Reddit reviews Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK 15.6 Inch FHD Laptop (6th Generation Intel Core i7, 8 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD + 8 GB SSD) NVIDIA Gaming GeForce GTX 960M

So...

Lets base this more accurately..

$500 6 years ago after inflation is between $550-$600 nowadays

The Core i5-350m has a passmark score of 1909
https://cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i3-350M+%40+2.27GHz&id=743

A modern mid-range laptop CPU is a Core i5-6200u this has a passmark score of 3900
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-6200U+%40+2.30GHz

It also has a max TDP half of the 350m and probably uses less than half of the power of the 350m.

It's not all about clockspeed.

Hell
https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1467049899&sr=1-1&keywords=dell+inspiron+15+7559.
This has an IPS 1080P screen, a core i7 skylake, a dedicated 960M GTX, 8GB ram, backlit keyboard and a SSHD. for only $850 USD

Edit: https://www.amazon.com/HP-15-ay013nr-Full-HD-Generation-Windows/dp/B01CGGOZOW/
Or a HP with SSD and 8GB ram.. only $450 USD

Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK 15.6 - $800

i7-6700HQ 2.6 GHz

8GB RAM

GTX 960M 4GB

This one is very close. Just need to add 8 GB of RAM and a M.2 512 GB SSD and you have a machine more capable than the new macbooks for less than half the price.

It's $900 on Dell's site with only 8GB RAM + tax


It's $780 on Amazon with only 8GB RAM + tax


It sounds like a decent laptop for graphics apps too for the price.


Linus review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJPQfWCuxAo

I actually disagree with all that was mentioned, the new 1060 GPU is very new (around couple of month) and it is highly unlikely to drop under 1000 any time soon (few months at least) so your choice is a good one, I would recommend this configuration if you are planning to use it for anything other than gaming because of the better CPU.

I just bought this for $750 new on Amazon. Link

My best suggestion would be the Dell Inspiron 7559 for $800. The dell comes with a quad core i7-6700HQ processor, 8gb of ram and a 1TB HDD. It has a GTX 960M graphics card which should easily play GTA V and even more demanding games if you wish. It has a full 1080p IPS display, a long battery life (advertised up to 10 hours), and a white backlit keyboard. It also has a pretty solid build quality, and is good at mitigating heat.

If you don't think you'll need tons of storage and you'd prefer the speed of an SSD though, I may suggest the $740 version of the Dell 7559.

If you want a more sleek design and light weight laptop, maybe look into the ASUS K501 for $830. It isn't quite as powerful because it only has a dual core processor, but it could still play GTA V and other similar games decently easily. It will just struggle with more CPU-intensive gaming. It has specs including a skylake i7 processor, 8gb of ram, 512gb ssd, and a GTX 960M graphics card. It weighs in at just 4.4 pounds, has a decent battery life, and a 1080p TN display.

Well, for CAD you'll still need something with a quad-core i7.

And, GTA V runs much nicer on a 1060 than a 960M.

But if you prefer something less, you could go with this.

I have a sort of high end ($800) big [laptop] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=twister_B01BZH0U6A?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1) for engineering software and gaming and a tablet ($200) for everyday stuff. I use the tablet for reading and emails and stuff and only bring my big laptop if I need it in class for some reason, otherwise it stays in my room. It works well and I expect it to last through graduation (i7, 960m). Depending on your budget (you didn't say) you could do something like this.

I am a current Junior in Civil Engineering, and I recently went and upgraded my senior year of HS/Freshman year of college computer to this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015PYZ0J6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This was a laptop I chose for a multitude of reasons: high performance, low cost, easy to upgrade (Youtube links on this laptop specifically detailing how to upgrade compliment the manufacturers on how well-thought-out the design was), good battery life (this is on the low/middle gaming laptop spectrum, and because of this has good battery life), and overall nice looking design. For me I needed a laptop that could run the graphic intensive software that Civil Engineering students use in their upper division classes, while also being able to game on it - in college, from my experience, computer gaming is the most popular. All of the links below are upgrades that go with the laptop well. They are not needed but, they are helpful and relatively cheap. If you have any questions feel free to ask by PM.

RAM upgrade:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006YG8X9Y/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

SSD:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TGIVZTW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Cooling fan (optional):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NNMB3KS/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The ASUS K501UW-AB78 15.6-inch Full-HD would be perfect for light gaming and programming (Intel Core i7, GTX 960M, 8GB DDR4, 512GB SSD),Also the dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK is another laptop to look at, 15.6 Inch FHD display Laptop (6th Generation Intel Core i7, 8 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD + 8 GB SSD) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M is idea and the MSI GL62 6QF-893 gaming laptop which will do a fantastic job for you running those games and even more demanding ones. This laptop has a powerful quad core i7 sky lake processor, 12 GB RAM which is awesome, a decent GTX 960 dedicated graphics card and of course, a great storage with a 1 TB HDD and a 128 GB SSD which is awesome and will give you some much needed speed.

It's a good deal but this is better. This has a better model GPU (the 960m versus the 950m) and an extra gig of GDDR5 VRAM.

It has the best processor of any laptop on the market and a solid 8 GB of DDR3L (uses only one slot so easy to upgrade). If can run the witcher 3 on high at 30 FPS, GTA V at it's highest settings at 50 FPS and will last you a solid 3 years.

Good luck.

within your budget this dell inspiron is available. a bit outside ypur budget this dell i would highly recommend because it is more powerfuly and would run those games you mention on decent settings.

For those games you mentioned above,a laptop within your budget will run them decently. Almost any gaming laptop will also do a fantastic job at photo editing.. Based on the tasks you will be completing as well as your other criteria and budget , I recommend you go for this MSI GL62 6QF-893 15.6" Gaming Laptop. It does have all you need in terms of power, with a powerful quad core i7 processor, nice 12 GB RAM, great storage inclusive of an SSD and of course, the nice gtx 960 dedicated graphics card. It also has a nice build quality and good cooling. The only shortfall here is that it's battery life is not the best of the best, but not terribly awful. If you want a better battery life and can sacrifice having a dedicated SSD and a lower 8 GB RAM which is still good, , this Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK will do the job and the good thing is that it has a decent battery life.

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6/

Better laptop

I usually recommend this one for that price: Inspiron i7559 w/ 1920x1080 IPS, GTX 960M, 256GB SSD

The display is nicer (IPS), and the GPU is more powerful. You'll likely notice a lot less difference between the two CPUs than these specs.

(edit: or the Inspiron i7559 w/ 1920x1080 IPS, GTX 960M, 1TB HDD + 8GB cache SSD if you need bigger storage at the sacrifice of storage speed)

What about a Dell Inspiron with the same specs? It doesn't look very 'gamer' ish but should have the specs you need.

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6

Man, these people aren't helpful... OP have a reason to pick laptop over desktop, everyone know desktop is better at price/performance...

Steam minimal requirement:-

CPU:- Intel Core i5 2500 3.1 GHz / AMD® A8 3870 3,6 Ghz

GPU:- NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 465/ ATI Radeon TM HD 6870

Memory :- 8 GB RAM

Based on these requirement, your best bet is to get a laptop with minimal GTX 860m GPU. Some variant of Lenovo Y50 have this GPU.

The bad news is laptop with GTX 860m is priced at 1100 bucks. But I've seen some offers at amazon where you can get them at $899

Examples:-

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-15-6-Inch-Gaming-WIndows-59445074/dp/B011HNT1NK/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1457396563&sr=1-2&keywords=lenovo+y50

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Y50-70-Laptop-Computer-DOORBUSTER/dp/B0142ZWQQ4/ref=sr_1_11?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1457396563&sr=1-11&keywords=lenovo+y50

GTX 960m is a re-branded and overclocked version of GTX 860m, btw..

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=psdc_565108_t3_B015PYYDMQ

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-763BLK-Full-HD-GeForce/dp/B015PYYDMQ/ref=sr_1_9?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1457396563&sr=1-9&keywords=lenovo+y50

Some laptops have some gimmick like 4K extra crispy resolution screen, touch screen etc, you do not want it since it only serves to increase the price without any impact on your game performance.

