$800 for a laptop with almost no head room. Need help

[ibage]

I have $800 in my budget for a laptop for school and a machine capable of playing modern games at at least med-high settings. I have narrowed it down to two models,


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115733

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220707

I know and love ASUS but buying something recertified makes me uneasy. On that note, I know the 260m is slightly better than the 5650 but will having a better CPU in the ACER make it a tad stronger?

 

[buwish]

It is a tough call. But if gaming is what you would like to do, I'd recommend going with the 260m, i.e. the asus. However, take a look at these links to get a better comparison of their performance specs:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmarklist.2436.0.html

 

[ibage]

The ASUS seems like what I'm going to end up with. With that said, anything I should worry about with recertified stuff? I trust ASUS like no other company. Anything I could buy from ASUS, I do but I've never gotten anything recertified. With such a reputable company, should I worry about it?

 

[ibage]

Best answer selected by ibage.