Choose Between Two Budget Notebooks

1_What is your budget?

$600 tops

2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

15.6" or thereabouts

3_What screen resolution do you want?

Indifferent

4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

Semi-portable. I'd like to be able to take it around in my backpack from class to class. I'm in a lot of accounting courses so the keypad is very important to me.

5_How much battery life do you need?

2+ hours. I plan on using it primarily during classes (roughly 90 minutes long, not clustered together), and during library study sessions. It'll be plugged in at the library, however.

6_Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?

Any games will be very light. I imagine CS:Source would be near the top of the heap. I have a desktop for that sort of thing.

7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing, surfing the web, playing music, watching movies, Etc.)

I imagine that I'd run some video editing software if I went on vacation. Most of this work would be centered around running FFMPEG to facilitate coversions/compressions.

I'd like to be able to watch movies but I'm not too concerned about 1080p or HD content.

Primary use will be internet / word processing. Secondary use will be accounting/programming.

8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?

Not much. 320GB would be way more than enough. I could get by on 120GB easily.

10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?

~3 years

11_If you would like to mention some other things about purchasing your ideal laptop, post them.

Numpad is important but not required.

13_What country do you live in?

USA

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Hey guys,

I'm looking at a couple of notebooks. There are several competitive models in this price range of $400-600 so please post suggestions if you have any.

Here are the two I'm looking at closely:

Asus K50IJ-RX05
$479.99
2GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core T4200
3GB, 800MHz DDR2
320GB 5,400rpm
1366 x 768
Chipset: Mobile Intel GL40+ICH9M
Graphics: Intel GMA 4500MHD (integrated)
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
Dimensions (WD): 14.5 x 10 inches
Wireless: B+G+N
Height: 1.2-1.4 inches
Screen size (diagonal): 15.6 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter: 5.8/6.6 pounds
Battery life: 3.5 to 4 hours
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9366679&t...


Gateway NV5214u
$499.99
AMD Athlon™ X2 QL-64
4GB DDR2 SDRAM
1366 x 768
Wireless: B+G+N
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 3200
Battery life: 2.5 to 3.0 hours
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9370441&t...


I'm not limiting myself to BestBuy, it's just where I've found the best deals for this price range.

Thanks!