laptop dilemma $600 budget

[JanJan]

Price is dead even. The gateway has much better battery life but the lenovo has better card and look in general...

Gateway: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1165596&CatId=4938
Lenovo: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1175494&CatId=4938

 

[Frick]

What will you do with it? Is battery important, go for the Gateway. If not, the Lenovo.

 

[3design]

It would be wise to put your wallet on the "Lenovo IdeaPad U400", because, it supports dedicated Mobility Radeon GPU instead of that horrible Intel Integrated GPU.

Go for Lenovo!

 

[Liquid Cool]

They both would be fairly priced in the low 4's. I'd go refurbished and save the money. An Asus K53 is a decent choice from Newegg. Regularly goes on sale for $399. An A8 with a 6620 would be a decent AMD product, but if you're hell bent on buying new...I'd choose neither, there are WAY better choices in this price range. Neither of these would make it into my top 10.

Best,

LC

 

[JanJan]

thanks for the input but which laptop would you buy for $600?

edit: i prefer something small so 14inch is probably max i would look at. probably that's why it's expensive

 

[Jetster]

The AMD Radeon HD 6470M is nothing to write home about. But personally I like Lenovo better

 

[Liquid Cool]

I was about to suggest this notebook (Click) if you're wanting to buy from TD. 'At your convenience', throw in a Samsung SSD 830 and you'd be as happy as I am. I own this unit and simply put...it rocks. I have it hooked up to a Dell U2311H and it will play any game in my Steam account with decent settings. I did also purchase a 2x4GB kit of Samsung Lo Pro memory at the same time I bought the 830...waste o' cash. Although...it will take 16gb's for future proofing.

Another 15" that's a solid performer, but lacking in video power to some degree...Click Here, I have seen it go on sale for $399.99 before. Although, an Asus K53 is hard to beat at that price.

If you're wanting a 14", I'd suggest going to the Dell Outlet Center(Click) and hunt around on the business side. Their Core i5's are routinely cheap...just find a coupon. I'd recommend stayinw away from Inspiron's...they're too 'plasticy' and flexible(not too mention, WAY too much work to upgrade the HDD). A good Vostro or even a Latitude can be had for your price. If you want smaller than 14", the Vostro 131 is a good choice or the 12.5" Lenovo U260(Core i5 under $500). I have the Latitude 6220...it's a beautiful little notebook.

Good place to do research and hang out is NotebookReview.com. Whatever you purchase....at least go in the threads on this site and make doubly sure it doesn't have any major flaws or heat issues with the design. A little research before hand will save you major headaches later.

Best,

LC

 

[Deleted member 74752]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=2295181&sku=A50-156237

 

[Liquid Cool]

I will mention, I think Rickss69 has a point. I was pulling the FBI payback Virus off an HP 4530S(a business unit from HP that I recommend as being a solid performer) last night and then added an SSD. It had been awhile since I played with an i3 2310, and frankly I couldn't tell much in the way of performance difference(if any) against my i5 2430(Lat 6220). The i3's with an HD 3000 is a solid 'general use' performer. If you're going to be gaming on this notebook, then look towards an AMD...but don't think an i3 is too slow...you're not going to gain much with an i5 vs. the HD 3000 gpu that limits the 3D value of both of these choices.

If it was my dollars, an i3 would be a solid 'value' choice. I did pick up a 14" Vostro at the Dell Outlet at $349 about two months ago for a relative. It's been a great choice. I personally dig the V131 as mentioned. They're ultralight, good battery life, sleek looking(especially in Lucerne Red) and decent performance overall.

Good luck in the hunt...

LC

 

[Capitan Harlock]

Lenovo with the same price give you much more hd space , much more ram and a discrete graphic card ,with the 14" if you wanna play sometimes is good with this card, but if you need battery life well choose what you need,the discret graphic cards i think work only when you plug the powercord or work only the integrated intel hd

 

[JanJan]

thank you for being a great help LC. I was coming from a vostro v13 so i guess i want something different haha. I will keep looking.

I see a Latitude 6220 for $600 from the site you link. What's your thought on its battery life?

 

[JanJan]

came across this. dont think i will buy it but i think it's the best bang for buck

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Produc...talTop|PopularProductsInCategory#BVRRWidgetID

 

[Liquid Cool]

JJ,

Do apologize for the slow response, I lost the thread...I saw the 6220 Core i5 for 579.

I'm getting about 6 hours with an SSD that I added. I will mention, the 128gb Samsung 830 is/was on sale at Newegg for 89.99. Perfect SSD to accompany a new laptop imo. Picked one up this morning.

This coupon...

$016T00G$99BLV

is worth 15% off any Vostro at the Outlet. That would put a V131 Core i3-2350 in Lucerne Red that I just saw @ 390. Not bad at all.

You know, something I didn't mention...it's always good to monitor Ben's Bargains, SlickDeals, FatWallet etc...for coupons and deals on notebooks. I especially like SlickDeals for notebooks and Ben's Bargains for Dell Coupons.

Best,

Liquid Cool

P.S. At 599 for the Toshiba, you may well be right if it has the GT 540 in it. Nice find. This would be quite a bit snappier than the DV6.