Reddit reviews Asus F555LA-AB31 15.6-Inch Laptop (2.1 GHz Core i3-5010U Processor,4 GB RAM,500 GB Hard Drive, Windows 10), Black

spec sheet

slickdeals thread about this model from august for $600

It seems to be a variant of this Acer Aspire V15. Main differences that I can spot are that this one has a 4k screen instead of 1080p, and a 1TB HDD instead of 256GB SSD.

Not quite as absurd of a deal as the Aspire V Nitros posted earlier, but this is still a fucking ridiculous deal considering this is what a laptop in this price range normally looks like.

edit: just realized I put DDR3 ram in the title. I meant to type DDR4.

You are very far off on the cd spin speed and given the difference in size, even for a "rough" calculation, I wouldnt just divide the speed by mass. You can get a 20 dollar dvd drive that spins at 48x CD-Rom speed or 9600RPM. It was the first one I looked up so Im going to assume its common.

A CD weighs .015 kg, OD of .12 m, ID of .03 m giving it an angular momentum of 0.00459 Kg*m/s. [This] (http://www.amazon.com/F555LA-AB31-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1459352416&sr=1-1&keywords=laptop&refinements=p_n_feature_sixteen_browse-bin%3A3093652011
) laptop will spin at 11.5 RPM to obtain the same momentum (assuming its a rectangle with evenly distributed mass).

Probably not. And if you were to try, you'd want the 32 GB version. And I'm guessing you'd be able to get a better Windows laptop for $359.

EDIT: For instance, http://www.amazon.com/F555LA-AB31-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE/ for $349.99.

There are some sales on Amazon you can check out.

This one has Intel HD5500 graphics.
This one has HD520 which are better.

Those will even run things like Rocket League, which I've player on a laptop with a i5-3370u and HD4000 graphics.

We downgraded from a couple of badass gaming desktops to http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011KFQASE?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01

It's been an adjustment...

http://www.amazon.com/F555LA-AB31-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE/ref=zg_bs_565108_1

I would suggest this, best seller right now.

Full HD display, CD Drive, decent build quality, fast processor.

I always recommend for new laptops is to do a format of the disk and reinstalling Windows, as it's much easier and better then just going through and eliminating crapware, especially if your mom is not tech savvy.

It runs about half speed. I had an Asus windows tablet with the same specs and it wouldn't run full speed. Although, I never tried the CPU overdrive setting with it. If you want something really cheap and portable for melee This laptop should run it

Honestly I think just look at bestbuy or whatever store you have nearby you and look at <$300 laptops and pick one that you like.
My $300 computer from like 2007 runs LoL at 15-20 fps so I'm sure a $300 computer from 2015 could run it easy 30 fps. I'd say just go for the latest CPU on the laptop since you're not going to get dedicated so you'll have to use integrated and later down the line upgrade the RAM to 8GB if you'd like.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i3-4gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-spin-pattern-in-black/4352000.p?id=1219735415083&skuId=4352000
but tax would push >$300

EDIT: A look at the sidebar shows the quickpick for this one,
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B011KFQASE/ref=sr_1_1_olp?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1441741165&sr=1-1&condition=new
Similar laptop but 1080 screen I believe.

>Gaming Laptop

>Under $400

Pick One.


I see you are only playing Terraria and Minecraft, $400 should be enough for those, but thats just about it. This is going to be your best bet. Does not have a full 1080p screen, but basically none have on at this price point.

https://www.amazon.ca/F555LA-Full-HD-Laptop-500GB-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE/

The processor is a bit outdated, but it probably doesn't get any better than that for that kind of money. Sims 4 runs on low to medium settings.

Here are two laptops which would be decent, though they are a little bit over $300:

Asus Transformer Book Flip TP550LA-UH51T

Asus F555LA-AB31

You can get the latter for $300 from the Amazon Warehouse. Maybe you don't mind to order a refurbished one.

I unboxed and deployed about 500 of these a few months ago. They are pretty unremarkable laptops but decent for the price. Durable and reasonably easy to work on. The RAM is not soldered down and you could easily upgrade to SSD later on. The touchpad and screen are both enjoyable. I didn't like the keyboard though, it felt like the key travel was very short and mushy. I am not a keyboard snob at all (no mechanical keyboards in my house) and I still found it hard to type on. We did have maybe 10/500 that came from the factory with sticky keys (that stick down or are very slow to come back up) so this seems to be something they are prone to. Another issue is the cable that connects the touchscreen to the motherboard seems to break under normal use. If you are not buying a touchscreen model though this probably won't matter to you, and in any case they might have come up with a better cable by now since I believe they are aware of this problem. It only affects the touchscreen input, not the display itself. I have played AOE and AOEII on mine and it ran well.