My advice for you is to wait until Dark Souls 3 finally released, and then ask around anyone with cheap laptop if they can play Dark Souls 3. Then buy that laptop. It is most likely you don't even need GTX 465 or ATI Radeon TM HD 6870 (both these is desktop GPU) equivalent on laptop which is GTX 860m to play Dark Souls 3 like the Steam page said. Minimal game requirement usually are overblown for some reason.

I'm based in North America but I want to help
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600 Euros = 665 USD

Video editing, as in live playback and color grading, is CPU and GPU intensive.

Video rendering, as in exporting the final project, is CPU intensive, and high end GPUs help [ unless you borrowed Vegas 13 w/ anything more recent than a Nvidia 7xx :( ].

More cores are better, clock speed makes a difference, but cores above all else. [2.3ghz 2/4ht < 3.2ghz 2/4ht <<<<< ghz 2.7 4/8ht]

You need at least 8gb of RAM.

You will want to have an IPS / PLA / OLED panel screen w/ a decent sRGB percent [ >85%].

SSDs help load things, but you also need a place to store your SFX, FX, filters, projects, pictures, base videos, etc. So this up to you to solve depending on your average project size, owned storage, and cloud reliance. If you need >500gb at one time, I'd get a laptop with a HDD that has an expandable storage solution (M.2 or extra 2.5 space).

You should also try to get something that has a good build quality, or something that has an OK warranty program / return policy.

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Now to the controversial part. Any laptop in your price range is going to be lacking in multiple areas. Every panel is going to be TN, or they're going to have no GPU and an old CPU.

For instance, take the last generation i7 Dell Inspiron [i7559-2512BLK].

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6

It can be had for $730 USD [660 Euro assuming 1:1 price translation]

It has a skylake i7 4/8ht CPU, 8gb DDR3 ram, a dedicated GPU [960m], 1tb HDD, expandable storage [m.2] and expandable RAM [can add one more stick]! Great specs for the price.

The issue is that the screen is 60% sRGB, the build quality is not great, the fans are loud, the battery lasts for about 3-4 hours, and Dell has a poor warranty program.

You can remedy the screen by getting a used external monitor, but now you grounded your laptop for the color correction part of editing.

You can fix the low battery life by using an external battery, depending on how long you work on the move.

But now you just invested at least another 100 Euros for essential addons, something that could have been used for a laptop with a better screen and quality.

-------------------
I know it isn't helpful to post NA links to an EU question, but 600-700 Euros is a lot of money, and the last thing I want is someone who hates their purchasing decision and has to live with it for a long time.

In my opinion, which might piss off this sub, is to really think about whether or not you must be mobile with your video editing.

If the answer is yes, save some cash and thank yourself later for investing in a better screen and hardware.

If the answer is "I can edit at home and I seriously can't go above ~650 Euros", look into a mini ITX desktop. AMD ryzen offers serious $/performance right now.

If the answer is "I have to be mobile but I seriously can't go above ~650 Euros" then check your local Craigslist for laptops daily, refurbished sales, and open box sales with a good return policy.

I've had a Dell XPS from Dell's Outlet site for 4 years and it's top notch. I would have bought an XPS 15 over the Razer Blade if it had a comparable GPU, because that laptop is superb, and it keeps winning the awards to back it up.

I think you get what you pay for. I wouldn't buy a cheap-o Dell, HP, Acer, etc. because they're all crap.

But if you do any sort of research on the Inspiron 7559 or the 7567 you'll see lots of favorable reviews, both personal owners and professional reviewers.

Think of it like this: Toyota makes the Yaris - a piece of crap, bottom dollar commuter car with no power amenities at all. They also make the Lexus GS series - the most popular full sized luxury sedans on the market.

Two very different vehicles from the same company. The difference is the cost, which gets put into the engineering and materials.

Similarly, there is a difference between a Dell XPS and the $200 Dell Inspiron bottom line laptop, and the whole experience is completely different. The Inspiron 7559/7567 would be like a loaded Toyota Camry in this analogy - a very reliable, very popular model with many perks and features but not as expensive as the Lexus GS/Dell XPS.

I've also personally played with the Dell 7559 and it's solid. It's got a nice soft touch coating and it feels very solid to the touch - no wobble or flex when dealing with it like you get on other laptops.

The Inspiron 7559 has a 4 star rating from nearly 1700 reviews on Amazon.

It was named "Best Budget Gaming Laptop" by The Wirecutter.

Linus from LTT gave it a very positive review.

So it has a great reputation.

The 7567 should continue that. The only issue that people have noted is that it has a TN display (common for this price range) instead of IPS, and for some people the viewing angles were not wide enough for their liking. I would say, give it a shot and if you find it works, fantastic! If not, return it without issue.

With a budget of 1000$ I would recommend to go for a desktop if possible, since most gaming laptops around that budget will become outdated rather sooner than later. Now if it's not an option to get a desktop I could recommend this one

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6

Its equipped with an i7, gtx 960m and 8gb of ram which should run most games fine at low-medium settings and it's only 850$

Now that one is a 15.6" so its more portable so a bit smaller (still really comfortable to play on trust me) but if you rather have a bit of a bigger screen you can get this one

https://www.amazon.com/GL752VW-DH71-17-3-inch-GTX960M-Graphic-Windows/dp/B01578ZK9A

This one comes with almost the same specs, only with double the RAM (16gb) which is also a great thing since 8gb is like the standard in gaming nowadays so if you have double that you should be more than fine. (don't get me wrong you won't run games much better because of the double ram, it'll just allow you to run more processes at the same time)
Also it costs 995$ so it's on the edge of your budget, without counting delivery costs so yea you'll have to look that up.

i7559 with i5 - $780

i7559 with i7 - $829

I have the i5 version and love it. Added an m.2 ssd and an extra 8gb of ram and the thing flies.

Edit: I just noticed the i5 I linked has the 256gb ssd. The one I got came with a 1tb hybrid drive.

So for video editing definitely you need a laptop with a quad core processor preferably an i7 6th generation CPU..I also recommend 8 GB RAM or above-- 16 GB is awesome... Go for the Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK lapotp for a little over $800 and purchase this Kingston Technology 8GB 1600MHz DDR3L RAM to give it a total of 16 GB RAM which really completes this machine... It will get your video editing tasks done easily as well as it will run those games you mentioned very well, thanks to its gtx 960 dedicated graphics card paired with the other great components.

I would go with this Dell Inspiron 15-i7559.

It gets good battery life (~7 hours), has a quad-core i7-6700HQ for your engineering work, and Nvidia GTX 960M graphics for gaming (and it's good for CAD/Solidworks).

I don't see any reason you should really need to get anything more than this, given your needs. I would sacrifice the battery life for anything, though.

With $800 you could find some quad core i7 laptops, which would be your best bet for longevity. Something like this gets you the 4C/8T of the newest Skylake architecture.

Not sure on battery life though.

You won't get anywhere decent with the budget if you're using the laptop for those applications. Cheapest decent laptop you could go for is the Dell Inspiron 7559 for 800$

If you can find one, I'd suggest the Dell Inspiron i7559. I have one and it works well enough, and you can get the i5 version for about $750 USD on Amazon.

Edit Link

Check out the Dell Inspiron 7000 15". Think it meets your needs, specifically this model: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B015PYZ0J6/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?qid=1449643304&sr=8-8&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=Inspiron+7000&dpPl=1&dpID=419DWJfUXuL&ref=plSrch

I found this Dell Inspiron 15 7000 series. Dell Inspiron i7559
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/ol/B015PYZ0J6/ref=mw_dp_olp?ie=UTF8&condition=all

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B015PYZ0J6/ref=psdcmw_565108_t3_B015PYYDMQ


This has the 960, 4 gigs of VRAM is wayy more than that particular card will ever be able to use. But it's latest cpu and a semi good GPU. Recommended if you want a great laptop for moderate gaming. But again I'd go with this.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/ol/B00YPCA7DE/ref=mw_dp_olp?ie=UTF8&condition=all

Ok thanks for the update :-) I recommend getting the Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK 15.6 Inch FHD Laptop here are the specs for the laptop 6th Generation Intel Core i7, 8 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD + 8 GB SSD, NVIDIA Gaming GeForce GTX 960M trust me its good for the games you would want to play with med- high settings.

Like I said. Just go for the i5.

