Looking for a laptop, because mine is starting to make wierd non-HDD noises along with the screen problems. Just need its for recording and low-medium setting gamming. I can't seem to find anything better then this one:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavili ... Id=7015534

Quad-core, decentish graphics, decent enough screen size, good comapny. Anything Intel sub $500 has Intel Graphics which are pretty shitascular as I have read. At this price range if I go Intel, I get a better processer but I seem to take a pretty big hit on the graphics card. I'm not doing any Cam sized recording anytime soon so processer speed isn't that important I think? I'm a little lost on quad core vs dual vs single, but I read that I could multiply by between 1.6-1.75 to go down. So 1.9ghz quad = 3-3.3ghz dual right?

I am a fan of the adjective Cam-sized.

And: I also know nothing about computers.

I haven't been keeping up with what is available or what costs what lately, but that looks decent.

Normally, i prefer the Intel stuff. The i5s are swell. And normally i go for Nvidia cards, but the current crop of ATIs are supposed to be superduper. But, i wouldn't normally expect to find the things i look for, for much less than $700 in a laptop.

If your hard limit is $500, then i would say most likely you are looking at Dell, HP, Acer, lower end Toshiba, possibly some lower end Lenovo Ideapad biz. Bang for buck will probably go between Dell and HP.

If you don't mind the risk, refurbished computers can be had for very good discounts. I mean, the tradeoff is that if it breaks after one to three months(depending on the refurb deal) you are kind of fucked, more or less fucked, depending on what breaks.

That said, i bought my Asus refurb for just over $600 when the new ones were going for $900. It was pretty beast at the time, and it actually remains pretty beast today, even though it is just a dual core intel. The only problem i ever had with it was when one RAM module shat out about two years after i bought it(which obviously wasn't covered by the refurb warranty, but would have been covered by the (atypically good/long) Asus warranty. The fix was only like $60 though, so i DNRGAF.

In my view, the only REAL danger of a refurb would be if the dedicated video card goes, as if you get stuck having to replace one of those, it is not going to be $60, and in many cases, the video cards are not really replaceable by design, or often not available to buy separately. THAT being said, if the video card is going to fail out of the blue, it seems likely (to me) that it will do so within that 1-3 month window. And if the thing shits out on a new computer, you really usually only have a year of warranty time anyhow(so if my computer hadn't have been an Asus it also wouldn't have been covered for the RAM failure). Asus is kind of an exception, going to three years on their upper end laptops.

Google has something called the Chromebook. Starts at $199.

http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/#utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-bkws&utm_medium=ha

I'm pretty sure you cant use Reaper and Diabo III on Chrome OS...

Cam-sized is Cam-sized

There's that. And, personally, I loathe auto-updates. That seems more like a tablet with a keyboard.

Asus never disappoints. Also, Ive heard great things about lenovo.

Seeing some Lenovo i5's around here for 429.00 I had some trouble with some Lenovo desktops but not a problem with the laptops.

Link? I have a bias in favor of Lenovo. My laptop is a Lenovo and it has been a beast of a computer, taken way more punishment then any computer should have. If I could have another I'd be very happy.

edit: like this one?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=4935

I'll also toss in my love of Asus

I ended up using some connections and got a good deal on a Dell(totally out of left field).

Asus was also high on my would buy list.

What did you wind up with spec-wise?

My old Dell Inspiron was actually the tank laptop that inspired me to get the Asus i have now instead of building another desktop. Actually, i could put a new hard drive(that was my test of the "never recoard to your system drive" rule. ) in that beast right now and record with it, if i needed to. Which is crazy because it is like more than ten years old now? It was pretty top-of-the-line for them when it was new though.

Inspiron 15

3rd Gen i3 dual core 2.4ghz
6GB ram
750 GM HDD
Intel HD 4000 GPU


For under $400, I get a little bit of a trade off (better CPU, not as good GPU vs the HP), more Ram, more HDD space.

The Intel HD 4000 graphics are really close in capability to the 7640G in that HP, actually. Better in some games, worse in others, but pretty close across the board.

That sounds like a good deal to me.

Seemed to me when, I looked it up, that the Intel GPU was better when paired with badass i5 and i7 processors My overall impression though was that the drop off wasn't really that much. I would have loved an AMD Lenovo, just for fanaticism's sake, but I think the Dell will do just fine.

Ah, that makes sense, the chart i usually look at for laptop vidcard stuff doesn't mention what CPU, just various framerates and whatnot.