Hardware Mid-high end laptop advice

[Daidude]

Hi guys!

I'm just posting to ask for some advice and points of view of a laptop that I shall be getting in a week from now. I would say I'm already quite knowledgeable about what kind of laptop I want and the parts I need for it but I'm no expert.
I've been searching for a good laptop in my price range for about half a year now and have decided on the Lenovo Z580 with these specs:

• Intel core i5 ivy bridge processor ( 3210m)
• 8 GB ram
• 1 terabyte hard drive 5400 rpm
• Nvidia 630m graphics card 1gb
• Windows 8 home (64-bit)
• 0.3 Mp webcam 720p?

Link: http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Leno....6_Win8_DVDRW_NVidia_1GB__M81GCUK/version.asp

I've been looking at this laptop for a while and yesterday it dropped in price from £550 to £475 (£550 with £75 cashback) due to xmas so it looks like an even better deal.

My price range is around £450 - £550.
I definitely want something with a graphics card and a fast processor preferably i5 or higher.

From my research this set up seems to be better than an A8-A10 APU but I'm not sure.
I would like to use it for light-ish/ medium gaming ( Assasin's creed, Skyrim, Battlefield on low, Minecraft etc.), video editing (possibly), browsing the internet.
I want it powerful since I want it to be about 3 years future-proof.
This'll be my first laptop that I own and I'd appreciate it if anyone here could to rate it, suggest other options or better deals within my price range and tell me what it would be capable of.

Note I'm in the UK and although the laptops seem to be a lot cheaper in the USA I don't really want to import one.

Thanks

 

[Rydian]

About three years is as best as you can get promised for future-proofing a laptop. That looks fine for what you said you want, spec-wise.

Do note that Lenovo'z Ideapad series is their lower-end series for standard consumers, so it's not quite as sturdy as Lenovo's normally known for, but should still be decent.

 

[Daidude]

I know but it's higher than their essentials range and although I really like the y580 I don't think it's within my price range :l

 

[Daidude]

Hi everyone, I'm really sorry for the double post but i need some urgent advice.

I was just about to order the Lenovo laptop today when I found a Dell Inspiron 15r 5520 with practically the same specs but reduced to £499 from £630 for the first 1000 buyers. One of the main differences is the 1GB AMD Radeon HD 7670M in the Dell.

http://www.dell.com/uk/p/limited-offers.aspx

Which one do you think I should choose and why?
I'm really stuck :S

 

[exangel]

I would get the dell if I needed to get the laptop really soon.
I don't think the difference in graphics quality would be of importance if your gaming is going to be almost always on the internal display. (1366x768) Even 2 years down the line. In 3 years both will be weak but manageable. I bought a $1400 gaming laptop (with a Radeon) in 2007 that was able to handle everything I wanted it to do (the most graphically intensive game I played on it was Aion) until the dedicated chip actually died a definitive death in 2011. But that's because it was a 15.x" screen and it was only 1280x800 resolution. (16:9 wasn't the standard for PC graphics yet in 2007)

If you intend to use external display someone else might be able to give a better line of reasoning to stick with the nVidia graphics, but I don't have much knowledge about the current generation in comparison.

 

[Daidude]

But why the Dell. You've told me about your experiences with buying a laptop but I would like to know which one is the better laptops in terms of overall specs and durability. I was actually going with my original choice of the Lenovo until i read exangel's post.

 

[exangel]

I thought I saw something about a rebate on the Lenovo's page. I hate dealing with those, so the initial price on the dell was cheaper. but I only glanced at the pages.

 

[Rydian]

The 7670M would be more powerful by about 9%, don't know if that's enough to tip the scale. Del''s Inspiron laptops are the cheap line however, and aren't known for their build quality.

 

[Danny600kill]

I'd personally go for Dell but I think that's because I've only ever had customer's Lenovo laptops and I don't think they feel as sturdy as you'd want for something that costs quite a lot. I was in the same situation as you a few months back and was checking laptop prices/specs constantly but I ended up changing my mind completely and I bought a Macbook ....

 

[Daidude]

Thanks you've all helped considerably but since you are both mentioning build quality being bad on both laptops which one would be the better choice?

 

[Danny600kill]

I can't say I've seen the exact models you are talking about but in my overall opinion I personally think Dell is better build quality, and I think it looks nicer. Specs are very similar and I think with either choice you would be happy

 

[Rydian]

Normally I'd suggest Lenovo, but that's their lower-end line and isn't built nearly as well as their thinkpads and such.

Cheap laptops are generally built cheaply. That's why they're cheap.

 

[Daidude]

So I think I've decided to go with the Dell Inspiron 15r 5520 because I think it looks nicer + slightly better specced. I'm going to order it in an hour or so. Thanks for everyone's help.

EDIT: I went for the Lenovo and just ordered it.