Normally i5 indicates four cores, but the i5 in this laptop is really more of an i3. It is a dual core with hyperthreading. You can now buy laptops with the next-gen i3-5020u which is the same configuration (dual core with hyperthreading) and much cheaper. Then you could spend the difference on an SSD. For instance, you could buy something like this and something like this. This would be a better setup IMO.

This should work. Asus has never let me down.

What about the F555LA?

You should be fine with 4GB. If you ever need more RAM it can be added as well, and it's not difficult to do at all.

http://www.amazon.com/F555LA-AB31-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458071678&sr=8-1&keywords=asus+f55

This one is about the same price. Lose 2 gigs of RAM, but CPU is comparable and it has a 1080p screen. Thoughts? How much are we losing out buy purchasing outside of sale season (i.e. black friday, back to school etc)?

This is the laptop I always recommend for people who want a cheaper laptop. Its a good machine and will last a while. Has enough power for all of the stuff you want plus a 1080p screen.

First, before anything Have you taken a look at the quick picks?

Things to note:

You have not really given much about what you're looking to use this laptop for. College laptop is a general term, it can range from running CAD to simple word and web browsing. I assume the Dell 15.6 touch screen is this model Please provide the exact model of the one you have considered as for the Dell Inspiron family has a lot of different models. Most 15.6 inch laptops will be around 4-6 pounds in weight. Touch screens will diminish the battery life of the device faster than one without. On a 15.6 inch laptop, it is preferred to have 1080p as anything less will look blurry.



Keep in mind a performance and battery life are opposites at <$500 price point. Better processing power will require more battery, thus decreasing the battery life.

Some suggestions:

This Asus F555LA-AB31 15.6 in comes with a i3-5010U(2.1ghz) proccessor, 4gb of ram, and a 500gb hard drive at $369.99 dollars. This battery life is around 4-5 hours. (Realistically 3-4 hours)

This HP W2M75UA#ABA 15.6 in offers a i5-6200u processor(2.3ghz), 8gb of ram and a 1tb hard drive/or 128gb ssd(same price) at $459.99 dollars This has a 7 hour 15min battery life. (Realistically 6 hours average).

If you're picking out of those three I would go with the second one. Your links are from eBay and they dont give the best descriptions so it might be a diff model from what I found.

I'm looking at Amazon Canada. That should ship to where you live.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B011KFQASE/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480128373&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=laptop&dpPl=1&dpID=41uXvMCE9UL&ref=plSrch
This one is alright. When you said you had 500 for it. Did you mean Canadian currency? Also, do you really want to spend 500 or would you rather spend less?

Check this out
A very good laptop for this price point.. The only downside of course is don't expect any heavy gaming performance outta this (don't know if you're a huge gamer or not) other than that, this can handle things like web browsing, watching video, word processing, etc. With ease. Hope this helped :D

Anything but a MacBook and youll be perfectly fine. I would personally recommend one of these for a windows laptop.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011KFQASE?ref_=zg_bs_565108_2

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010SBAJDS?ref_=zg_bs_565108_1

What's your maximum budget?

A refurb desktop might do you some good and give you the room to throw in a stronger GPU later. Of course, you might be better-served by a laptop since you don't have your own place right now.

This A10-6700 desktop and this A10-7800 desktop would do well and can run most games on modest settings. The RAM is probably 1333 or 1600Mhz, which would make the APU performance suffer.

This HP looks to have an i5-2400. weaker graphics off the bat, but a Sandy Bridge i5 is an excellent option for you to throw in a stronger GPU later.

/r/suggestalaptop's cheapest gaming quick pick is the Asus F555LA with an i3-5010U sporting Intel HD 5500 graphics.

Well I was about to order that exact computer on Amazon and ended up ordering this one instead. For a bit more money I figured the nicer display was worth it. Still well under $400 so I'm happy.

ok i strongly recommend the ASUS F555LA 15.6" Full-HD Laptop comes with a Core i3, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD with Windows 10

You should be able to run Elite. I use a laptop that is less than optimal for the game but can still play it with only a bit of lag.

See if he can go $349 for this: http://www.amazon.com/F555LA-AB31-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE

The higher resolution screen this has (1920x1080) compared to most laptops below this price can be great when it comes to school work because, for example, it will allow you to easily fit both a Wikipedia page and a Word document onscreen at the same time. Most laptops this size for this price or lower will have 1366x768-resolution displays that are significantly worse for that.

Probably this laptop
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315131

but it has A LOT of bloatware, so you would have to do a clean install. Also, she really doesn't need a dedicated GPU and a core i5 for her usage. You could save money and get a cheaper one like this: http://www.amazon.com/F555LA-AB31-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE/ref=sr_1_6?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1453849321&sr=1-6&refinements=p_n_feature_three_browse-bin%3A9647486011

No brainer for the price:

http://www.amazon.com/F555LA-AB31-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE/

Okay, so I was looking into options for you, and I found a few that might work situationally. this

would work if you want to play games, but it's pushing your budget a lot. The reason that would be good is that it has a 940m dedicated card; this is the cheapest I could find a laptop with a dedicated GPU.

