Cheap/Simple "gaming" laptop?

[Homerboy]

I'm looking to get my daughter a laptop.

Primary she uses her computer for art creation (drawing tablet etc) but she would like the ability to play some "light" games too (Minecraft with mods probably being the heaviest game she'd play). What am I looking at here cost wise? What are my options?

She's been using an AMD A8 Desktop (just using the IGP) but we're going to end up doing a lot of traveling this summer and he computer/art is sort of her therapy (sensory/anxiety issues) so I want something that we can take with us.

Thanks in advance.

 

[JeffMD]

Asking for reliable benchmarks from the IGP in laptops is very iffy. Laptop IGP performance is among the worst because the chips are rated for low TDP and throttle quickly when the IGP is used for 3d.

If you are targeting any kind of gaming on a laptop, you will need to shoot for one with a dedicated gpu. The cheapest I see on best buy is an MSI with an i5/940m combo for $700.

Minecraft without mods may be kinda simple for IGP based graphics, but if using mods that increases draw distance and such, graphics requirements will go up.

 

[EliteRetard]

Acer Aspire
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315302

$500, 15" 1080p, i5-6200U, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, and a Nvidia GT940m.

If they made a decent AMD laptop with high speed dual channel RAM it might meet or beat this, but there is literally no such option available. Against the Intel U series IGP this is probably 30% faster, but most i5 w/1080 laptops are in this price range without the 940m anyway.

The next step up is a Dell Inspiron 15 7000 series around $700-800. For some reason anything labeled "gaming" carries a significant premium. Yet the Dell is considered a bargain for entry level gaming, as it carries a full power quad core i5 and a GTX 960m. It would easily be at least twice as fast as the Acer above.

This example from Amazon is more expensive at $800, since it includes a 256GB SSD (vs a slow HDD) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015PYYDMQ/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=
The same configuration but with a 1TB HDD can be had as low as $700 from Dell direct, depending on sales/coupon codes at the time (I'm not going to look them up right now).

Edit:
I want to say the Acer here is probably close enough to the AMD desktop you have that it should work. However, depending on how old your daughter is and how much disposable income you have the Dell may be the way to go. It will offer more performance in the game/s now, and offers some room for more advanced gaming if she keeps the unit for a while.

 

[RossMAN]

http://slickdeals.net/f/8705495-ace...-1920x1080-1tb-hdd-8gb-ddr3-650-free-shipping

 

[EliteRetard]

/\ That whoops the Dell I suggested above. Cheaper and with an i7 (even if older gen), same GTX960m GPU.

I think that $500 Acer is still gonna be hard to beat as the cheapest option, but the extra $150 gets you a lot more bang for the buck there.

 

[nerp]

There is a rash of new gaming laptops out right now. You can get a beefy gaming machine with a GPU for less than $1000.

 

[SaltyNuts]

"There is a rash of new gaming laptops out right now. You can get a beefy gaming machine with a GPU for less than $1000."

nerp, might you suggest some of these? I'm even willing to spend more than $1,000, say to $1,300ish, if additional expense is worth it.

Thanks!

 

[DaveSimmons]

If you can wait a couple of months, nvidia's new models may be out, with the first die shrink after 3 model years at the old size.

 

[SaltyNuts]

That couple months should not be a problem Dave! Anything else to look for when buying (or waiting to buy) and decent ($1,000 to $1,300) gaming laptop?

Thanks!

 

[Kaido]

Acer Aspire
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315302

$500, 15" 1080p, i5-6200U, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, and a Nvidia GT940m.

I just set one of those up for my dad. Everything is great except the HDD. It 10000000% NEEDS an SSD. I don't want to say it's unusable with the stock drive, but it's really frustratingly, painfully, horribly slow with the stock HDD. Forget 5400rpm, it feels like 2500rpm

 

[Blue_Max]

Does "a lot of traveling" also mean significant time away from places to charge up the battery?

If so, battery life is going to also be a concern, but the latest Intel IGP's (530 especially) are equal to or better than the A8 IGP she's using now, and at a lower power cost than dedicated nVidia awesomeness.

Just something to consider.