good luck for 400.

Am I expecting too much for $400?

The one in the OP, this, and this one all seem to fit what I need. I'm really just asking what is best for my budget. After all, you get what you pay for.

a direct-from-dell laptop on that cheap is gonna be safer bet, with warranty.

i do think you may be expecting a bit much, but who am I to tell you what you should get. I think if you can find one for that kind of price, get one with a warranty.

tricky price range, aim for an i3 at least for a processor. Anything less is complete shit (almost all laptops under $400 have a shit processor in them).

an intel i3 and nvidia onboard gfx will get the job done for you

Yep

Sounds good, so something like this? Or, I could even take it a step further and get something like this.

So my question is, which is better for the cost? Is getting a i5 worth an extra $80?

Also one other thing I'm not clear on, the 6602 specifies "2GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M". Does the 6641 only have 1GB of video memory?

Thanks
xoxoxoxo

Edit: talked to someone, seems like the 6602 is a good deal. I think I'll be getting it

Edit Edit: Narrowed it down between the lenovo IdeaPad U400 and the Acer Aspire V3-571G-6602

I know it's over your price range but I bought a Macbook Air about a year ago and it's really fantastic. Not that great for gaming (but it does handle quakelive and diablo 3 for example) but for everything else it's really really great. I don't plan on getting a replacement for another few years.

Otherwise, well the preference I would go for is small with a good battery, an i3 will definitely handle everything you need it for, but a pentium sandy bridge should be good too.

I don't plan on getting a replacement for another few years.

Hehe, I think you are! I know I am, Retina(tm) Air 11 is gonna be pretty nice :)

I'm tempted, but I think that I will rather push my desktop than get a better laptop. I'm working from home most of the time, so I don't really use the laptop as much as I used to, when I do I'm using it kinda like a tablet, i.e. in bed or while i'm watching tv etc.

If I do get another one, I'll probably want something that can run games okish and I can plug into 2 screens, ala the 15" retina. However 15 inch seems SO BIG now. Maybe if they release a 13" quadcore with a geforce 650.

However the laptop I have now fulfils my needs, and will continue to do so for a long time. Everything runs flawlessly, and nothing I develop or design will require more hardware power.

i think it's more of a "you're gonna want it, when you see it" type of thing, because the >200ppi is just visually perfect. also, 11'' is more cramped than 15'', so it actually needs the resolution.

Macs in general are much more expensive than they should be, I could get a PC with equivalent parts for much less. Thanks for the suggestion though. I'm going to up my price range to $500-$600 and get i3 with onboard nvidia graphics as qstar and Six16 suggested.

laptops are not the internal parts, the case and perepherals are just as important, and no, you can't find an all around better laptop than a macbook. the closest you can get is a top of the line of about 2-3 manufactures, like HP Envy, or Lenovo X1 Carbon, which would lack at least in some aspect compared to a macbook, like battery life or sound card quality, or case rigidity, or lcd color accuracy, or case thickness, or ...

That didn't really cross my mind, and I have to admit Macbook Airs look snappy. But as I said I don't know much about laptops, but what I said definitely holds true for towers.

for towers are completely right, which is why i used a hackingtosh for work for a long time :)

*sorry about ninja edit :)

I would say the case is the most important aspect of the laptop, than touchpad. You're guaranteed to drop the laptop at some point, could step on, and will carry it around. A cheap plastic laptop that's not a dell, in my experience will likely shatter into pieces if dropped from the waist height unto a hard surface. A magnesium/aluminum case will hold up fine. Another personally important factor is how well the screen hinges are, I really hate when it begins to wobble.

Compare the macbook airs to other ultrabooks and you will see that the macbooks are generally cheaper.

With regards to normal laptops, they will generally have better graphics, processor and ram, but they won't have a good battery, screen and an SSD (This is fantastic to have!). As soon as you start taking the other things into account, the value of the macbook airs become way better.

Packard Bell EasyNote TS11-HR-150GE
Intel Core i3-2310M + Geforce GT630M = 370€

U could even play Battlefiled 3 in Medium with that Laptop.

I don't see that in stock anywhere in the US, but thanks for the suggestion

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-630M.63761.0.html

If 20fps is playable then yea sure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfLez6XMdTY

Resolution: 1366x768 and "medium".

On the only indoor map. And even then its only avg 30-40, also known as unplayable if you have tried the game.

if u actually gonna take the laptop with you daily consider the size / weight too. for first it doesnt seem all that important, but with time it will become a burden to carry a fucking brick everywhere. if it will be only a second comp for home that you take out couple of times a year just go for the better performance one tho.

i got the Samsung 300V3A-S04NL two weeks ago and i must say an i5 is worth it not only for the better cpu but also for the better gpu chipset. This runs ql on 100/125 on max res.

smthng AMD Trinity-based