Two other options I found that would be decent, and more within your budget would be either This or This Laptop The Toshiba has a very low end AMD chip, and the ASUS has intel integrated; both would run things like league of legends and old games fine; both have decent but not great battery lives. I tried to find 15.6 inch laptops for the screen size (I personally find 13 to be very small but it's personal preference.) Any of these options would be fine for college and should be easily transportable in an average backpack.

I would highly recommend this. You will save decent amount of buck. Processor is slightly weaker (i3 vs i5), Intel HD 5500 is more than enough for not high-performance demanding games games like TF2, WOW, dota2, etc. 350$
http://www.amazon.com/F555LA-AB31-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1449888181&sr=1-2&keywords=laptop+deals

Depends what you would like to do with the laptop.

Lowest I would go is the Asus F555LA with i3, 4GB ram, 500GB hdd with nice screen for $400 CAD. You can do basic tasks like web surfing, youtube, light gaming and coding although running large programs it will slow down due to ram.
https://www.amazon.ca/F555LA-Full-HD-Laptop-500GB-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE

Next up the Asus R541UA would get you an i5, 8 GB ram, and 1TB HDD for around $700. This basically gives a laptop that is capable for most tasks except 3D graphics such as modern demanding games.
https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834234471

Finally if you want a laptop capable of playing modern games Dell i7567 with an i5, 8GB ram, 1TB hybrid HDD, and a GTX 1050 will run you $1100.
http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/dell-dell-i7567-15-6-laptop-black-intel-core-i5-7300hq-1tb-8gb-hdd-8gb-ram-windows-10-i7567-5314blk-pca/10567344.aspx?

Of course these are just decent value laptops I could find. An SSD would also be very nice to have but be prepared to pay a rather large premium for SSD laptops unless you are willing to upgrade yourself.

Hey, I was in the same boat as you a month ago. Not sure where you're purchasing from but I got this one for my dad, Laptop.
I assumed 4gb of ram is more than enough for what he uses it for(browsing the web, streaming movies, excel for work) but in the long run if it doesn't, I could always open the bottom and add more ram. I'm sure there are better options but at the time for the price this one was the best I could find. Good luck!

This Asus laptop is $350 new or $260 used on Amazon. It is at the higher end of your budget, so it may be much. Unless you know that you won't be downloading any applications, I would recommend a windows laptop over a Chromebook. This laptop has an i3, 4Gb of ram, 1080p scree, 15in. My robotics team got this laptop last year and it works great for what we need it for, programming.

You forgot to mention a budget. I'm considering your region as USA:

Cheap option:
http://www.amazon.com/HP-Pavilion-Performance-Quad-Core-Processor/dp/B01EMWKFEC/ref=zg_bs_565108_5

A much better all rounder:
http://www.amazon.com/Asus-F555LA-AB31-15-6-Inch-i3-5010U-Processor/dp/B011KFQASE?ie=UTF8&qid=1464690032&ref_=lp_13896615011_1_2&s=pc&sr=1-2

Even better option:
https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-NVIDIA-Windows-E5-575G-53VG/dp/B01DT4A2R4/ref=sr_1_17?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1464690409&sr=1-17&refinements=p_n_feature_twelve_browse-bin%3A9521908011%2Cp_n_feature_three_browse-bin%3A9647486011

For even higher budget, get Dell Inspiron 7559 i5 model

Easily I say, get this Asus F555LA-AB31 15.6-Inch Laptop. It will do a fantastic job for you. It has a decent processor, storage, memory , battery life and of course, nice build quality.

Yes, when it comes to performance I think it is. However, as /u/Monosodium_Glutamate pointed out, you may appreciate a 1080p screen if you want to have many poker tables open side-by-side. In that aspect, the [Asus F555LA-AB31] (http://www.amazon.com/Asus-F555LA-AB31-15-6-Inch-i3-5010U-Processor/dp/B011KFQASE/) suggested twice below could be a better choice. Performance should be about the same, but it only has 4 GB of RAM (which I think should be fine).

This Asus Laptop is right within your budget range and has aquite decent specs, almost spot on to the specs you want. It has an i3 processor, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB HDD and the Intel 5500 graphics.

Asus F555LA is now 340$ on amazon and seems to be your best bet. It's just 3 pounds has good i3 processor and 4gb ram!
Reviews claim that for non-exhaustive tasks like web surfing, office etc., battery should last more than 6-7 hours.

