Choosing a Laptop

[Tenzo]

So long story short, my sister is in the US(Essex, Montana) plans to buy a laptop and needs some help since she's not that good with computers(Kalispell is the nearest city she can go to from time to time). There's a BestBuy store in Kalispell and so far i've found some good models on-line. The budget is 750$ and i'm trying to get the most out of those bucks.
The laptop would be for pretty much everything(multimedia + a few games).
Oh and screen size: 14.0''.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Satellite+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i5+Processor+/+14"+Display+/+6GB+Memory+/+640GB+Hard+Drive+-+Platinum/2809404.p?id=1218354582258&skuId=2809404&st=Intel_Core_Processors_2nd_Generation&cp=3&lp=1

and
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+-+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i5+Processor+/+14"+Display+/+6GB+Memory+/+750GB+Hard+Drive/2776251.p?id=1218350599006&skuId=2776251


As for the Intel HD graphics as far as i know it uses Ram memory when needed as if it's vram (at Intel HD 3000 it says "up to 1696MB shared"). I know that a separate/dedicated video card would be better but since the laptop won't be for gaming i'm trying to find the best configuration according to the budget.


I've also searched the HP website and aside the free shipping there's an XBox360 promotion for students: http://www.shopping.hp.com/go/microsoftoffers?jumpid=in_R329_prodexp/hhoslp/psg_ipg/masthead/xbox

So i'd like to know if you can give me an idea or two on this laptop matter if you have some spare time.
Cheers.

 

[Z Power]

Is she okay with the laptop being shipped to her or does she want to get from Best Buy only?

 

[Tenzo]

Shipping is ok if it's free.

 

[grOOvy]

Er, I'd stay away from integrated graphics (Intel HD3000) if you want to use the laptop for decent gaming, especially at higher resolutions (say, if hooked up to an external display).

BestBuy isn't the go-to place when it comes to buying hardware while getting the most bang for your buck. Search websites like newegg.com and amazon.com instead. For example, this ASUS laptop has an i7 processor at 2.0Ghz, nVidia 560M discrete graphics (1GB video memory) and 6GB of RAM. Not the best pick (the native resolution is quite low, among other things), but just a random example of what you can find if you search around.

 

[Z Power]

Inspiron 14R - 2nd Gen

It is the only 14'' Laptop I could find with a dedicated card near your budget. It also has a free 7 day delivery offer going on although I don't know how long it will last.

HP Pavilion dm4 & dm4x

Same as above, only with HP this time. You can choose to have the dedicated card when configuring the setup.

Edit: I tried scouring the Acer website, but I got lazy seeing only the model numbers. I prefer Acer though, my first and only laptop since 5 years now has been an Acer. It was not only more powerful than its HP and Dell counterparts at the time, it was also far cheaper then. I don't know how it is now though.

 

[Tenzo]

Er, I'd stay away from integrated graphics (Intel HD3000) if you want to use the laptop for decent gaming, especially at higher resolutions (say, if hooked up to an external display).

BestBuy isn't the go-to place when it comes to buying hardware while getting the most bang for your buck. Search websites like newegg.com and amazon.com instead. For example, this ASUS laptop has an i7 processor at 2.0Ghz, nVidia 560M discrete graphics (1GB video memory) and 6GB of RAM. Not the best pick (the native resolution is quite low, among other things), but just a random example of what you can find if you search around.

Yeah i heard that the Intel HD3000 can play current/modern games at low settings only.
I've searched on Amazon.com but didn't quite find what was i looking for. Newegg.com didn't quite help either but i'll continue to look around.
Thanks for your time.

@Z Power: The HP dm4x can indeed be customized with a ATI 1Gb video card. It's on my list as well.

EDIT: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834157988
Drat it's out of stock.

EDIT2:

HP Pavilion dm4x Entertainment PC
XU499AV

• dark umber
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• 2nd generation Intel(R) Dual Core(TM) i5-2410M (2.3 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.9GHz
• 1GB DDR3 Radeon(TM) HD 6470M Graphics [HDMI, VGA]
• FREE Upgrade to 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• FREE Upgrade to 640GB 5400RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• No additional security software
• 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 8.0 hours of battery life +++
• 14.0" diagonal High-Definition HP BrightView LED Display (1366 x 768)
• No Additional Office Software
• SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone and HP SimplePass Fingerprint Reader
• Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN with Wireless Display Support
• Standard Keyboard
• HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

@ 775$ seems like a good deal to me. Plus the possibility of a XBox360(that student offer).

EDIT3: Darn i found two more laptops on newegg but they're out of stock.
Asus http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220951
and
MSI http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152256