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Need help deciding on specs for new notebook

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Danstek

Junior Member
Ok, so I've been looking around for a new notebook that I'll be using for college work but would also like a little graphics capabilities for some gaming. I'm hoping to stay within a $650 budget. So far, I've been eyeing the new dv series from HP and after configuring some options I ended up with two that are pretty close:

HP dv6z 7000
15.6" 1366x768
AMD A10-4600m
6gb 1600mhz ram
640gb 5400rpm HDD
Price is $635 with student discount

HP dv6t 7000
15.6" 1366x768
Core i3-2350m
Nvidia GT 630m
6gb ram
640gb 5400rpm HDD
Price is $615 with discount

I'm not entirely sure which is better. I don't know how the A10 trinity stacks up against a sandy bridge i3. Also, would the i3 cause any bottlenecks with the gt 630m? These seem like okay deals but I know there's gonna be a lot of new stuff for the back-to-school season but I'm also a little concerned with future pricing; you know how OEMs price stuff ridiculously high just 'cause its new. I'm in no hurry for a purchase but I wanted to ask if you guys think any of those 2 options are good enough for me to jump the gun and buy it or should I hold off until July/August?
 
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they're both pretty close performance wise
as per notebookcheck.net, the i3 is slightly faster and the 630m is about comparable

HP's consumer line has historically been pretty poor for reliability

I'd recommend an alienware m11x or 13-14" notebook considering gaming and portability.
that said, 1366x768 is a pretty poor resolution to be doing any school work on.
I dunno of any notebooks in that price range with a higher res screen and gaming potential though.

you could probably check slickdeals.net and wait for a dell coupon. If you don't mind used, dell outlet with a coupon can have some ridiculously nice deals, although many of them lack a proper gaming GPU
 
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I'm not sure if the Sony E-series fits your needs, but at $800 you'll get an i5 IB + 7670 and 1600x900 resolution for just under $800 with no discounts applied.

http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/st...1644784018#/e14PremiumSpecificationTabContent

Premium model is the one with the better resolution.

I'm in the same boat at the moment. I want something light, 14"ish size with good resolution and battery life that can game well and that Sony is currently what's leading the pack as far as choices go. The Trinity options haven't yet been released minus a couple of HP models and the prices are still a bit high. I'd wait it out and see all the options available prior to the upcoming start of the next school semester.
 
Thanks for the suggestions! Alienware is a bit out of my price range but I was looking at some of the new Dell Vostros. I might consider one if it becomes available with an A10 trinity. That Sony is also nice but as far as I'm aware Sony likes to have control over the AMD drivers so that means you'd have to wait for Sony to release the new versions rather than get them directly from AMD. A bit of a deal breaker for me. I think Toshiba does the same with their notebooks too. Anyways, I guess for now i'll hold off for when the back to school sales start kicking into full gear.
 
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fyi, if you wait for a dell outlet coupon, the m11x r3 should be in your price range (there are some for ~$800
if you want one, keep an eye out for dell outlet coupons

if you happen to want a "free" ps3 or ps vita, sony's running a deal on some of it's notebooks.
all of the cheaper ones (~$800) are running integrated HD 4000s though.
https://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/s...langId=-1&identifier=S_VAIO_Playstation_offer

the HD4000 is roughly llano performance. Almost makes trinity not worth it.
would probably be enough for source engine games, starcraft 2 low settings, and probably even diablo III low settings (if you don't mind hiccups in intensive scenes)
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5831/amd-trinity-review-a10-4600m-a-new-hope/6
 
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If I were you, I will choose the AMD HP dv6z 7000 with A10-4600m, but I can't find any HP dv6z 7000 with this processor, it seems should be A8-4500M.
 
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