NOTE: If you can't get a new one, get the refurbished one for 299$ off amazon or less preferably a used one


If you're okay with 11.6inch, get a new / used(like new) Acer Aspire R11 with stellar 8-9hr battery life. You can always swap in an SSD for better prformance & battery life; so you can future proof it! As an added bonus, it's signature edition so free of all bloatware and crapware

I'd go for this Asus F555LA since it's the cheapest way to get you a full HD 1920x1080 display. It has a Broadwell i3 which isn't terrible for the budget, either, and the display really pushes it over the top, IMO.

She doesn't need something powerful, so I would suggest thisAsus F555LA because it comes with 2.1 GHz Core i3-5010U Processor,4 GB RAM,500 GB Hard Drive, Windows 10 and it is very light at 3 lbs.

Or if she is ok with refurbished, I would suggest this Lenovo ThinkPad T440s because it is much more powerful with Intel Core i5-4300u 1.90GHz, 8GB(great for multitasking), 240GB SSD(great for faster booting and loading), Windows 7 Professional but it is a little heavier at 3.5 lbs (still very light though.

N3050 Processor isnt a bad processor, but you can do so much better for a little more.

This laptop is great (Amazon Canada) and right under $500 CAD:
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B011KFQASE/ref=twister_B01M3TYFDD?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

Make/Model: ASUS - F555LA-AB31

Granted this goes above your budget, but not by much. This laptop is 15.6 in screen WITH 1080P display. And it has a better processor, an i3.

Search the reviews on this laptop. It's been hailed the best affordable laptop by alot of reviewers because of the 1080P display and price point.

re linux, see this:

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=amazon-2-laptops&num=1

Cdn or US? US is $355
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LX0KIGB/ref=twister_B01M3TYFDD?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Canadian price is a bit more $460

you can also get open box on amazon for a bit cheaper $430

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/offer-listing/B011KFQASE/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used


edit: here is a chart of the price over time
http://ca.camelcamelcamel.com/F555LA-Full-HD-Laptop-500GB-Windows/product/B011KFQASE

reduced features for the most part

I got this laptop and upgrade the ram with 4gb more so 8 total and swap the cd drive for 250GB SSD

all for 500 bucks. this spec go for $700-800 if you don't install the upgrades yourself

it's incredibly cheap for a proper laptop. for gaming, I do it on the desktop

The Asus F555LA is one of the better choices under $500. Surprisingly good screen (really, it was only a few years ago that 1080p hardly showed up below $800), and will be fine for your usage. Don't expect amazing performance in WoW or other games, though.

Alternatively, the Acer E5-573G is right at $500. It also has a 1080p screen, but combines it with an entry level dedicated GPU. It won't run demanding games very well, but will be great for WoW.

A backlit keyboard is probably out of your price range, sadly (maybe someone else will show up to prove me wrong).

Hello, so after a few months of saving I am finally buying a new laptop. I want to know if you still think this is the best bang for my buck. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011KFQASE/
I am able to purchase something in the $350-$400 range. $450 with tax. Please let me know what you think.

Hey what do you think between asus f554 and asus f555?

f554 has the core i5 processor, is this a big upgrade? I figured the f555 model was newer?

Seeing this deal on newegg, f554 for $350 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834232794

but that model is quite a bit more on amazon

And on amazon the f555 for $330
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011KFQASE/sr=1-1/qid=1441741165/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1441741165&sr=1-1

And the f554 is quite a bit more on amazon (even the 4gb ram model)

I did. It shows airplane mode is off and wireless communication is allowed but no wireless things of any kind are there, like networks or adapters under the network settings or anything like that.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011KFQASE?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00

Thats the laptop its a ASUS F555LA-AB31

I've gone to the ASUS website and found the drivers for the F555LA series and they do nothing also.

I have the ASUS F555LA. Got it for my birthday two weeks ago, and I'm liking it so far!

Well the [Asus F555LA] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B011KFQASE/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481261832&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=asus+f555la-ab31&dpPl=1&dpID=41uXvMCE9UL&ref=plSrch) would be a great choice for her....it comes with a Intel Core i3-5010U 2.1GH which is great for the tasks that you have mentioned and only weighs 5.1 pounds ......it also comes with 4GB RAM and a 500GB HDD..

