Currently own an OLD Acer Aspire 5732ZG, and I'm looking for some replacement in the range of 500~600€ (should be roughly around 680~800$ or 400~480£), mainly used for light videogaming/retrogaming and secondarily for anything else that might come up, although nothing heavy. This could span from light browsing to java development, for example.
I was thinking of something similarly sized (between 15 and 17 inches), sporting a good i5, 4gb in RAM (possibly expandable) and a 500gb HDD. I can't get my head over the gpu however, and if the system itself will meet my requirements.
I'd rather not go for an embedded gpu unless I was getting an i7 and an Intel HD 4000 with it, but I feel it would be overkill for my computational needs and not enough for my graphical needs...and also, wouldn't an A10 Amd APU be better in this case?
I'm also reading wonders about either the Nvidia 740m or the ATI HD 8750m for my price range. However, I've read that the former has 2 different chipsets versions, while the latter has two different vram capacities and technologies (either 1gb ddr3 or 2gb gddr5 from what I've read). Is there a way to tell differences without having to buy it first? I plan on checking local shops before trying online, but I doubt they'll let me run gpu-z from my USB stick on them...
Any particular notebook model to look forward to? Any suggestions for improvements/lower prices?
As a side note, if you got any model to suggest, please keep in mind that:
- I literally HATE the aluminium look-and-feel that Asus seems to be so fond of, so unless it's a good deal I'd rather not get one
- Unless they're good reviewed, I'd rather not get a Toshiba or a Lenovo. I keep hearing they're more prone to malfunction and/or breaking down...
Any opinion/help is more than appreciated.
I was thinking of something similarly sized (between 15 and 17 inches), sporting a good i5, 4gb in RAM (possibly expandable) and a 500gb HDD. I can't get my head over the gpu however, and if the system itself will meet my requirements.
I'd rather not go for an embedded gpu unless I was getting an i7 and an Intel HD 4000 with it, but I feel it would be overkill for my computational needs and not enough for my graphical needs...and also, wouldn't an A10 Amd APU be better in this case?
I'm also reading wonders about either the Nvidia 740m or the ATI HD 8750m for my price range. However, I've read that the former has 2 different chipsets versions, while the latter has two different vram capacities and technologies (either 1gb ddr3 or 2gb gddr5 from what I've read). Is there a way to tell differences without having to buy it first? I plan on checking local shops before trying online, but I doubt they'll let me run gpu-z from my USB stick on them...
Any particular notebook model to look forward to? Any suggestions for improvements/lower prices?
As a side note, if you got any model to suggest, please keep in mind that:
- I literally HATE the aluminium look-and-feel that Asus seems to be so fond of, so unless it's a good deal I'd rather not get one
- Unless they're good reviewed, I'd rather not get a Toshiba or a Lenovo. I keep hearing they're more prone to malfunction and/or breaking down...
Any opinion/help is more than appreciated.