EscapeTheRoom said:According to the development release you can't even use Dolphin Gamecube Emulator with dedicated Intel HD Graphics.

I play Project M (Super Smash Bros. Brawl mod) on my current laptop constantly. At 60FPS. I also tried Timesplitters: Future Perfect. Also running flawlessly at 60 FPS.
In any case, emulators are generally much more processor intensive than graphics card intensive, and my mobile fourth generation i5 is pretty much a desktop first gen i7 to be fair.
1. Kind of is, man. See for yourself. Take the Iris Plus 640 for example. It's one of the latest Intel integrated graphics offerings. It's about midrange right now in terms of mobile graphics, same as the 4600 when it first came out. https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=Intel+Iris+Plus+640&id=3696JUMBO PALACE said:1. I can appreciate what you're saying and I'm well aware that the 4600 has a more modern integrated gpu equivalent in current laptops. But saying Intel's integrated chips aren't far behind dedicated GPUs from Nvidia or AMD is just not true.
2. I definitely see your point here. If OP needs an optical drive he can always get an external one for like $20.00
3. I would ALWAYS recommend building a desktop to buying a laptop, but that is what OP wants and is the whole point of the thread. $1000 may not be chump change but it comes in way below his stated budget.
Response to Edit 2: It may be an integrated gpu but that is nowhere near the caliber of a full size desktop gpu like the 1060. It's a mobile gpu with 2gb of VRAM which was outdated 3-4 years ago. For $250.00 more you get a better processor, a GPU in an entirely different weight class, and SSD, double the RAM, and an IPS display.
2. This is true but it's gonna be more bulky and a pain to set up and will always consume a USB slot. Plus, I think inbuilt drives have better transfer speeds but don't quote me on that. It also depends on whether the motherboard manufacturer decided to put in support for USB optical drive booting in the BIOS/UEFI or not. If they didn't, you're screwed in terms of LiveDVD booting. It's just sooo much better and convenient to have the drive built into the laptop from the start.
3. Looks like OP really doesn't care about spending that much on a gaming laptop for traveling so I guess it doesn't matter now, but if it were me, $250 extra is quite a lot.