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B011KFQASE/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1450427367&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=asus+f555la&dpPl=1&dpID=41uXvMCE9UL&ref=plSrch

I haven't got to use them side by side, so I don't want to give my opinion. However:

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i3-5010U+%40+2.10GHz

https://cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+A8-7410+APU&id=2537

I chose that i3 because that's the only i-series i could find even near the price range of the one in the OP: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011KFQASE

I know this is somewhat offtopic, but I feel like this might still be the best place to ask. How is this laptop for the price? Looks solid to me as 15inch 1080p is what I want the most. Only thing lacking is a gpu for light gaming, but i doubt I can get anything with one and these specs for this price: https://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msca/en_CA/pdp/Dell-Inspiron-15-i5559-4682SLV-Signature-Edition-Laptop/productID.333111400?tduid=(4465d88acb06d8f657dc727fcf4e3250)(240780)(2316686)(CAqD7bLWUPI-tRrZdrZCuKII1qfPwdRTVA)()

Or this prime day i3 https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B011KFQASE/ref=gbmg_mob_m-4_e155_d6d5b502?app-action=detail&asin=B011KFQASE&m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&dealid=d6d5b502&pf_rd_p=7135e52d-a854-459f-84ec-e37f4074e155&pf_rd_s=mobile-hybrid-4&pf_rd_t=30901&pf_rd_i=14403644011&pf_rd_m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_r=WJXSG404Q2W1ZW2WY9PB

AutoMod keeps removing my comment for the last link, so I editted it in this one, hopefully the last link works too

Sure man!

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-i5368-0027GRY-Pentium-Processor-Windows/dp/B01F3R95RS

https://www.amazon.com/HP-Notebook-15-ay011nr-15-6-Inch-Processor/dp/B01CGGOZOM

https://www.amazon.com/Asus-F555LA-AB31-15-6-Inch-i3-5010U-Processor/dp/B011KFQASE

https://amazon.com/gp/product/B0195YX4UO/

There's 4 I found with my first google search!

These are some of the black friday deals I found where I live:

1. [Dell Inspiron 15 i5559](https://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msca/en_CA/pdp/Dell-Inspiron-15-i5559-4682SLV-Signature-Edition-Laptop/productID.333111400?tduid=(57491b6071931c8b2a417e3736415fc4)
   
   
2. Acer 15.6"
   
   
3. Asus VivoBook Max
   
   
4. Asus F555LA 15.6"
   
   
5. HP 15.6" Touchscreen Notebook
   
   Are any of these good?

Peoples thoughts on this model?
Click Here

How's this ASUS compared to the Lenovo?

To be frank, AU$ 500 won't really net you an i7, not even an i5. If you're willing to go with an i3, you can get something quite good. But I think it's due to the Cyber Monday or something deals going on in the US. I'm not sure about it on Australia.
Anyway, for good subjective performance, actually what's important is the RAM and SSD. An i3 can even handle 4k videos and office multitasking just fine. Lack of those 2 makes things slow.

The only one I can really find is this:
http://www.amazon.com/F555LA-AB31-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE

Otherwise you'll have to look for second hand laptops. But if you can save up for more, you can add in more RAM and swap an SSD inside that, at an additional $100 you can get a 4GB RAM and a 250GB SSD

Oh this looks nice. Lower weight than the http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834232794 or http://www.amazon.com/F555LA-AB31-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE that I was looking at with a better cpu I think. I heard that Thinkpads have a good build quality and battery life as well. The Intel HD graphics also seem to be much better. Now I just have to decide if the increase in price point is worth the better specs.


Thanks for the suggestion!

For $350, this ASUS laptop from Amazon sounds like a good deal.

With a budget of $300 I would recommend you get a second hand machine. At least that way you will be getting a mid class machine with a good screen and maybe even an SSD. The latter is the single most important component, especially if you are coding. Opening and closing text editors, launching browser windows is something I do repeatedly throughout the day and an HDD-only system would drive me crazy.

If you still want to stick with new stuff, here is what I found:

1. 15.6 inch 1080p ASUS
   
   
2. Refurbished HP with a 120GB SSD. Screen is 720p, sadly.
   

what about [this](http://www.amazon.com/F555LA-AB31-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452329271&sr=8-1&keywords=asus+i3
)

you can simply upgrade the ram by yourself as I am sure 350 should be below your expectation, plus this laptop seems to allow him to have light gaming

Personally I think a i3 is better than AMD FX-series cpu ( I just hate AMD for no reason）

Thanks a lot for the suggestion. Have a (stupid) question: Would a 5th gen i3 be better than a 2nd gen i5? Reason I'm asking is because of this laptop: http://www.amazon.com/F555LA-AB31-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE

Ah didn't see it was out of stock. Well I think I have it narrowed down to these three:

Any thoughts?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011KFQASE/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=

http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Satellite-S55t-B5152-Touchscreen-Broadwell/dp/B00TP5AXMQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1453667722&sr=1-3&keywords=toshiba+i5

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-15-i5558-5718SLV-Signature/dp/B018LH6FWK/ref=sr_1_9?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1451599914&sr=1-9&keywords=i5+dell

What would prevent this one from running it on low settings?http://www.amazon.com/F555LA-AB31-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE

get this one. its a bit more but there are ones closer to $300 through amazon warehouse deals.

I like ASUS laptops for the minimal bloatware.

