Can you suggest a laptop for me?

[PerpetualImperfexion]

I'm looking for something I can play low end games like minecraft and other indie games on. I'm also planning on seriously sitting down and learning a programming language or two thoroughly.

I'll tell you what I'm running right now so that you understand that I don't need something massively powerful, anything more powerful than my current laptop will honestly do. I'm running a 4 year old acer aspire 5532. Single core, 1.6 ghz processor. 4 (3?) gigs of ram. I never cared enough to look into the other specs -- it's not as if I'm ever going to brag about them. This was a poor purchase made by an 11-12 year old me and it was enough for my needs then (casual internet browsing/browser games). I played minecraft on FIVE fps for a long time because I didn't understand how utterly horrible that was.

Budget? I'm just looking to get as much bang as I can for my buck. Or rather as little buck as I can spend to get my needed bang. Keeping it as close to $500 as possible would be nice, but below that would be appreciated.

[Miserabilia]

gee I wish I could tell you.
I have no knowledge on this though, or what prices of pc's are where you live.
So yea

[PerpetualImperfexion]

gee I wish I could tell you.
I have no knowledge on this though, or what prices of pc's are where you live.
So yea

Thanks bud. If it helps, I live in the US. But hey, I won't be sarcastic with you if you aren't sarcastic with me. So yeah.

[Miserabilia]

Thanks bud. If it helps, I live in the US. But hey, I won't be sarcastic with you if you aren't sarcastic with me. So yeah.

I wish I was being sarcastic,
I honestly have no idea how much pc's cost there.

[Cognizant]

I've never really played mine craft or done programming, so my suggestion is based off guessing and performance with my computing usages (browsing, online games, photo editing). If you want something cheap and powerful, go with Asus. Sony is pretty reliable and stylish, but expensive (in some cases more expensive than Apple), and Acer is a good middle line.

I would avoid Dell or HP though - their laptops aren't exactly known for being very efficient or reliable.

[Kacey]

I would go with Asus, since they give you what you pay for. Just don't go cheap with Asus...

[Living For Love]

HP Pavillion dv6-1330sp. It's my laptop, it cost around 650€ and I'm totally happy with it. It can definitely run most games (including Minecraft) pretty easily, and I think it's a good choice considering the cost and the specs.

[PerpetualImperfexion]

Anyone care to convince me not to buy this? (http://www.tigerdirect.com/products/8986450/) Is it a good bang for my buck? I compared it with two other laptops and was getting the impression that this was a much better option -- at $75 less.

[Camazotz]

Anyone care to convince me not to buy this? (http://www.tigerdirect.com/products/8986450/) Is it a good bang for my buck? I compared it with two other laptops and was getting the impression that this was a much better option -- at $75 less.

Link didn't work for me. What's the model?

[PerpetualImperfexion]

Link didn't work for me. What's the model?

Thanks for taking an interest. I decided against it, through my own research. It seems like a really old model.

What do you think of the HP EliteBook 8540/8440?

[phuckphace]

Minecraft is more CPU-intensive than most games because it's coded in Java. so you'll want something with a decent newish processor, like a second/third gen i3 or better.

[Camazotz]

Thanks for taking an interest. I decided against it, through my own research. It seems like a really old model.

What do you think of the HP EliteBook 8540/8440?

Minecraft is more CPU-intensive than most games because it's coded in Java. so you'll want something with a decent newish processor, like a second/third gen i3 or better.

^ This.

Not sure if you tried, but you can use this tool (http://www.newegg.com/notebookfinder?name=Notebook-Finder) to find what's right for you. For your price range, you want something with a decent CPU; personally I'd look for one with at least a score of 1,500 on this PassMark test (http://www.cpubenchmark.net/laptop.html).

Specs should also have at least 4 GB of RAM (most allow you to upgrade, so if it comes with less, you can buy more later and put it in yourself).

From what I've seen looking around, I think this (http://www.amazon.com/HP-2000-2d89nr-15-6-Inch-Laptop-Licorice/dp/B00HKF1I6S/ref=sr_1_6?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1401596075&sr=1-6) is the best option for you, but I definitely encourage you to keep looking and tell us what you find.

Again, most important thing to look for is a decent CPU (dual-core, i3 or i5) to run Minecraft. RAM can usually be upgraded pretty cheaply, and you shouldn't need more than 4 or 6.

[Thatcarguy]

I will put my thoughts into this which will be do not buy an HP they are cheap and use cheap parts. My laptop is a sony vaio vpcsb31fd and it has a 2.5ghz dual core with 4gb of ram but i upgraded it to 8gb of ram and a 500gb hard drive with switchable graphics so it comes with an intel 3000 for internal graphics then when you want to get into hardcore games you hit a switch and an amd 6740m comes on and i was able to run titanfall on full settings no problem. I paid around 850 bucks american.

