Need a bit of laptop acquisition advice

[Evie]

So my old laptop is two years old and was a bit of a bargain bin thing when I got it (350-ish dollars, intel card, etc...got it mostly because it was the only 2GB ram machine I could get within my price range), and I'm looking into finding it a replacement for everyday (including casual gaming, but not heavy gaming) use.

I have a very limited budget (My aim is to stay under 500$, I might go a few dollars above but short of a literal steal that gives me another year of good performance 550+ is definitely out, and, because of travel constraints (I share time between Montreal and Ottawa, so lots of bus travels and train travels), I'd rather it be a laptop.

The best deal I've found so far at 499$ appear to be this:

Acer Aspire AS7551-5755
2.4 GHz AMD Turion II Dual Core P540
4GB System memory
500GB Hard Drive
17,3'' screen
Mobility Radeon HD 5470

Is it a decent deal for what it is (keeping in mind I can't go much higher in price range)?

Or does anyone have better ideas to suggest, again keeping the price range/laptop req in mind?

Or would I be better off trying to milk a few more months of older games out of my current laptop (Aspire AS4730E, 2 Ghz Intel Dual T3200, 2GB Ram, 120GB Hard drive, Intel 4 Integrated graphics) and see what I can get in the Summer in terms of new computers and bargains?

 

[Genocidicbunny]

I dont know if you can wait until August, but that is the best time for getting a laptop. Pretty much all major laptop sales are during late July, August and September (back to school). If that's too much, at least wait for January as that will also see some retailers dumping old stock to make room for 2011 models.


Now, I must warn you that for 500$ you will likely have a bit worse build quality but if that is of no issue, then you should be fine.

The laptop you have up there looks like its gonna be rather heavy. I dont know how travelable a 17" screen is. If you only need it to be portable in that you can stick it in a bag and travel, then it should work. If you want actual usage on the go, 17" is a bit big.

The actual specs look pretty good though. The Turion is a bit of a slower processor, but it is also cheaper than intel which is important to you.


I suggest you also check out MSI and ASUS as these generally make good specc'd laptops for fairly cheap. Im not sure if either will have anything amazing in the 500$ range, but you never know.

 

[Evie]

Thanks for the pointers about January/August. I might end up doing that.

I'm aware 500$ isn't the best builds, but it's what I can spare, so it'll have to do. I'm looking to make the most out of what money I have, so no use crying over what I can't get.

I'm ideally thinking for this laptop of something I can carry around to use at my destination. My older laptop can probably still cover my ass when I want something to write with on the go.

 

[tycoonist]

I kinda went through a similar thing... I play an above average amount of computer games, and needed a new PC, which had to be a laptop for ease of transport. The good news is, you can get laptops which handle games very nicely (my new laptop can play any game I've tested it on with above 35 fps - which is fine for nearly all games. I haven't yet encountered a game which i feel the perfomance is lacking on.) The bad news is, you have to pay a bit more for it. My laptop would best be termed expensive, and was a couple of hundred pounds more than the equivalent power desktop.

I would wait until summer if you can. I don't know how good January sales are for PCs, but September has the best sales (at least in the UK, or so I'm told) for laptops.

Just gonna quickly point out some issues with gaming laptops:
- Battery life. Not an issue if you don't want to use it while travelling or on the go, but can be a factor if you do.
- Heating up. Laptops can get pretty goddamn hot when gaming, not recommended for use on your lap, ironically.
- Weight. Gaming laptops tend to be a lot less portable. As a rule, the lighter your laptop the more expensive. This effect is multiplied when combined with the need for large graphics cards etc. typically found in gaming laptops.

None of the above are really important if you (like me) only use your laptop at your desk, and only need a laptop for ease of transport, not for use during transport. Just some things to think about, it isn't neccessarily all about processor speed etc. for laptops.

 

[civ_king]

Wait until either March when Sandy Bridge forces laptop prices to drop or September for back to school plus Ivy Bridge associated drops

 

[Mec AntiKythera]

You may want to look around in shops right now. I have seen big sales going on right now due to the arrival of Sandy Bridge notebooks in a couple weeks. The older models are priced to go.

Personally I would be happier with a smaller screen and a faster CPU, but it depends on what you want to do with it. What do you want to do with it?