I've seen this recommended a few times on here -

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/social/swf/B015PYZ0J6/o=ShareProduct/ref=tsm_1_aw_swf_d_sp?vs=1

Dell Inspiron i7559
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B015PYZ0J6/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1472711719&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=7559

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1478837316&sr=1-2&keywords=dell+7559

throw in a 250 gb ssd and another 8 gb of ram and you have a pretty decent gaming laptop for around 900$.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=psdc_13896615011_t3_B015PYYDMQ

I have this one so yeah ! https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6

So the game runs well, did close to the full install except the variants (patcher wouldn't work, couldn't rename a folder long story...) I might not have done the best installation but I followed the instructions as closely as I could. It is a little choppy maybe at times but nothing bothering for me. Disabling the ENB helps for performance (ctrl+f12 I believe). I didn't displayed the fps but I could let you know tomorrow.
Having fun so far 30 hours in !

I know of a few good ones Pre $1000 range.

If you can spare the extra for the one I suggested it'd be the better (albeit more expensive) option. Assuming you'd get an SSD or whatever later on.

Something with an 960m however (assuming you are content with the gaming performance it offers) can get you a newer processor, less ram (8GB is plenty and I am a huge multi tasker) but a lot of them come with SSD's and usually a more premium laptop.

Another fair warning, The difference between a Haswell processor and the newest Skylake, isn't that significant, so if when you are weighing your options, the CPU should not be the deciding factor.

Now this $900 http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=sr_1_13?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1453601207&sr=1-13&keywords=gtx+965m#Ask

Will get you a 960m 4GB, Intel Quad Core i7-6700HQ, 8GB Ram, a 1TB hybrid drive (Generally the speed of an SSD with the storage of a HDD) Keep in mind that the ram can be upgraded very easily, and I believe an open slot to put in another HDD/SSD as well.

Now if this laptop intrigues you, 1 more thing, whenever buying a laptop or prebuilt PC you should ALWAYS do a fresh install of Windows to clear up crapware, and to get a speedier long lasting experience, if this isn't your cup of tea, or you are nervous about doing it, this laptop for just $100 more http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=sr_1_13?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1453601207&sr=1-13&keywords=gtx+965m#Ask

Will get you the signature edition, 3840 x 2160 resolution bump, and a touchscreen, rest of the specs and design are the same however. Signature edition laptops are Microsoft certified to not have anything extra on it, as well as ensuring another layer of quality.

Warnings about this laptop would be that you won't be playing newer games at that high of a resolution decently, so you would have to change the resolution for a lot more demanding games back down to 1080P

Any of the 3 laptops I picked out are completely viable, as well as the refurbished. It's all a matter of where you want your money going, and if you are content with what the 960m can bring you with games. I can't tell you which one to grab, I can tell you the signature edition wouldn't be my pick, since I am tech savvy to do fresh installs, and I don't care much for higher resolutions and touch screens.

First off, I just remembered r/suggestalaptop exists. They'll be more familiar with the products you're looking for, but I can give you a couple of ballparks.

The budget option, and most "gaming laptop" like: Dell Inspiron 7559 w/960M. It's 2KG, so not 7, but still not hugely portable.

The premium option in terms of form factor: XPS 15 w/960M

The premium option in terms of performance and form factor: Razer Blade 14 (Late 2016) w/1060, which is more for ultra 1080p gaming. You can get a skin to cover the dumb Razer logo.

The middleground: ASUS Zenbooks UX501UW w/960M

I'm assuming you were looking for ~15 inch laptop and not 13".

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6

Good shit right here.

Anyone have any feedback on the cooling properties of this laptop? Only heard good things about MSI build quality, but was also looking at this Dell from another thread

Here is my laptop:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=dp_cerb_1


However, the i5 model is currently on sale for less than $700

Edit: fixed link

If you're on a budget I would checkout Dell's outlet page. I managed to get a refurbished this Inspiron 7559 for around $550 incl. tax. I added and SSD and another stick of 8GB ram for around another $100ish. So for around $650 I got a pretty solid laptop with 8 threads and an nvidia gpu to play around with some deep learning.

This one: http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6

You can also go for Dell XPS 13 or 15, those laptops are damn cooool!

XPS 13: http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-13-9350-laptop/pd

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1458051734&sr=1-1&keywords=dell+inspiron+15+7000

Look into the Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK 15.6 Inch FHD Laptop. It would do a decent job for you in your gaming and modelling. It has a very powerful core i7 quad core processor as well as a nice graphics card. It comes with 8 GB RAM which is perfect for any level gaming and will do well in 3D modeling-- ( you still have the option of upgrading it to 16 GB )... It does have an HDMI port which makes your connection to an external monitor - possible. It comes with an SSD , however, a very small capacity one, so you replacing it with 500 GB SSD , would be fantastic!.

Unless absolute portability is the highest concern, this is actually a better deal:
http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6

It's not as pretty, but the CPU and GPU are significantly stronger.

Yes! Let me help you as I was just helping another friend pick a laptop for the same reason.

So these are the best ones I found using that ebay deal:

1. Asus GL551JW-WH71
   
   
2. Asus FZ50VX-WS74
   
   Then there are some other options on Amazon that are in the same price range. I suggest purchasing the used versions through Amazon Warehouse for a huge discount (that's what I did and it was in perfect condition).
   
   These all have similar specs but vary in terms of hard drives and processors (like i5 vs i7). The first one here is actually the one I bought a year ago and currently using it right now. I haven't had any problems with it yet and it has a fantastic battery and it's really easy to upgrade parts. It comes with a 256GB M.2 SSD and also has an empty 2.5" HD slot so you can just toss in an extra HD.
   
   The second one comes with a drive in the 2.5" slot but you can still add an M.2 drive as well. The difference being the 1st one has an i5 with 4 cores and the 2nd is an i7 with 4 cores+Hyperthreading (so more powerful as a workstation). Same battery, graphics card and screen though.
   
   
3. Dell with i5 + 256GB SSD
   
   
4. Dell with i7 + 1TB HDD
   
   This last one is another Asus through Amazon. Similar specs as others but it has a really big SSD, although it doesn't come with a second HD bay for additional storage and instead has a CD drive.
   
   
5. ASUS ZX53VW
   
   Hope this helps!!

http://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/ideapad/ideapad-y700-series/Lenovo-IdeaPad-Y700-15ISK/p/80NV00W6US
16G ram DDR4, i7(6th) 6700HQ, SSD, for $1200. You did not mention a price range. I have the old version that I got about 6 months ago with an AMD graphics so this will be even better. I have no problems running EU4 as well as some of the recent TWs. The drawbacks would be smaller battery life compared to other laptops and it runs a bit hot sometimes.
Others:
https://www.amazon.com/K501UW-AB78-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Gaming-Glacier/dp/B01DT49XN8 (cheaper)

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1495655509&sr=1-1&keywords=dell+inspiron+i7559-2512 (cheaper but with HDD, no SSD)

Also check out r/suggestalaptop

Any of these 3. I'd probably go for #3

One

Two

Three

For 800 bucks you could get a laptop with an i7 quad core (the HP you stated has an ultra low voltage i7 dual core) and a Nvidia GTX 960M with GDDR5 RAM (instead of a GTX 950M with GDDR3 RAM). Some examples:

• Acer Aspire V Nitro VN7-591G-792U
  
• Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK

800 USD, CAD? If you're budget is 800 USD go ahead and save up $40 more dollars and get this bad boy, if you can't wait get the i5 varient. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=twister_B016VLEM5K?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

If you can add 9 dollars to your price range, please enjoy the most cost effective and beautiful laptop on the market right now

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1466237155&sr=1-1&keywords=dell+inspiron+15+7559

The i7 is almost a giveaway at this price. Also I'm 99.9% 100% sure you can upgrade/replace the ram on this baby. So you can either add 8gb or replace it with two 8gb sticks for the 16. Ram is cheap as dirt so you can do this later on when you really need to. You can also replace the hard drive for an ssd for transfer speeds and all of a sudden you have a high-end gaming machine in all aspects, capable of extremely fast rendering for under 1k dollars.

Also try looking for the inspiron 15 7559 on the official dell site, it might be cheaper.

If not possible, definetely go for the dell in your link.

