Best Laptop for around $500

Probably something like this Toshiba Satellite L755D 15" notebook $500
AMD A6-3420M 1.5GHz quad core APU, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD 15.6" 1366x768 LCD w/ Radeon HD 6520G graphics.
With HDMI output.

You can output notebook video display to TV via HDMI and control the game with the USB controller on the notebook.

The HD 6520G is not a particularly powerful integrated graphics core, but at least it's more powerful than Intel's HD 3000 graphic core. Expect the performance to be less than a desktop Radeon HD 5550 graphic card.

Unfortunatly i can't buy from newegg but i found something similar for the same for around the same price:

Asus K53TK-SX117 15.6", AMD A6-3420M Quad Core / 4GB / 640GB / ATI HD7670M 1GB+ HD6720

or would this be a better deal??

Asus K53SM-SX077 15.6" Intel B960 / 4GB / 500GB / GT 630M 2GB / BT / GLAN / HDMI

Asus K53TK is a used notebook? Are you OK with that?

HD7670M is a 'real' notebook graphics card. It's the best option listed so far.
Does Asus K53TK have a HDMI port?

how is it a used notebook?? Im buying from a local store and it dosen't say anything about being used. Yeas it has a HDMI port and USB 3.0 port.

Also would HD 7670M in Xfire with HD 6720 be enough for 720p gaming?? Im worryed about the CPU, it is quad core but it is only at 1.5GHz, is ther a way to OC??

Also is it possible to use laptop in similar way to a console?? I mean i hook up laptop to a tv and then play games using gamepad on the TV screen?

You did say... $500? How much is that Asus K53TK?
I think the only way it could be $500 is if it were a used model.

See my first post.

Here is a Asus K53TK (SX0A8 model) for $980 with A8-3520M / HD Radeon HD 7670M and a BluRay optical drive.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-now-offering-the-K53T...

With just the A6 APU and without the BluRay a K53TK should still run about $800.

@WR2 Sorry my mistake i didn't read carefuly.

Well it is $ 530 but i think it may be worth it.
What about the CPU. I think 1.5 ghz quad is worse than dual core sandy bridge @ 2.2GHz. Also if i game @ 720p the games are more cpu dependant.

It's a tough choice. Better GPU or better CPU?
For a lot of games the better GPU ends up being the best choice.

What game are you most interested in?

Im most interested in Skyrim and Witcher 2 and plently of older games such as Age of Empires 3, Warcraft 3, Oblivion, etc.

Also is it posible to overclock the A6 in laptop??

The vast majority of laptops do not allow you to overclock. Perhaps some boutique laptop brand might allow you to do that, but those types of laptops are far beyond your budget.

Maybe i should just settle for a gaming HTPC....i m looking for small dimension PC for gaming on my TV as i don't have much space for full sized desktop PC in my room. I would buy an xbox 360 but the console gaming in my country is almost non-existent so it immposible to find any games for consoles, everyone games on PC. The only HTPC case i can get is Thermaltake SD 200 for 120$ witch seems pretty expensive and that is why i opted for laptop but maybe i should take that case and build a gaming htpc for $500.

to push a 720p or 1080p screen you need a lot of Mobile GPU power. I only familiar with the nVidia mobile GPU's. you need at least a GT 540M or higher in the 500 series or a GT 630M or higher in the 600 series to be able to game on the big screen. a core i5 is the lowest for a CPU that I would go also.

this is the best deal going right now @$699 ($300 off right now) Lenovo Y570 i5-2450M/GTX555M/4GB ram 15"

NEW:
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/Len...

Same but Refurbished with i7-2670QM CPU for $619
http://outlet.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/outle...

IdeaPad Y470 Refurbished i7-2670QM processor (quad-core, 2.20GHz, 6MB cache) NVIDIA GeForce® GT 550M 14" Display
$595

deaPad Y470 Refurbished i5 processor i5-2410M (2.30GHz base; 2.9GHz Max NVIDIA GeForce® GT 550M 14" Display
http://outlet.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/outle...
$511

I can get this in the local store as i m unable to order from any site, it is the maximum my budget allows:

Laptop Lenovo IdeaPad Z570A BLUE (59316593)15.6",i5-2430 / 4GB / 750GB / GT 520M 1GB / BT / HDMI

The Asus i posted earlier is a bit cheaper:

Asus K53SM-SX077 15.6" Intel B960 / 4GB / 500GB / GT 630M 2GB / BT / GLAN / HDMI

It has better gpu but weaker CPU.