I just use an old laptop and my router has two usb slots, which i plug in two 5tb seagates. I thought about upgrading a while back, but it works fine, multiple HD streams yada yada. Worry more about upgrading your internet upload speed, and it'll never struggle with transcoding.

Edit: Links below. If you live in a crowded apartment complex like me, make sure your computer has AC internet connectivity, and same for the router. You want a super fast home network, and you want to be able to upload at 2MB a second or more for this thing to never have any issues. I have 54mbps internet, which translates on my system to about 5MB/s upload speed. The only person who'se ever struggled to watch sometime on my system has 250KB download on her internet.

Router: ASUS AC1900 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FB45SI4

Laptop: Asus F555LA-AB3 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011KFQASE

https://www.amazon.com/Asus-F555LA-AB31-15-6-Inch-i3-5010U-Processor/dp/B011KFQASE/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1481667610&sr=1-3&refinements=p_36%3A30000-40000

do you guys think either of these would work well?

http://www.amazon.com/Asus-X551CA-RI3N15-X551ca-ri3n15-15-6-Laptop/dp/B00IPQR9QY?SubscriptionId=AKIAIIU4RLP6VPFIYDGA&tag=wuggeecom-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00IPQR9QY

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011KFQASE/sr=1-1/qid=1441741165/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1441741165&sr=1-1

If you can spend $350, this is the laptop I would get:

http://www.amazon.com/F555LA-AB31-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1450296347&sr=1-2&keywords=asus+laptop

It's nearly identical to the Asus you posted, but is significantly better for only a little bit more money in two ways:

1. The processor and integrated graphics are newer and faster in this unit than in either of the ones you posted, by a decent amount. Minecraft would be very playable on this machine, and only rarely would you get drops below 30 fps, though he would have to lower the game settings quite a bit to achieve this.
   
   
2. The screen is full HD 1080p (a rarity in this price range), unlike the units that you posted which are 720p. 1080p looks significantly nice for gaming, watching videos, and pretty much anything else you can do with a computer.
   
   
   
   I used to have a Asus laptop with identical specs to the one you posted and while it would play minecraft sufficiently well, frame rates hovered around 40 fps and on popular servers like Mineplex drops below 30 or even 20 were not uncommon on very low settings, making some mini games frustrating to play.
   
   The unit I posted would not have this issue, I strongly recommend it.
   
   
   That being said, if $350 is out of your price range, then get the Lenovo.

I think this $349 ASUS F555LA is good, it plus a SSD is $430. Only thing is, it's 15.6 inches.

If he can do without the touchscreen capability , go with this Asus F555LA-AB31 15.6-Inch Laptop which would do his college work very well. It has a nice i3 processor, 4 GB RAM, a nice 500 GB Storage and a pretty decent build quality.

ASUS F555LA 15.6" Full-HD Laptop (Core i3, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD) with Windows 10 https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B011KFQASE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_oczpyb1JX4E8K

5400rpm HDD though...

I feel like laptops haven't changed at all in the past 5 years.

Try looking at the Microsoft store and Dell store websites. They usually have alright deals on laptops.

it definitely does depend on campus - but for the most part now any engineering school in the US has a solid computer lab for their engineering students. Mine does even thought it's not a private school.

But here is a very cheap alternative for you:

If you wait until June - July, this laptop will be available for $250:
http://www.amazon.com/F555LA-AB31-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1458874113&sr=1-2&keywords=asus+laptop

You can upgrade with the following (optional):

SSD Drive (there are many sales happening every month you can get 250gb for $65 that is when I bought it):

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-75E250B-AM/dp/B00OAJ412U/ref=cm_cr_dp_asin_lnk

RAM upgrade ($30) for a total of 12gb:

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-PC3-12800-204-Pin-Notebook-CT102464BF160B/dp/B006YG8X9Y/ref=cm_cr_dp_asin_lnk

Enclosure for the hard drive already in your laptop ($10 - optional):

http://www.amazon.com/Upgraded-Sabrent-2-5-Inch-Enclosure-EC-UM30/dp/B00MQ97QGE/ref=cm_cr_dp_asin_lnk

Total: $345
you get a kick ass, 1080p screen fast laptop to run many programs

I've got a ton of money saved up over many months on this laptop and a stick of 8gb ram for it, to replace my current laptop that's falling apart.

That, and the steelbook collection of the first 3 Pokemon movies on blu-ray and The Force Awakens on Blu-Ray.

any laptop thats powerful enough to run basic programming applications... so any laptop. Just buy one for crying out loud. This one if you're on a budget http://www.amazon.com/F555LA-AB31-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE/ref=zg_bs_565108_1
otherwise get something you like.