At $600

[Lenovo, 15.6' i5-6300hq, 1tb hdd, gtx 950m, 8gb ram, great value. You could opt for a model with a bit more ram if you want to open a lot of programs at once] (https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Ideapad-700-GeForce-80RU00FEUS/dp/B01FJFN872)

At $800

Dell, i7-6700hq, gtx 960m, 1tb hdd + 8gb ssd, 8gb ram. Upgrade to this for more gaming performance.

At $1100

[MSI, i7-7700hq, gtx 1050, 1tb hdd + 128gb ssd, 16gb ram. If you really need more than this you should probably get a desktop]
(https://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16834154494&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-Skimlinks-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3987228&SID=94719X1549180Xd2347a41a23f260d14f3e29351398a4f)

At $650 (flash sale)

[HP, i7-7500u, 8 gb ram, geforce 940mx, 1tb hdd. Less performance than the dell, but longer battery life.]
(https://flash.newegg.com/Product/9SIA65C50R8149?nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwordsNF-Mobile&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwordsNF-Mobile-_-pla-_-Laptops+%2f+Notebooks-_-9SIA65C50R8149&gclid=CjwKEAiA79zDBRCgyf2FgeiY-CESJABzr0BMZqcU_eYjdXTi8f8dVwpYYtV1LEyh78PbEWDfPbJCZBoC0-3w_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds)

Of all these id expect the Dell and HP to fare the best long-term, personally I have an hp that died after 5.

Well, you first need to look for a laptop that has dedicated graphics, at least 8GB RAM and either i5 or i7 CPU.

Also, a laptop made for gaming isn't worth it in college, especially if you'll carry it places - too bulky, heavy and usually only a 17" screen.

The laptop I have can run Minecraft just fine, over 60fps, it can also run most of the games in my Steam library. I ran Mortal Kombat X and it maxed out the CPU but it ran.

You can get one for under $1000. Here are a couple suggestions:

• http://amzn.com/B0146DD02G
  
• http://amzn.com/B015PYZ0J6

So for only $50 more would you suggest this Inspiron? It has an i7 and everything else is about the same as far as I can tell. I don't know a ton though
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B015PYZ0J6/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Personally I got this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B015PYZ0J6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478914197&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=dell+i7559

And I bought an 8gb ram card for around 35 dollars so it has 16 total and 500gb of SSD for 150 more but there's a 256 GB for 112 I believe.

It has similar spec with the 960m Nvidia but this one has 4gb gddr5 with it instead of the 2 your first pick has. Weight is around the same and with the upgrades the price comes out a little bit more but you do get more storage and an SSD.

What to expect from Black Friday...

Deals on:
Motherboards
Power Supply
RAM
Storage (SSD,HDD)
Case
Monitors

Don't expect any deals on CPU or GPU beyond some free games they might include. If anything a lot of these brands will run out of stock quickly, pricing will go up, and don't jump on those products just because "limited inventory" because they'll restock in a week or two.

I just built this PC with all parts showing up by next Tuesday and It's my first build! I've been on this Laptop since 2016 - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015PYZ0J6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It served me well for 2 years, but does not do well with Lightroom, Photoshop and definitely not Premier or GoPro studio....

I just did my homework, lean on me for any questions you have as deals come up and I can help you navigate!

Invest in a good PowerSupply... has "850W" on it's label does not mean it's good quality... Look at redditors comments on each one you're exploring. Spend a lot of time on reddit.com/r/buildpcsales and sort by the category you're looking for.

Invest in a good Monitor... Just because it says things like HDR/1ms/155hz/1440p does not mean it's a great monitor. Perhaps it's good enough for you, but some people here have said "Had to return 'x' monitor in a week because the glare was too awful" So don't run into that.

Each category and each topic deserves your time. I think the easiest decisions I made were the AMD Ryzen 7 3700 OC+ and my GPU (although I sort of wish I went for a 2080 like you did here! Or even the 2080ti... That thing is a beast), that was easy, Motherboard a redditor found for me and I fact checked it to be a great one... Storage was easy... go for PCI SSD... can't go too too wrong... Opt for a HDD too if you do have lots of photos... Just grab a 2TB or something to put that stuff on... Don't skimp on RAM... https://pcpartpicker.com/product/QDhKHx/corsair-vengeance-rgb-pro-16gb-2-x-8gb-ddr4-3200-memory-cmw16gx4m2c3200c16 I got these and they were highly recommended... I got them for $56 though! So I had my eye on them for 3 weeks and jumped on a deal when I saw it..

If you're looking for good youtubers... Bitwitz, Jayztwocents, MY FAVORITE Monitor youtuber... https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9M8-Fo7m7edE8-H7GLtz3A he's a german guy and does amazing reviews... He's good for you too because he's always looking at monitors that are G-sync capable and not Free sync... if you don't know what that is, let me know!

thank you! For laptop 4A - would you suggest the i5 or i7 processor? If I downgrade it to the i5 it knocks almost $200 off.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015PYZ0J6/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B015PYZ0J6&linkCode=as2&tag=gadg06a-20&linkId=CLLSKDXBUL2K62HF

In terms of longevity, is there anything about 4A that would make it last substantially longer than Laptop A you listed? I do want to buy a machine that will last me for a long time, so I'm willing to shell out a few extra hundred if that's the case

Get one with an i7 and at least 8GB of RAM. You'll want a decently sized HDD (1TB at least), samples can hog your storage. Graphics card shouldnt be a priority unless you also are into games (or rendering graphics).

Found this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B015PYZ0J6/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1483007997&sr=1-8&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&dpPl=1&dpID=419DWJfUXuL&ref=plSrch

Has more or less what I said, plus 8GB of SDD (for really fast loading times on whatever you put there) and a decent GPU.

I have this dell inspiron. You can follow the amazon link for full specs, but it does have 960m. I bought it in April. I have used it for maybe ~20 hours. Turns out I didn't need a gaming laptop. It is great though. No issues with it. I just never use it. I would sell it to you for $500. Let me know if you're interested.

Portable, lightweight, responsive, good battery-life, realiable (because of the SSD): Asus K501UW i7/8gb/512gb SSD/960M a lot of people dont like the panel on this one.

If you wanted better performance for video edits, cad work etc this Dell is solid, but you trade off the SSD for a mechanical HDD but you do get a quad-core cpu. For school and travel, the ssd is the safer bet :)

Hey Guys,
I have a Dell Inspiron 7559 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015PYZ0J6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

I have upgraded the ram to 16gb, put in a 256gb ssd, and replaced the tn panel with an ips. The specs are now:

i7 6700 2.6 ghz
Nvidia 960M
16gb RAM
15.6 inch ips display
1 tb hdd
256 gb ssd

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B015PYZ0J6/ref=psdcmw_565108_t3_B015PYYDMQ

Thanks for the input, do you think it would be better if I just spent a little more for this version of the dell. The only real difference I see is that this one includes an i7 process instead of an i5 and it's only about $50 more. Also, it has a 1tb hard drive.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015PYZ0J6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Got it about a year ago, it did everything I needed, I'm not trying to run super demanding games

Despite having a beast of a desktop with 3 screens at home, I do most of my game dev work on a laptop, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015PYZ0J6 specifically. I work on it even at home in order to get myself used to the smaller screen real estate, so I don't feel like I have a massive workspace at home and a tiny screen elsewhere.

That laptop is able to handle multiple UE4 editors running with VS, as well as multiple built clients, with Blender running as well. You don't need to shell out thousands of dollars for a good dev laptop, I guess is my point.

Also, whats's the major difference between [this] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015PYZ0J6/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687702&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B015PYYDMQ&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=04H8Q8ZG8DYVQPJFM38C) and the one in the description? The description says it's almost half the first one's weigh at 4.6 pounds.

Link to what I purchased:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015PYZ0J6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B015PYZ0J6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474341161&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=dell+7559+i7&dpPl=1&dpID=419DWJfUXuL&ref=plSrch

Lay off the OP , he is giving you a while 45$ off the new price!!! That's almost a Grant man!!!!!

In that case...the [Dell Inspiron] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B015PYZ0J6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475116719&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=dell+7559&dpPl=1&dpID=419DWJfUXuL&ref=plSrch) would be the best option for you....take a look

I gotcha! :) Always good to have it serve more than one purpose as well, depending on your major. Well, I have a recommendation within your budget!

