So I'm looking for something that can will let my son raid in wow decently for under $500.

Quiz recommended an A6 laptop that sold out before I had a chance to snag it.

I'm looking at the following A8. If anyone has any recommendations, it is appreciated.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Samsung-Black-15.6-Series-3-NP365ESC-501US-Laptop-PC-with-AMD-Quad-Core-A8-4500M-Processor-and-Windows-8-Operating-System/21812485

I'm also looking at the following same price point:

http://www.frys.com/product/7345714?site=sa:adpages%20page:P10_WED%20date:120512

If 500 is your maximum budget and you want your son to have the best experience possible i would sunset that you buy a desktop. You can get a pretty beefy machine with 500 if you are willing to buy the parts and build it yourself. 

Trust me 500 dollar laptops while they can run wow on Atari settings, will have a hard time in a raiding environment

Here's a review of the graphic chipset on the laptop's video card.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-7640G.69836.0.html

Originally posted by Abdiell

So I'm looking for something that can will let my son raid in wow decently for under $500.

 

Quiz recommended an A6 laptop that sold out before I had a chance to snag it.

 

I'm looking at the following A8. If anyone has any recommendations, it is appreciated.

 

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Samsung-Black-15.6-Series-3-NP365ESC-501US-Laptop-PC-with-AMD-Quad-Core-A8-4500M-Processor-and-Windows-8-Operating-System/21812485

 

I'm also looking at the following same price point:

 

http://www.frys.com/product/7345714?site=sa:adpages%20page:P10_WED%20date:120512

Any reason that it has to be a laptop? I could suggest a parts build to you for around 500 bucks if you wanted me to.

Actually, let's back up.  Why a laptop in the first place, rather than a desktop?

But if you're going to play games on it, then you want the AMD system and not the Intel one.

I'd go for a desktop... i had a few laptops of that budget, and they didn't play WoW very well.

Unless you don't mind playing on low settings.

Since it seems you have left for a bit, I'll give you decent starting point. I'm assuming you have a monitor/Keyboard/Mouse, however you should be able to pick those up for just a little more. I've gone with all current gen parts as their isnt really a good reason to go for last gen parts this time around.

CPU: $120

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078

GPU: $109

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130827

MOBO: $94

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128548

RAM: $35

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233144

PSU: $60

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

CASE: $60

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811345013

TOTAL: $480.00

Thanks for all the replies. It HAS to be a laptop. He goes back and forth from boarding school to home all the time. A desktop is what he currently has, and is a pain to lug.

So will the Samsung I linked work, or is there something better for the money?

Thanks.

If you can add your own memory module to properly match the memory channels, then go with the Samsung.

See if you can find the information online.  If you can find somewhere that it says the number of memory slots or talks about a "max" amount of memory that it can have, then it's user-upgradeable, at least if the number of memory slots is at least two.  I can't find that information, though.

You could try to find the manual from Samsung, and see if it gives any details on how to replace or upgrade memory.  You could also try asking Wal-Mart, and if it's not user-upgradeable, then see if you can return it.  There's likely a slot on the bottom that you can open up and get access to the memory and/or hard drive, but the details vary from one laptop to the next.  The memory is probably upgradeable by the end user, as soldering it directly to the motherboard seems to only be done for extra thin form factors and likely adds cost.

You dont want to get that samsung..I'm sure it would do fine for wow on med settings maybe drop down to low in 25man raids.

Raids can be very taxing on the hardware. If you are willing to cough up another $100 bucks 

i would suggest this one.

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-V3-571G-6407-15-6-Inch-Laptop/dp/B009JXK1WQ/ref=dp_ob_title_ce#productDetails

In any case try to find something with a dedicated video card instead of intergrated. Tomshardware.com Suggeted this as one of the better budget gaming laptops. So I bought it myself and let me tell you It runs great. I can run most games on high to max settings no problem. Raiding in wow i have to drop it down to medium settings but for normal stuff in Wow' i can keep it at high settings.

btw 4g memory with 1g dedicated video card would do just fine for him..No need to bump up the memory for gaming in school stuff.

Originally posted by Darklotus79

You dont want to get that samsung..I'm sure it would do fine for wow on med settings maybe drop down to low in 25man raids.

Raids can be very taxing on the hardware. If you are willing to cough up another $100 bucks 

i would suggest this one.

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-V3-571G-6407-15-6-Inch-Laptop/dp/B009JXK1WQ/ref=dp_ob_title_ce#productDetails

In any case try to find something with a dedicated video card instead of intergrated. Tomshardware.com Suggeted this as one of the better budget gaming laptops. So I bought it myself and let me tell you It runs great. I can run most games on high to max settings no problem. Raiding in wow i have to drop it down to medium settings but for normal stuff in Wow' i can keep it at high settings.

And what exactly is the point of getting a discrete card that isn't any faster than integrated graphics?  So that you can have an older, inefficient architecture that puts out a lot more heat than necessary?

If you're going to increase the budget a bit to add performance, then you get an A10-4600M instead of the A8-4500M.

http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/113893/HP-Pavilion-dv6-7138us-Laptop-Computer/?cm_mmc=Affiliates-_-kmZjHBYatgE-_-10-_-261067_1

That uses Windows 7 rather than Windows 8, which is probably why it's discounted as far as it is.  It mismatches the memory channels, so you'll need to buy your own 4 GB module and use it to replace the 2 GB module.  But that one definitely has user-replaceable memory.

thats not bad for the price range but the tech support of HP is just terrible , but good eye ther man.

Originally posted by Abdiell
I thought HP was supposed to be god awful? 

You're shopping for a sub-$500 laptop.  What do you expect in that price range?  It's not like anyone else is going to give you good build quality in a sub-$500 laptop that can handle games.

If you don't want to get the HP I linked, that's fine.  The Samsung will suit your needs so long as you fix the memory.  An A8-4500M is the same die as an A10-4600M, but with 1/3 of the graphics disabled and the CPU clocked lower.

Originally posted by Quizzical

Originally posted by Abdiell
I thought HP was supposed to be god awful? 

You're shopping for a sub-$500 laptop.  What do you expect in that price range?  It's not like anyone else is going to give you good build quality in a sub-$500 laptop that can handle games.

If you don't want to get the HP I linked, that's fine.  The Samsung will suit your needs so long as you fix the memory.  An A8-4500M is the same die as an A10-4600M, but with 1/3 of the graphics disabled and the CPU clocked lower.

Wasn't trying to offend you...

Also, the one you linked is out of stock.

I was able to find this one:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/HP-Midnight-Black-15.6-Refurbished-Pavilion-m6-1035dx-Laptop-PC-with-AMD-Quad-Core-A10-4600M-Accelerated-Processor-and-Windows-7-Home-Premium/22081776#Item+Description