I found 4 pretty good ones for around that price

1. 
   ASUS F556UA-AB32 $389.99
   https://www.amazon.com/F556UA-AB32-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows/dp/B01LX0KIGB/?tag=aboutcom02lifewire-20&th=1
   -Has a 15.6 inch 1080p (HD Screen)
   -Wireless internet
   -Average 5 hour battery life
   -1 Terabyte hard drive (Thats 1000Gb)
   -Doesn't have a DVD/CD drive
   

• Webcam
  
  2.
  
  ASUS F555LA $549.99
  https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B011KFQASE?tag=laptopmagca-20
  -Has a 15.6 inch 1080p (HD Screen)
  -Wireless internet
  -500 Gigabyte hard drive
  -Has a DVD Drive
  -Average 5 and a half hour battery life
  -Webcam
  
  3.
  
  HP Laptop $479.99
  http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-17-3-laptop-intel-core-i5-8gb-memory-1tb-hdd/5723313.p?skuId=5723313
  -Has a 17.3 inch screen (Not HD)
  -Wireless internet
  -1 Terabyte hard drive (1000 Gigabytes)
  -Has a DVD drive
  -5 hour battery life
  -Webcam
  
  4.
  
  Dell Inspiron $399.99
  http://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-inspiron-15-6-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i3-6gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-black/5709800.p?skuId=5709800
  -15.6" HD screen
  -Touch screen
  -Wireless internet
  -1 Terabyte hard drive (1000 Gigabytes)
  -Has a DVD drive
  -4 hour battery life
  -Webcam

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834318482R

https://www.amazon.ca/F555LA-Full-HD-Laptop-500GB-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1457752313&sr=1-2

Sorry I couldn't understand it..can you tell me which adapter is suitable for this (http://www.amazon.com/F555LA-AB31-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE) laptop?

http://www.amazon.com/F555LA-AB31-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE?ie=UTF8&fpl=fresh&redirect=true&ref_=s9_simh_gw_g147_i1_r

that's what he ended up going with. Got a warehouse deal for $325. Not bad.

To give you some perspective I just looked up the passmark score for a recent midrange laptop with a lot of reviews and that i7 from 2008 still scored higher.

What is the best laptop from 300-400$ price range for a student. It is for a cousin and the best i see out there is https://www.amazon.ca/F555LA-Full-HD-Laptop-500GB-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1473629455&sr=1-1

for 489.99. Not in the price range but I don't see anything with decent specs around that range.

So I have a pretty good GPU on my current laptop but I think that saps alot of the power and an i5 may be a bit more. Looking it up that laptop on Amazon, I did get linked to this one. What is your opinion on it?

https://www.amazon.com/Asus-F555LA-AB31-15-6-Inch-i3-5010U-Processor/dp/B011KFQASE/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1473968297&sr=1-1&keywords=asus+f555la-ab31

This is very much a Canada thing. The exact same laptop with a Broadwell i3 [which has a passmark score over 1000 higher than the 350m] costs $370 in the US, but $650 in Canada, both from Amazon. This one [and the Canadian listing] if you're curious.

Perhaps the Asus F555LA-AB31? If that's not to your liking, try looking at this site to help you find a laptop. I've found it really useful.

I got mine for 350 off amazon, 15 inch screen and runs superbly. It's an asus I want to say, I'll look for the link


edit: http://www.amazon.com/Asus-F555LA-AB31-15-6-Inch-i3-5010U-Processor/dp/B011KFQASE

That's on my list. Still not sure if it's the best choice.
Do you know if it has a good graphics card or not? I don't know anything about them. Also, what do you think about this?

+1 for buying a laptop, but don't buy a Mac. For example, I just got this Asus for $369, and then got an 8GB RAM stick and a 256GB SATA III SSD drive for $100. So for $500 I got a brand new computer with more RAM, a better processor, and a larger screen than the $1,200 Mac Air 13" (the one with the 256 SSD upgrade).

So I'd say buy a cheap Asus/Acer/whatever for $300-$400, and then upgrade to an SSD when you have the money. They are <$100, are a huge upgrade in performance, and come with the software to mirror your drive (you just need a $10 USB -> SATA cable).

And if you buy used you can do all this for $200 or so less. As noted already Window 10 is a free upgrade from 7 and 8, so do this before that ends in June.

Since Windows 7 was recommended, I put started looking at these two on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Professional-Business-Laptop-upgradable/dp/B019HYWIM2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_2&smid=A30EPR1Q8JVZG5

http://www.amazon.com/Asus-F555LA-AB31-15-6-Inch-i3-5010U-Processor/dp/B011KFQASE?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_3&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

But I was looking at stuff even cheaper like

http://www.amazon.com/Asus-15-6-Inch-Premium-Processor-10-Chocolate/dp/B01D26F22O?ie=UTF8&keywords=Asus&qid=1462898599&ref_=sr_1_16&s=pc&sr=1-16

Ive looked at both of these options Asus w/ i3 and Lenovo w/ i5. Do you think these are good, and is there anything cheaper that would work better?