[Camazotz]

I will put my thoughts into this which will be do not buy an HP they are cheap and use cheap parts. My laptop is a sony vaio vpcsb31fd and it has a 2.5ghz dual core with 4gb of ram but i upgraded it to 8gb of ram and a 500gb hard drive with switchable graphics so it comes with an intel 3000 for internal graphics then when you want to get into hardcore games you hit a switch and an amd 6740m comes on and i was able to run titanfall on full settings no problem. I paid around 850 bucks american.

As for your brand recommendation, I haven't found many professionals (http://blog.laptopmag.com/best-worst-laptop-brands-2014) that would agree with you. HP has had a bad rap for years, but they've improved their products.

Your laptop sounds good, but definitely over-budget for OP considering his needs and price list; if he wanted a powerful gaming rig, he could build one for less. I'm also skeptical (http://www.notebookcheck.net/Titanfall-Benchmarked.113907+M5be0be6ee00.0.html?&architecture=0&archive=0&benchmark_values=&codename=0&condensed=0&corespeed=0&daysold=0&deskornote=0&directx=0&dx=0&gpu_fullname=1&gpubenchmarks=0&memorybus=0&memoryspeed=0&month=&multiplegpus=0&or=&pixelshaders=0&professional=0&search=&shaderspeed=0&showBars=0&showClassDescription=0&showCount=0&sort=b_265_761&technology=0&vertexshaders=0) how you can run Titanfall on max settings with just a Radeon HD 6470M. Granted, it's not a very demanding game at minimum requirements, but I'm not sure it would run at ultra.

[Thatcarguy]

As for your brand recommendation, I haven't found many professionals (http://blog.laptopmag.com/best-worst-laptop-brands-2014) that would agree with you. HP has had a bad rap for years, but they've improved their products.

Your laptop sounds good, but definitely over-budget for OP considering his needs and price list; if he wanted a powerful gaming rig, he could build one for less.

HP has always been bad and always will be bad its been proven many times

[Camazotz]

HP has always been bad and always will be bad its been proven many times

Evidence?

[Thatcarguy]

Evidence?

http://news.filehippo.com/2013/12/best-worst-laptop-manufacturers/

From worst to best and hp is the worst. Put it this way i work as a tech fixing computers and phones under warranty and HP is our main customer because they use shit parts

[Camazotz]

http://news.filehippo.com/2013/12/best-worst-laptop-manufacturers/

From worst to best and hp is the worst. Put it this way i work as a tech fixing computers and phones under warranty and HP is our main customer because they use shit parts

Hmm. That's good evidence (not sarcasm, lol). The study is from 2009, so maybe more recent models are a bit improved, but I'll agree from what your source that their hardware is subpar. Still, it's not tremendously worse than Acer or Lenovo, and it seems like the "X is a horrible brand, never buy anything from them" argument is exaggerated by a lot of people.

So what would you recommend for OP then?

[PerpetualImperfexion]

^ This.

Not sure if you tried, but you can use this tool (http://www.newegg.com/notebookfinder?name=Notebook-Finder) to find what's right for you. For your price range, you want something with a decent CPU; personally I'd look for one with at least a score of 1,500 on this PassMark test (http://www.cpubenchmark.net/laptop.html).

Specs should also have at least 4 GB of RAM (most allow you to upgrade, so if it comes with less, you can buy more later and put it in yourself).

From what I've seen looking around, I think this (http://www.amazon.com/HP-2000-2d89nr-15-6-Inch-Laptop-Licorice/dp/B00HKF1I6S/ref=sr_1_6?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1401596075&sr=1-6) is the best option for you, but I definitely encourage you to keep looking and tell us what you find.

Again, most important thing to look for is a decent CPU (dual-core, i3 or i5) to run Minecraft. RAM can usually be upgraded pretty cheaply, and you shouldn't need more than 4 or 6.

Thanks bud, I really appreciate the help

[Ethe14]

This is $80 over budget but it might be a good way to start, HP ENVY 15t-j100 Select Edition Notebook PC. It's got an intel core i5, 6GB of DDR3 Ram which should be enough to play Minecraft and other games nicely.

[Jeonard]

I can help you in no way; I myself am currently searching for a new laptop. But, I can say that you should definitely stay clear of Dell, in my opinion, because I have had nothing but problems with my current Dell laptop.

[phuckphace]

strong agree with the above post. Dells (with the possible exception of their Latitude notebook line) are shitboxes. enjoy your fried charger and having to buy a new one every 5 months if you get a Dell.