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B015PYZ0J6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466703490&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=Dell+Inspiron+15+7000&dpPl=1&dpID=419DWJfUXuL&ref=plSrch

You may find it cheaper elsewhere, but I figured a direct link would help. Good luck making your pick, and please take care. :)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015PYZ0J6/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thpcgaha-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B015PYZ0J6&linkId=1e278ef2a241bd48e4018284fcc43b00

this dell has a I7 and a 4gig 960 for 900 or an i5 version for 800 but personally for gaming i would save a little more and get something with a 970 in it.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015PYZ0J6/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_30?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A17MC6HOH9AVE6

I was for a long while looking at the Dell inspiron 7559 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B015PYZ0J6/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1464636075&sr=8-2&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=7559&dpPl=1&dpID=419DWJfUXuL&ref=plSrch)

But once I actually used a touchscreen with Windows 10, I really liked it, so I decided to go for this HP and settle for the slightly worse gpu.

Hello! It's been quite a long time since I made this post, but what about now that I have saved up some more money. What is my best value between 800 and 900? is it maybe this? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015PYZ0J6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AWVDPEZSR45X1

Thanks!

GTX 960m
Core i5 quad core
8-16gb of ram
Try this

I bought this one. The Amazon reviews should give you an idea. The only thing I don't like about it is that the fans can get loud at times (probably since I run multiple games at the same time).

Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK 15.6 Inch FHD Laptop (6th Generation Intel Core i7, 8 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD + 8 GB SSD) NVIDIA Gaming GeForce GTX 960M

handles it like a champ

there is a review vid from linus here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJPQfWCuxAo

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B015PYZ0J6/ref=psdcmw_13896615011_t3_B01DT4A2R4

Now I know this is over budget, but this is just a baller laptop.you can play GTA V at high 60fps. Also theres the upcoming 800 dollar 1050 version of this laptop, which is just mind blowing.

Even though this is a gaming laptop, it has killer battery for one.with a 84 whr battery(double the size of the normal 40 whr average) it can last above 5 hours on light browsing and note taking usage.

Although it is a bit heavy, and if you can find a good and cheap chromebook, a 500 dollar desktop would get you a 1050, if you squeeze real tight

That one is i5 though. Thing is sometimes I multitask a lot and that's one reason I want i7. :P
 

I think the one you linked before this one is great. Has all the stats I want although it lacks a dvd drive whatever. Better the space go into more important parts. Can get external cd drive some day. Thank you a lot. You helped solve a nasty problem I had :)
 

This wins

Should i go with
https://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16834154380
(729.99 Black Friday)

Or

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6

These seem to use M.2 SSDs instead of SATA SSDs.

M.2 is a new standard that basically allows flash storage to have direct access to PCIe lanes(improving transfer rates to several times faster than SATA, which already is the speed bottleneck for higher-end SSDs such as Samsung's 850 series). Unfortunately, it has the issue of being limited to a motherboard connection, limiting the number of ports(most laptops with M.2 only have one M.2 port) and its physical dimensions, which ultimately limit their capacity to lower than SATA SSDs. Intel's been working on a U.2 connector that allows using cables at M.2 speeds and allows for SSDs with capacities you'd only be able to fit in a SATA bay before. Unfortunately, it hasn't gained any significant traction in the laptop market because of its increased height and has only gotten a significant market hold in the enterprise storage market as of now.

This doesn't mean you can't use another SATA SSD you can get at the prices listed above as their HDDs tend to be SATA devices. 128GB isn't enough storage for more than Windows(which can take about 64GB depending on installed features such as a factory reset image) and a Smart Response cache, which is an Intel technology that attempts to increase apparent HDD speeds by dynamically keeping a small part of the HDD's contents (specifically, the contents accessed more often) into the SSD.

Keeping a lot of data in a small SSD is bad for its lifetime, though. SSDs support a limited number of writes before they fail, and that figure is currently somewhere from 350~1000 for each sector(small fixed block of data used for IO operations, usually between 512 bytes and 4 KB). Manufacturers have introduced ways to get around such limitations, such as allocating additional space in the SSD to be used to replace sectors that failed, or support for TRIM(which marks the blocks as deleted instead of physically overwriting them), but the most important method is wear leveling - essentially managing unused space so as to make sure its sectors get an equal amount of use in order to prevent overused sectors from failing prematurely - which is why you don't want to fill the SSD more than about 75%. a 128GB SSD will still happily support at least 50 TB written to it over its lifetime, though(about 28GB/day every day for 5 years), assuming these measures are taken.

a 500GB or larger SSD will let you store your data directly into the SSD without needing to swap it in and out constantly.

You could get this laptop(6700HQ/960M/8GB RAM) for $750, a 1 TB SSD for $230, and use the laptop's 1TB SSHD as an external HDD with a $10 enclosure, which sums up to $990.
The laptop also comes with a M.2 port and an additional DDR3L slot for further expansion, and some good upgrades over its lifetime would be getting another 8GB RAM to take advantage of dual channel memory(currently at $40) and a M.2 SSD once they get affordable enough to justify their additional performance.

With the 960M, does the Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK compare?

What don't you like about acer? And yeah it seemed like some of the best bang for my buck.

I was also looking at this: https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1478998324&sr=1-2&keywords=dell%2Binspiron%2B15%2B7000&th=1

But I don't think I'll be gaming enough to justify the price or specs. I'll really only be playing games on this in rare occasions.

Thanks.

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=sr_1_1?m=A2L77EE7U53NWQ&s=warehouse-deals&ie=UTF8&qid=1479943763&sr=8-1&keywords=Inspiron%2B15%2B7559&th=1

Amazon warehouse has it now it seems. Is that the right price/model?

I had my Macbook Pro stolen over the weekend, so I really had no other choice but to get an alternative computer. Ended up getting a Dell Inspiron i7559, gonna also pick up a 250 gb Samsung SSD 850 EVO this weekend.

So far I've had it for a day now and I can't complain. Dell actually outdid themselves with this laptop, and for nearly a quarter of the price of a Macbook Pro, IDK if you can go wrong.

My only strife is this computer doesn't have a Thundebolt 3 port, so any chance of using an external GPU setup went out the window (I know I can do a DIY setup still, but I'd rather not use the WiFi card PCIe slot).

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6

Have this, love it.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=psdc_565108_t2_B015PYYDMQ

I also added this:
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-850-EVO-250-MZ-N5E250BW/dp/B00TGIVZTW/
and this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KQCOV5C

Edit: Wrong link.

Last question (hopefully). Would this [Inspiron] (http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=sr_1_13?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1453601207&sr=1-13&keywords=gtx+965m#Ask) be a comparable buy at around $850 to the Nitro at $950?

If you can afford it, I recommend upgrading to the Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK. I bought one during Cyber Monday and I can play most new releases just fine.

i decided to buy https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1482212120&sr=1-2&keywords=dell%2B7559&linkCode=ll1&tag=laptologist05-20&linkId=b23e0422917f729ce87efd76e94542b0&th=1 thanks to that subreddit.

Yep, I see that now. Why is this one a $100 more? It does have the i7 processor but it doesnt have an SSD and has the same GPU.

Dell Inspiron i7559

799 USD, will be enough for Dota 2, I'm using a laptop with similar specs, gets 80-90 FPS on High with all effects turned on. I haven't tried the new 7.00 that much though, some ppl tells there are performance issues. I haven't felt any issues though.

This? It looks like a fairly good computer that will fit your budget, I saw some reviews on it. LinusTechTips has a video about it right here.
EDIT: You can upgrade to a 1TB HDD and an i7 here

I did not but upon further research I am looking at this now https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6

I know its been a while, but I eventually decided on this, not sure about DS3 but it runs BO3 just fine. I recommend it for $800 range

Hi, I'm looking for a laptop for beginner vlogging/music making. My Budget is at $800. I was looking at the MSI GL62 or I might even stretch for this one http://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i7-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-128gb-solid-state-drive-black/5088502.p?skuId=5088502 if you guys think it's worth it.
I'll be traveling overseas with it, but I don't think I need it to be light, I probably will do most of my work at home. I'm not picky, just want something that has the least amount of trouble running demanding programs. Thanks.