• The asus is from the guide on the sidebar

I just saw this xD hahaha
But I believe, i3 4th gen, 4 gb ram laptop, it may be this one: http://www.amazon.com/Asus-F555LA-AB31-15-6-Inch-i3-5010U-Processor/dp/B011KFQASE, once I get home from work I'll confirm.


It's this one: https://www.asus.com/us/Notebooks/X551CA/specifications/

I'll be honest with you, $400 is not a lot of money to get a decent laptop. Attempting to buy one that's less that 15.6 inches will hurt your maximum specs on the laptop even more. The smaller/thinner the device(ultra book standards), the more expensive a faster CPU and Ram will cost. In addition, touch screen will add around $100 on average to the cost of the laptop.

With that being said, I have seen the Lenovo Flex 3 myself. Although it is a nice portable machine and would be OK for light browsing and maybe some word documents, it is nowhere near the capacity necessary to run Minecraft at 40 FPS. It lags when opening up more than a few(5) tabs on Windows edge browser.

I would suggest for you to look at the quick picks.

For a gaming laptop, the most reccomended one is this Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E555 This is a 15.6 720p display. This features a AMD Quad-Core A10-7300 clocked at 1.90/3.20 ghz, 4gbs of Ram(which is easily upgradable to 8gbs with only $17), 500gb (5400 RPM) Hard drive. The key point about this device is it has a dedicated graphics card (AMD Radeon R7 M260 2gb) unlike the following laptops and will not share that with the CPU. This is priced at $400 exactly. $417 if you upgrade the ram with a 4gb laptop ram.

This Asus F555LA has a full hd 15.6 inch screen. It also has a 5th gen i3 clocked at 2.1ghz, 4gb of ram and 500gb(5400 RPM) hard drive. This is currently $369.99.

At exactly $400, the Asus x555DA-US11 is another recommended laptop. It features a full HD display just like the previous, but it has a AMD A10-8700p, 8gb of ram and 1tb HDD(5400 RPM).

If you have an extra $60 dollars to spend on top of $400, the best you can get would be this HP 15-ay011nr. It has a full hd display like the previous two. In addition, it has an 6th gen i5 clocked at 2.3ghz, 8gb of ram, and a 1tb(5400 RPM) hard drive. Priced at $460

I actually just grabbed this laptop:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011KFQASE

if you buy a used one from Amazon Warehouse Deals and use the coupon code "WDEARLY20" you will get an additional 20% off.

It has integrated graphics wich means it wont be pushing max detail 60 fps, but it should run League ok. the real selling point is a 1080p IPS screen wich is almost impossible to find under 500$. nearly every other laptop at this price has 720p screens with TN (not as good colors).

If you want to really improve the laptop, buy a RAM module and SSD.

Laptop RAM


Any SSD 240-512gb will be a major improvement over the built in HDD.

This looks nice.

Here's a cheaper alternative

There's laptops under 500 with a 1080p display and an i3.... Well just one.

https://www.amazon.ca/F555LA-Full-HD-Laptop-500GB-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1473022482&sr=1-1

was looking at these
Acer Laptop Aspire E 15 E5-574G-54Y2
[Lenovo Laptop Z51] (https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Laptop-Memory-Radeon-Windows/dp/B01B49OI2G/)
[Asus F555LA-AB31] (https://www.amazon.com/F555LA-AB31-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1458424966&sr=1-1&keywords=f555la)
[Acer Aspire E 15] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Aspire-NVIDIA-Windows-Layout/dp/B01DT4A2R4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473086801&sr=8-1&keywords=Acer+Laptop+Aspire+E+15)

Luckily, if you're just using it for student stuff (and maybe some light, non-serious gaming) you have a lot of options.

I have had an Asus, Lenovo, and Toshiba, but Asus has been my favorite.

An i3 or i5 processor would be more than enought. And with the amount of cloud storage available, a high HD isn't necessary. I'd go for 4gb of RAM or higher, though.

https://www.amazon.com/Asus-F555LA-AB31-15-6-Inch-i3-5010U-Processor/dp/B011KFQASE/ref=sr_1_6?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1474834252&sr=1-6&keywords=laptop

I was thinking maybe this one, but I'm not too sure. It doesn't have the 2-in-1 like I wanted but it's cheap enough for what it is: https://www.amazon.ca/F555LA-Full-HD-Laptop-500GB-Windows/dp/B011KFQASE/ref=pd_cp_147_2?_encoding=UTF8&refRID=N4YW1KVGQKQ27Y31DDS0&th=1****

$300 + monitor is a very tight budget. If I were you, I would get a cheap laptop on Amazon (This one has an i3, 4GB RAM and a 500GB HDD for $350)