 650w/Phantek Amps 750w/Seasonic Focus 750w
Mouse	Generic Black wireless (5)
Keyboard	Generic Black wireless (5)
Software	Win 10/Ubuntu

System Name	Aliens Ryzen Rig \| 2nd Hand Omen
Processor	Ryzen R5 5600 \| Ryzen R5 3600
Motherboard	Gigabyte B450 Aorus Elite (F61 BIOS) \| B450 matx
Cooling	DeepCool Castle EX V2 240mm AIO\| stock for now
Memory	8GB X 2 DDR4 3000mhz Team Group Vulcan \| 16GB DDR4
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Pulse RX 5700 8GB \| GTX 1650 4GB
Storage	Adata XPG 8200 PRO 512GB SSD OS / 240 SSD + 2TB M.2 SSD Games / 1000 GB Data \| SSD + HDD
Display(s)	Acer ED273 27" VA 144hz Freesync \|TCL 32" 1080P w/ HDR
Case	NZXT H500 Black \| HP Omen Obelisk
Audio Device(s)	Onboard Realtek \| Onboard Realtek
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNOVA G3 650w 80+ Gold \| 500w
Mouse	Steelseries Rival 500 15 button mouse w/ Razor Goliathus Chroma XL mousemat \| Logitech G502
Keyboard	Logitech G910 Orion Spark RGB w/ Romer G tactile keys \| Logitech G513 Carbon w/ Romer G tactile keys
Software	Windows 10 Pro \| Windows 10 Pro

Best lappy under $500?

Which lappy under $500?

lenovo IdeaPad Z575 (12992KU)

Samsung Series 3 NP305V5A-A09US

Acer Aspire AS5560G-7809

PaulieG

(FIH) The Don

Drone

(FIH) The Don

PaulieG

AlienIsGOD

Vanguard Beta Tester

Drone

PaulieG

(FIH) The Don

PaulieG

(FIH) The Don

Easy Rhino

Linux Advocate

PaulieG

Easy Rhino

Linux Advocate

digibucc

Easy Rhino

Linux Advocate

Liquid Cool

PaulieG

JrRacinFan

Served 5k and counting ...

Liquid Cool

Easy Rhino

Linux Advocate

AlienIsGOD

Vanguard Beta Tester

PaulieG

JrRacinFan

Served 5k and counting ...

PaulieG

System Name	Desktop
Processor	i5 13600KF
Motherboard	AsRock B760M Steel Legend Wifi
Cooling	Noctua NH-U9S
Memory	4x 16 Gb Gskill S5 DDR5 @6000
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte Gaming OC 6750 XT 12GB
Storage	WD_BLACK 4TB SN850x
Display(s)	Gigabye M32U
Case	Corsair Carbide 400C
Audio Device(s)	On Board
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova 650 P2
Mouse	MX Master 3s
Keyboard	Logitech G915 Wireless Clicky
Software	The Matrix

System Name	i7-PC / HTPC / iMac
Processor	i7 3820 / Phenom II 940
Motherboard	GIGABYTE G1.ASSASSIN2 / M3A79-T Deluxe
Cooling	Corsair Hydro H100i / Scythe II (HS only)
Memory	G.SKILL Trident X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600mhz / 4GB DDR2 1066 (@800) Corsair Dominator
Video Card(s)	GB Radeon HD 7950s 3GB / GB Radeon HD 7950s 3GB
Storage	2x 80GB Intel X-25, 2x600gb SATA, 1x1tb 5400RPM storage /1x600GB, 3x500GB,1x160,1x120 SATA
Display(s)	1x 27" Yamakasi / Vizio 42" HDTV
Case	Lian Li Lancool PC-K58 / Antec 900
Audio Device(s)	HT Omega Striker 7.1 / Onboard and HDMI from ATi Card
Power Supply	PC Power & Cooling 750W / 610W
Software	Ubuntu / Windows 8.1 Pro / OS X / PHPStorm / Gaming

System Name	Graphics Card Free...
Processor	Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard	MSI B450 Gaming Plus MAX Wifi
Cooling	Cryorig M9a w/ BeQuiet! PureWings 2 ~ 92mm
Memory	Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 3200 ~ 16GB(2x8GB)
Storage	Samsung EVO 870 SSD - 1TB
Display(s)	AOC 24G2
Case	Cardboard...
Power Supply	eVGA SuperNova 550w G3
Mouse	Logitech t400 Zone Touch Mouse
Keyboard	IBM Model "M" Keyboard
Software	Manjaro ~ KDE Plasma
Benchmark Scores	She's a Runner!

System Name	Dual Build Streamer
Processor	Ryzen 7900x3d : Ryzen 4600G
Motherboard	AsRock B650E Steel Legend : Giga B450i Aorus
Cooling	Custom Water 1x420 : Stock
Memory	32GB T-Force Deltas : 16GB Dominator Platinums
Video Card(s)	PowerColor 7900 XTX Liquid Devil: iGPU
Storage	20+ TB
Display(s)	Sammy 49" 5k Ultrawide
Case	Custom White Painted Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2
Audio Device(s)	Onboard : Onboard
Power Supply	EVGA 1200W P2
Mouse	Corsair M65 RGB Elite White
Keyboard	Hyperx Origins 65
Software	Windows 10