Edit: Another computer I'm considering. https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-763BLK-Full-HD-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1444331344&sr=1-1&keywords=dell%2Bi5%2B960m&th=1

I'm almost exactly on the same situation as OP, except my budget is around $700-800 and in addition to software dev I want to use it for music production. My gaming needs are even lighter than OP's (Nintendo emulators, lowend). What would you recommend in this price range?

I'm currently looking at this Dell Inspiron with Intel Quad Core i7-6700HQ 2.6 GHz
($728), this Ideapad Y700 with AMD A10-8700P 1.80GHz 2MB,
($680, I think it's in clearance) and the Legion Y520, which depending on the customization (whether I choose i5-7300HQ 2.50 GHz 2400MHz 6 MB or Intel Core i7-7700HQ 6MB Cache, up to 3.80 GHz, an SSD or not, a hard drive or not) can cost $717, $795 or more.

Thanks for reading.

Hi,

you have a very tight budget. I did some looking around and these were the best I could find:
Acer

Dell

ASUS

I guess you can squeeze a 950M in your budget, although ideally I would go with the 960M, in which case you need to increase your budget to $800.

is this the same laptop?

And is the HDD As fast as a SSD?

After a little bit of searching, I found the Dell Inspiron 7559. I think I'm decided on getting it now but can't decide if I should get the 256GB SSD with Intel i5-6300HQ for $649.99 or for over a hundred dollars more at $779.99, I could get the other model that instead comes with a 1 TB HDD + 8 GB SSD Hybrid Drive Storage and Intel Quad Core i7-6700HQ.

I ended up going with this: https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1492468480&sr=1-1&keywords=dell+i7+gaming+laptop

Got a sweet deal on it. Thanks for the advice though it was much appreciated and definitely narrowed it down.

Does the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 meet these standards?

Okay so check to see if the local best buy has this computer:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-inspiron-7559-laptop-intel-core-i7-8gb-memory-1tb-8gb-hybrid-hard-drive-black/4890400.p?skuId=4890400

It is a dell, pretty good for the price, the true quad core will be a great help with most if not all of the programs you plan on using. However, pricematch it with this on amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1492804726&sr=1-1&refinements=p_n_feature_twenty_browse-bin%3A9521929011%2Cp_85%3A2470955011%2Cp_n_condition-type%3A2224371011%2Cp_36%3A-85000%2Cp_6%3AATVPDKIKX0DER%2Cp_n_feature_four_browse-bin%3A2289792011

This will bring it down to 760 before tax which is a great deal in my opinion and you could have the laptop in hand today if it is instock at bestbuy.

Check out the Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK

• 15.6 Inch FHD Laptop (6th Generation Intel Core i7,
  
• 8 GB RAM,
  
• 1 TB HDD + 8 GB SSD)
  
• NVIDIA Gaming GeForce GTX 960M
  
  The laptop only weighs 4.6 pounds and it it has a nice IPS display to give you a wide viewing angle when gaming. The Processor and RAM will enable great multitasking and if you put the OS on the SSD your boot time will be lightening fast

> it is powerful CPU/GPU-wise, seems to be built quite solidly, cooling system seems nice and so does the display, large amount of storage and the 8gb SSD to speed up loading, not very bulky and allegedly 4.6 lbs (though I've read that ppl say it is actually above 5 hmm...)

^ These are the observations I was talking about - was wondering if I have the right impression of the Inspiron laptop (since I'm not very savvy on these things)....


Also, sorry if I'm mistaken, but I think that maybe you thought I was speaking about that 13.3" ASUS in my 2nd question. Just to clarify, I was asking how this laptop ASUS K501UW-AB78 15.6" stands up to the Inspiron?

(This ASUS seems to fluctuate prices and being out of stock almost daily... but has been ~$750-$798 many times, so far I see some complaints are just of the display, but still wondering if it may be my compromise between a ZenBook and a bulkier laptop for my pricepoint)

You need to be realistic about your options. At your price range, you're looking at the low end business grade laptops. From outlets.

Also, with your budget, if you're going the gaming route, you're probably looking at 60fps on low to medium settings.

Maybe something like this Dell Inspiron

This does look solid. I'm looking at this model actually - http://www.sagernotebook.com/Notebook-NP5855.html Seems like it might be comparable to the Dell another poster suggested - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=twister_B01BZH0U6A?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

Going to have to think about these.

Nah, Dell Inspiron 15 (i7559-2512BLK). [https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6]

this is the one I've been thinking about getting.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3DSVP6ZGRCIVI&coliid=I2306IIT5B50G9&psc=1

It's been fluctuating in price today, dropped $25, but not really too much going on, I think $800 is decent on it. Great i7 quad core processor and 960M will run what you want. Down the line. an upgrade to the SSD would be ideal.

Is this the same product for cheaper?

Yeah, the picture looks like a Dell Inspiron 15 7559..

This

for 36.5k php you could get a Dell inspiron i7559 (Amazon Link)
for its price you get a very solid NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M. LinusTechTips makes a good argument for and against it, but for its price it is very reasonable.
Link for review.
Sidenote: you will not be able to order this from amazon to deliver to the Philippines. (PM me and maybe i can help you find other laptops here in ph ~ i live here too)

I seems to be, I did a bit of looking and couldn't find anything better. But if it's not too much more money for you you might be better off buying this model of that laptop. It's exactly the same, but it has a 1 terabyte hard drive as well as the 256gb solid state drive. There's also this, which is cheaper, but doesn't have the SSD or the core i7. Same graphics card though.

I was gonna make a post, but then you basically hit the nail on my requirements. The only thing different would be that my budget would be at around 1000$. I was looking at this right here if you want to check it out:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=psdc_565108_t3_B015PYYDMQ

So I just noticed the PSA in the sidebar, so much for doing my homework. It seems that the UHD I was considering in the above is not actually a UHD (I think?) This means we also need to compare the 5012GRY FHD i7 to the other options I listed in the main post. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=twister_B016VLEM5K?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

This is $160 less than the UHD version and the main loss (besides the supposed UHD) is the touch screen.

reviews say a lot of the same thing as well, seems like a budget entry level gaming machine. Although for me its hard to compare as im not using it for gaming and not sure if the stress of CAD modelling and quality rendering at the same time compare to the stress of gaming.

considering this its a bit of stretch in terms of money:

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6

what do you think??

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6 this is it thanks

So if you want to add a ssd to the one I got you just have to open the back and and a special type of ssd called a M.2 (not a standard 2.5 inch ssd) then you move your OS over to the ssd (lots of YouTube videos for this) If your options are to choose between a 960m and a 1050 ti, I would go 1050 always since it's a full card and not a mobile version like the 960m(the mobile version is significantly less powerful the the normal desktop version)

I was more worried about the i7 when I bought my laptop and not the graphics card so that's why I got a 960m but it was 850ish after I got a ssd with it

This is the laptop I have
Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK 15.6 Inch FHD Laptop (6th Generation Intel Core i7, 8 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD + 8 GB SSD) NVIDIA Gaming GeForce GTX 960M https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Fvd6ybHMRMKYC



And this is the ssd I got for it
ADATA Premier SP550 M.2 2280 120GB Solid State Drive (ASP550NS38-120GM-C) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HHFKZ5K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_1xd6ybEYG1A4Q


Sorry is my formating is awful I'm on my phone doing all of this


I would also suggest building your own desktop if you dident absolutely need a laptop, your price to performance ratio would just be miles better

Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK 15.6 Inch FHD Laptop (6th Generation Intel Core i7, 8 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD + 8 GB SSD) NVIDIA Gaming GeForce GTX 960M https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_FN8fzb69361JQ

Hello. This might not be this best place to ask this, and I know this isn't called /r/laptopmasterrace, but can anyone tell me if this is a decent budget gaming laptop? I wanted to start out slow.

Also, I know I can build a PC for a cheaper price, but I honestly love the portability of laptops, and I am leaving my current country in a few weeks.

Well in my last post, people were suggesting things such as this Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK which seems as if it could handle some amount of gaming and still be 4.6lb. So I'm trying to see if there is anything like that but even better if that makes sense?

