I helping someone find a new laptop, there maximum budget is about $800 but they would much prefer something under $700. Might be a bit of a stretch but there looking for something for gaming. They want to play future games of about 2 years at an acceptable frame-rate and quality (approx what the PS3 can handle) probably medium to low settings.
15.6" screens should be alright. But 17" would be great.
I'm guessing it would be something with a Core i5 processor 2.4Ghz, 4gb ddr3 ram, 250-500gb HDD. I'm not sure about the graphics as I haven't studied laptop graphics for quite a while now. Just something that could handle skyrim, sims 3, and similar future games for approx 2 years under medium settings as were trying to make this laptop last at least a couple of years.
Any ideas? I read in another thread it's probably a good idea to wait for christmas sales. But looking for something in the next couple of weeks. Was also looking at a PS3 which someone I know has one for sale but have already bought some pc games that don't work on this person's current laptop.
My advice is that the video card will be more important than the i5. Don't be afraid to drop to an i3 with a better video card, though for market reasons most better laptops will come with an i5 anyway. Get at least a 7670m, though you should be able to get a bit better for that budget.