The used Asus K53TK-SX117 is actually not that bad if you want small footprint and portable gaming device. I would ask about the warranty duration and the cost for an extended warranty.

Building a HTPC will definitely allow you to upgrade in the future, however it is obviously not very portable. $500 is not a lot of money for a HTPC especially if you need to buy an OEM copy of Windows 7 which costs $100 bringing down the total to $400 for all your parts.

You can download the Windows 8 Consumer Preview OS for free and use it until March 15th, 2013. But since it is still under development you may run into compatibility issues or it might be unstable. At any rate, it allows you time to save up money for a Windows OS and frees up that $100 to be used on hardware.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/download

If you are going with the HTPC route, then post your questions in the CPU thread.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum-28-174.html

As an owner of a Lenovo IdeaPad Y470, I do not recommend buying one unless you are willing to open up the laptop to replace the thermal paste. This basically voids the warranty. The CPU runs hot and based on many posts I've read in other forum this basically because Lenovo applied too much thermal paste. So much so that it is a heat insulator. Based on a couple of pictures I've seen it looks like they applied 50x the amount thermal paste that should be normally be used.

It's a great laptop for games, but you just need to "modify" it to fix the overheating issue. I have not "modified" my Y470 yet 'cause it is still under warranty.

the problem with that case is getting a low profile GPU card that is powerful enough to play games at 1080p. 720p might be doable. right now the best you can do in low profile is the HD 6670.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6570-rade...

Not sure what country you are in, but if you can find this case. It is small and you can put a full height GPU in it. One of the new AMD HD 7750 or 7770 with a intel G630 or core i3 2100/2120 CPU would not over tax the 300w power supply.

Based on the intel Mt. Jade reference design: (12.7" x 5.5" x 10.8 or 323 x 140 x 276 mm)

INWIN BK-623 (there are some variants of this case - BK-628/BK-644) it support uATX MB's
http://www.in-win.com.tw/products_pccase_series.php?cat...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

This laptop has the most powerful IGP in that price range with far superior image quality to any Intel-based offering:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

But the GT630M 2gb should be superior to that IGP right?

The Dell latitude D630 is pretty economical. You can get a used one for like $300 and new is not very expensive too. You can read its review and specs here:

http://www.binary-store.com/computers/dell-latitude-d63...

Dell D630 Latitude was good in 2007 and 2008. For 2012? not a good value even at $300

Have you checked the specs?

512MB RAM does not impress.

TigerDirect has a D630 with better specs for $50 less
- just without the 1440x900 res screen

That guy has suggested the D630 on this $500 thread and another. He must own a store that has a bunch of off-lease D630s in stock he's trying to unload. For shame.

Just to make it clear, it's not my store. It is a review store. And they have good reviews on desktops and laptops. I was sharing something that i liked and i can see the respect that i am getting here.

It was a great notebook in 2008. I happen to own one and it still works.
It's just a bit long in the tooth and not a good value IMO.

More to the point - it's pretty far off from what the OP is looking for.

He was looking for an economical laptop that can be used for light gaming purpose. I have used dell latitude myself and i have played a lot of good games on it. So its not that far off i think.

I think you're very wrong about that. Not a good match for the OP.

here are bench marks for various mobile (and non mobile) GPU's.

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/video_lookup.php?gpu=...
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-6750M.43958....

Take K53TK, throw in another 4GB ram module, OC your CPU (info here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/601808-k53ta-best-... ) get newest chipset drivers from asus homepage and be happy! Most of the games (Like NFS the run, Battlefield 3, Far Cry 3, Max Payne 3) you will be able to run on high or highest settings on 720p resolutions (laptop screen has higher resolution than 720p and it can handle games on screen's native res) If some game lags, or you have other problems you can always ask for help on k53ta forum, that I mentioned above (because that laptop has basically same parts inside).

I'm happy with my K53TK!

P.S. I got mine for about 550$ (285 LVL) and it has 3-year warranty! It is the best deal you will find, I spent a lot of time trying to find anything similar or better for this price, but closest I got was Acer with less powerful GPU and less powerful CPU. Others have superior CPU's but half the GPU power or same GPU power, but lot weaker CPU.