That MSI is very nice. Seems to be a great size/weight, though as you say it is a bit more expensive, though not that bad. The red keyboard kind of turns me off haha..

the i7 version is not an ISP display, as seen here:
https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1473788378&sr=1-1&keywords=Dell+Inspiron+15+7559

The i5 version clearly says ISP display, as seen here:
https://www.amazon.com/Dell-15-6-Inch-Quad-Core-i5-6300HQ-Processor/dp/B015PYYDMQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1473788598&sr=1-2&keywords=Dell+Inspiron+15+7559

I have looked extensively and I don't see a non-touchscreen with i7 and ISP display for this model.

I went over to r/suggestalaptop and they helped me out, pretty much telling me that this laptop wasn't a good idea. They suggested this instead which seems like it'll be able to run some CAD somewhat smoothly if I add another 8gb memory and an SSD.

Here we go OP.

A few of my reccomendations are below. Most gaming laptops at the 1k price point will be the same. $1000 will usually get you a 15", i7 with a GTX960M.

These specs are absolutely fine to graphically max out games like CS:GO, Overwatch, Gary's Mod, LoL, HoTS, DoTA.

The GTX960M is going to be pushed to it's max running more recent games like Witcher 3, BF1, The Division etc.. but you should be able to turn down the graphics settings to Medium to get to around 60FPS.

Check below.

https://www.amazon.com/MSI-GL62-6QF-893-NOTEBOOK-i7-6700HQ/dp/B01AC40O5O/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1474387965&sr=8-6&keywords=MSI%2BPE60&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-VN7-592G-71ZL-15-6-inch-Notebook-Windows/dp/B015XBKY6U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474387918&sr=8-1&keywords=Acer+VN7

https://www.amazon.com/GL552VW-DH71-15-Inch-Discrete-GeForce-Metallic/dp/B01578ZKPO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474387867&sr=8-1&keywords=Asus+GL552VW

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-3762GRY-Touchscreen-Generation/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474388115&sr=8-1&keywords=Dell%2Bi7559-3762GRY&th=1

No, the dell Inspiron i7559, two different models
Ssd model:Dell 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop (6th Gen Intel Quad-Core i5-6300HQ Processor up to 3.2GHz, 8GB DDR3, 256GB SSD, Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M, Windows 10) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYYDMQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_FPy3xbXF6Z7KX
Sshd model:
Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK 15.6 Inch FHD Laptop (6th Generation Intel Core i7, 8 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD + 8 GB SSD) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_GQy3xb0YC020R

There are two choices here that I can see. Either the Dell Inspiron 7559 or the ASUS ROG GL552VW-DH71 The Inspiron is about $150 cheaper and run the same specs aside from having 8GB of DDR3 in single channel (upgradeable) vs the ROG's 16GB of DDR4 in single channel as well. Really it up to you, there's some benifit to having DDR4 and the single stick of 16GB but it's a matter of if you want to spend the extra $150ish. Don't forget tax and shipping!

Thank you for the suggestion! Sorry if this is a silly question as I'm not too knowledgeable on this kind of stuff, but is there a difference between that one linked at this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1473832060&sr=1-1&keywords=dell%2Binspiron%2B7559

This has the same name as the one you listed but is an i7 and only slightly more expensive.

Keep a Dell Inspiron 15 7000 series in mind. My friend just picked one up off of Amazon for $812 (they're $899 now but warehouse deals can be had for hundreds less if you keep an eye out) that had an i7 6700HQ, 8GB RAM, 960m GPU, 1TB HDD, and 1080p screen. The 4k screen model costs $1000.

Add an additonal 8GB of RAM for $32, and pickup a 500GB Samsung 850 Evo M.2 SSD for $160. You'll have an incredible workstation that didn't cost nearly what it should.

For editing, it's nice to have a quad core CPU and a decent graphics card. If weight isn't an issue for you, the Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK is a really durable and capable laptop with a number pad. It's storage and ram are very easy to upgrade as well. It does have excellent battery life (7 hours with web browsing and such) Here is the link on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6
This is 800 dollars


You can change the color of the notebook and give it a 4k screen to raise the price to exactly 1000

Hey guys, After a bit more research I have decided I am either going with the Lenovo Y700 or the same DELL i7559. I'm having a hard time making a clear choice and would appreciate any feedback.

Last month, I just picked up a Dell Inspiron i7559 on sale after being out of the PC gaming market for 10(!) years. It has an i7-6700, GTX 960M, 8GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard drive.

I've actually built up quite a Steam library over the past 10 years through Steam sales and Humble Bundles and I was just waiting for the day I can actually play them. It feels great to be able to run most of my library at 60FPS 1080p (albeit with low-medium settings for 2015 to current games).

My plan is to play through a bunch of pre-2014 PC games and mod them to infinitely add replayability. I did, however, just pick up Overwatch and was pleasantly surprised that a 2016 game can be so well optimized that I can hit 60FPS 1080p on ultra settings on this laptop. Well done Blizzard.

I am however, slowly coming to terms that in 3 years (at the most) this laptop won't even be able to run any games released at that time, and I'll probably just bite the bullet and build a new PC then, hopefully with whatever cost-efficient CPUs and GPUs are out by then.

Yes it would make some difference which would be noticable especially once your laptop starts to age.

But one consolation is that this laptop has a pcie ssd which should make your applications run snappier and transfer rates wayy faster(3-4 times normal ssd). Also the 512gb ssd means more space to store all those huge projects.

If you don't mind the extra weight go for the Dell i7559 but if it seems bulky for your needs, then you this laptop will do just fine!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=psdc_565108_t3_B015PYYDMQ

While I got it from the dell store, the Amazon page should give you enough info

Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK 15.6 Inch FHD Laptop (6th Generation Intel Core i7, 8 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD + 8 GB SSD) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_GdmNxbJ7AQ8HD

You can tweak what options you want on the laptop.

excuse me but can you please tell me which laptop is better, the one you linked or this one(there is also an i7 version)? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=psdc_565108_t3_B015PYYDMQ

Heres a Dell under $1k about $880 ish http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=psdc_565108_t3_B015PYYDMQ

If you wanna spend some more dolla http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np7278-clevo-n170rf-eta-jan-15th.html

This is great, thanks! How does it compare to the Dell Inspiron i7559? The i7559 with Intel Core i7 seems to give better performance, but it is worth the extra $80? The i7559 with Intel Core i5 is the same price as the one you linked to, but how do they compare?

Maybe something with a skylake U series processor as they have pretty decent iGPUs in them (Not sure on their performance in Sims though). But it depends on what you're willing to spend on this laptop.
edit: My cousin recently got one of these, but the i5 version and he says it's great. it's heavier than an Ultrabook but lighter than a lot of laptops with similar specs.

Hi, I guess I have a follow-up question. So I think I've narrowed down my choices down to two potential laptops:

Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK

ASUS K501UW-AB78

Both are around the same price, so that's not the issue.

The Dell has a better processor (i7 6700HQ), the same graphics card (gtx960m) but with more VRAM (4GB instead of 2GB), and has 8 GB DDR3L SDRAM.

The Asus has a worse processor (i7 6500U), the same graphics card with half the VRAM, 8 GB of DDR4 RAM, and has a 512 GB SSD.

Would I notice a performance difference between the two CPUs when I game? Likewise, would having 4 GB of VRAM on a graphics card be noticeably better than 2 GB?

I really wish I could find a laptop that was around this price range that had just as much storage space on the SSD as the Asus laptop. All the other laptops I've seen that have SSDs around this price either only have 256 GB or it's 128 GB + HDD or something.

If you could provide your input, it'd be well appreciated.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYZ0J6/

I do some EDM production and I can be pretty sure that you need a good i7, especially when running multiple copies of Serum (aka CPU KILLER). Remember to switch off sound enhancement technologies (my /r/edmproduction thread) that comes with your PC. They lead to inaccurate audio monitoring

I am probably getting a Dell Inspiron i7559, but this has some audio enhancement bloatware, and doesn't have a mic in port.

Some people even recommend desktops unless you really need a laptop. GPUs are not that important in this case, unless you are gaming. Most mac models don't have a dedicated GPU up to the MBP 15" models. Get a computer with less fan noise (Recommendations please?). If you have FL you absolutely need PCs, if you plan on switching DAWs.

do you think this one is worth the extra 70 bucks?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=psdc_565108_t3_B015PYYDMQ

Those requirements are a joke, especially the CPU and GPU ones. Except maybe for the DirectX11. Maybe some program requires it.

