Help me buy a laptop

[Sup3rM4N]

I've always been a desktop fanboy but need a laptop now but not sure which to get. Unfortunately, it can only be from amazon. I stock piled on amazon GC while trading for poker funds so I want to use them all up now.

This is what I need the laptop to do:
- Play online poker (ldo)
- Go thru HEM stuff relativity quickly
-6 tables without any overlapping...if their is overlap then very minimal
- Surf the interwebz for porn

Yep thats about it.

Things I dont need:
-A good gfx card to play games
-Bluray or other entertainment crap
- A big ass hard drive

My budget is $500-800.

Currently I have a 80gb SSD (intel x25 or something forget exact model). I am thinking if I should take out the HD from the laptop I buy and install this HD? Would make the laptop faster but 80gb space after installing softwares and stuff is quite low.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

Amazon.com Laptops, Netbooks, & Accessories: Laptop computers, netbook computers, accessories, components, drives, storage, lcd monitors, and more

[Jack Sawyer]

Your most perfect laptop is this one, sadly only available through hp direct at the moment (and $29 over budget)

Amazon.com: HP Pavilion dv7-6175us Entertainment Notebook PC (Black): Computers & Accessories

Runner up is this one, but you get awesome gaming with it as well

Amazon.com: HP Pavilion dv7-6165us Entertainment Notebook Computer - Silver: Computers & Accessories

6 tables no overlap should be achieved easily on 1600x900 imo, if you need a 1920x1080+ monitor then the price range got to move though. I haven't played in a while, so I don't know the dimensions. It should be fine though.

[Monty3038]

Had an HP DV7, loved it. Till 15 months into owning it and the thing cooked itself.

Replacement cost for either burnt up processor or motherboard... 85% of cost of new one. Not knowing whether processor was fried or motherboard... too expensive to replace.

So... moral of story, if you buy one of these, be sure to keep it clean, vacuum out the vents weekly with static free vacuum. If any get clogged, or are blocked when running, you may face a similar fate (this is common for all laptops).

But it had a really good screen on it.

[Sup3rM4N]

Gotcha, thanks guys...damn I wish amazon. com sold the 6175 -_-

How does VISION A8 Technology from AMD with AMD Quad-Core A8-3500M Accelerated Processor compare to a 2nd gen i5?

[Jack Sawyer]

The whole thing about the Llano seems to be its graphical prowess when compared with the Intel offerings, but it's exactly what you said you did not really need. It's slower when doing stuff like encoding, but for average desktop workloads it shouldn't be that noticeable.

More info here: Conclusion: Llano Brings A Lot Of Potential To The Table : The AMD A8-3500M APU Review: Llano Is Unleashed

Whichever you get though, be sure to stick the x25 intel ssd in it, it will fly when compared with the stock hard drives which are usually 5400rpm.

[Jack Sawyer]

Does it HAVE to be a laptop? You could get a macmini base, a 25" screen 1920x1080, 8gb ram and be in the budget actually (you still need to budget for keyboard and mouse though).

[Nekrogovner]

I so much hate HP laptops. Just because I can.
Imo Toshiba has great multimedia laptops, and also had great action recently. They offered warranty to all kinds of damage. So you could basically bash your laptop in the wall, jump on it a bit, and get a new one for free. And they have very great and polite tech support. You should def check them out if they're still offering that.
The only thing I really disliked is that LCD screens on some models (maybe all of them???) have a glass shielding to prevent scratching and stuff, and that thing tends to reflect some light if u use it in light areas. Price might be a tad bit higher though.