I've got a suggestion: a minimal one.

This one is a relatively cheap and fits the performance requirements (except maybe windows pro?). Compared to your rog, it has a cpu about the same/slightly better. The GPU is a step down, and the hard drive will be a tad slower than the one in the rog (although you can change it for an ssd yourself if you want to).

On the page of the Dell it says "10 hours" but honestly I think that's a little optimistic. Getting good battery life out of a "gaming" laptop ... You can always underclock the cpu. And I think it normally runs on integrated graphics instead of the dedicated, which helps battery life too.

Last note: I don't know for sure but for office you don't need a dedicated gpu at all, and for statistics software like R and even math software like Matlab, you benefit way more from a good cpu. And the dell has a decent quad core.

It's 15 inch though :-\

thanks. But the asus u linked is not quite it, and yea i feel like id be wasting money getting 16 gigs of RAM i really only need 8. the only prob with that dell is the icore 5 processor and the lower memory space. this [DELL] (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=psdc_565108_t3_B015PYYDMQ) seems like a good pick i guess but what i want really is the asus k501ux like i linked up there but for it to have a terribite hard drive and a quad processor instead of a dual processor but i might just get it anyway and i guess mabey store stuff on flash drives

Thank you for your reply, I really appreciate it.


i found this laptop in my own searching and yes, I agree with you that the price and specs for this laptop seem perfect for my requirements. However, there a couple of serious drawbacks which have given me hesitation when deciding to buy or not:

1. Trackpad does not have clickable "buttons" - I hate tapping on trackpad to click something.
   
2. According to many of the reviews on Amazon, the trackpad sucks
   
3. The keyboard is not that great either compared to reviews on Amazon
   
4. The battery life is GOOD but not great at least according to the reviews
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6
   
   If you have any other suggestions please let me know

What is the best IPS monitor I can get for around $200 or less? The larger the better, but I want screen clarity....

Currently running a 960m on a Dell Inspiron 15 7000 series, and soon a GTX 1080 when I am able to get a hold of one...

2nd question:

I bought This Laptop. I upgraded the 1tb hdd to a Samsung EVO 250 SSD and am trying to upgrade it as much as possible like by adding another 8gb of ram, but I don't understand the M.2. thing completely. Is there a reason for me to upgrade it for a noticeable performance improvement?

I just bought a new laptop after weeks of looking around for one. It's gonna be here today! I decided on this $800 Dell.

There's also the Lenovo Y700 for $60 cheaper that I read was better than the Dell I bought since their actual specs are almost identical, but the Lenovo's keyboard, trackpad, and speakers were much better than the Dell's. I decided on the Dell since I'm almost never gonna use the speakers and trackpad and because I think the "gaming laptop" design that the Lenovo uses is incredibly ugly.

This Dell is between the price of the above two computers. It's the same as the one I bought except it has an i5 processor instead of an i7 and it comes with a 256GB SSD instead of a 1TB HDD. My logic was that I could always buy an SSD but not a new processor for my laptop, so I went for the more expensive i7 model.

This $550 Acer is the cheapest of the bunch. It has GTX 940M 2GB graphics card instead of the 960M 4GB of the above models, and a 256GB SSD like the Dell. Again, my thinking was that I would much rather have an inferior hard drive that I could easily replace than an inferior graphics card that I would be stuck with forever.

How are the Inspirons? I have similar needs as OP but need a 15". I found this which seems reasonable, although not very aesthetically pleasing.

I had this laptop before upgrading:

Dell I7559 with a 960m GPU

It was really nice for light/medium gaming. It runs overwatch pretty good. It's also right at the $800 budget. Highly recommend upgrading to an SSD when money is available though. You can get a cheap M.2 Sata that will fit in here for your Operating System and then use the 1TB HDD for steam game installations.

This should do the trick.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYZ0J6/ref=twister_B01BZH0U6A?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I would get an Acer E15 with Nvidia 940MX and 256GB SSD if I was in your shoes. You would get that for about 550 in US. If you can stretch the budget to $800, then getting the Dell i7559-2512BLK is best. You get standard voltage I7 chip, hybrid storage and Nvidia 960M. Lots of power and lots of storage. Still, if you can try, go for an laptop with Nvidia Pascal GPU. They are really that amazing.

Thank you I'll go home and try this tonight.

This is my laptop I do have graphics card in it.

OK, I found this after a quick amazon search Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK 6th Generation Intel Core i7, 8 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD + 8 GB SSD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M

I'd get a desktop if I were aiming to do those whing. Those cards won't cut it for gaming. Especially Horizon 3. But, I suppose you gotta make do with laptops if you got a space constraint

I have another laptop with 950M (which is nearly 2x faster than that, I suppose) and I can't get a second where my FPS is over 30. And that's for Forza Apex. I don't think Horizon can do any better considering how salty people are on Forza sub.

3D modelling on this thing should be okay, but not faster. These laptops will be good for daily use up to some light gaming. Heavier games like Forza is not possible on this GPU (Unless you can tweak the files to run at a lower details and resolutions than what's possible)

However, if your choice is only strictly between these 4, get the 3rd option. The X302 is a 13 incher, and it's gonna be much more mobile while offering the same levels of daily use performance as any other laptops on your list.

If I'm correct, all of them should be priced around 500-700 Euros (According to Notebookcheck). So, perhaps I can interest you in this? Perhaps you're not keen on Acer, but this one is quite more powerful for gaming. It's not gonna let you game at ultra or anything, but it's gonna give you a much more headroom to play at 720p (Not silly putty details now, but you can perhaps bump it to medium if you're willing to lose some frames. Still no Horizon 3 though)

If you have $800 to spend, why not go with this. The Inspiron 7559 is highly regarded on the sub as the best balance between performance and price if you're looking to game. This will sorta run Horizon 3 at low details (the game is poorly optimized. That's why you need such a powerful hardware to push it at a good framerate. To max it out you need at least a GTX 1060) and a lot of other games at perhaps medium/high at 1080p. With it, you still get a very decent framerates as well.

Thanks for the info, this looks really good! I've been digging around and found a few others that might be good too. What do you think of this [Dell (either version)] (https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6) or the new [Inspiron 15 7000 for $800] (http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/inspiron-15-7567-laptop?~ck=bt)? How do you think these compare to the ASUS you linked?

/u/Orangematz, /u/shopineer, /u/edit1754, /u/LonerIM2

Thanks so much for the help everyone! You've been able to narrow it down to two options, this HP Pavilion Power Laptop - 15t, or this Dell Inspiron i7559.

My question now is whether or not you think it's worth the extra $200 to upgrade from the i5 to the i7 with an 8GB SSD included. Two of you linked the same HP laptop but a lot of you mentioned the benefits of having the i7 over the i5 as well. 8GB is plenty for the SSD because I would probably really only use it for booting Windows. I know it's really about what I need and what I can afford but I'd like to hear your opinions if you have any!

EDIT: I've read some reviews on both laptops and it seems like the Dell is a bit more fragile or flimsy and has issues with its WiFi drivers among others. The HP on the other hand has a touchscreen which I'm not likely to use, comes with a bunch of bloatware (which I can just uninstall but still), and has a less impressive screen. Both of them collect fingerprints which is kind of lame but not a deciding factor by any means especially since they both have that issue.

Here are a couple of the laptops I've come up with, but each has their dealbreaker.

Dell i7559-763BLK - SSD too small

Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK - HDD instead of SSD

ASUS K501UW-AB78 - I like this one but lots of complaints about the TN screen

ASUS K501UW-NB72 - Not sure how I feel about 1TB HHD + 128GB SSD combo, but again, complaints about the TN screen

ASUS ZX53VW - TN screen.. seems to be a theme for the ASUS laptops in this price range

I didn't mention weights of any of the above, but gaming laptops definitely seem to be over my arbitrary 5lb threshold.

I think this is my best option so far, having to buy a second SSD to make it work.

The worst part about this is Dell themselves do a more sensibly priced computer in the Inspiron line.

I have the exact, perfect laptop for you.
https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-2512BLK-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ0J6

It had all of your specs, and it's Dell which is a top rated brand.