Is this a good PC?

[smearyllama]

Snipperosies!

I meant laptop, sorry. I can't even remember the difference, honestly.

 

[RicoADF]

Snipperosies!

I meant laptop, sorry. I can't even remember the difference, honestly.

Laptops are PCs in portability form (so trimmed down but still can be decentish), notebooks are the bear bones, also known as netbooks, they are made to run the OS, office applications (aka micosoft office/open office) and the internet and thats about it (altho old games may work on some of them).

Rule of thumb is that:
Desktop = Best for gaming and you get the most for you $, altho not very portable.
Laptop = Portable, but costs more and its less capable then a desktop with equal $/hardware
Netbook = Very portable, but very basic and unable to play anything except old games

 

[Eren Murtaugh]

Is there a particular reason for getting a laptop? If not, I'd save a bit of cash and get a desktop equivalent. Course, if you're traveling a lot or in student halls, I know Deskys aren't always convenient, but as a general rule of thumb you'll get the same kit for cheaper in a desktop.

Oh, and you can *always* knock a few quid off by building your own machine. It's not as hard or scary as it looks

Further:

hp is relatively well known for their great gaming laptops, but for a more conventional use, go with Toshiba or Dell. Just remember that Dell is the maker of ALIENware, the quintessential gamer's computer. Mostly it's how you're gonna use it, but I've been happy with my Dell for quite some time, and it's like 5 years old.

Never ever ever ever ever EVER go with Dell. Alienware is overpriced, you're basically paying for a name tag. Maybe Eren here will tell you different, but my experience with Dells is that you have to use Dell parts to upgrade, whereas most other manufacturers tend to use similar geography, so you can mix parts from different companies, depending on price and performance.

Spoiler: case in point

Dell PSU-

Standard PSU -

Well, do you remember like 5 years ago when Dell made those really great laptops? The ones that were like friggin invincible? I bought one of those. So yeah, my Dell opinion is a bit biased.

 

[Horticulture]

That HP has very good specs for the form factor, which can be overlooked in laptops. For gaming, there are stronger gaming laptops available (see offerings from ASUS [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220700]), but they tend to be large and bulky, with poor battery life. If you don't mind turning some settings down, you should be happy gaming on the HP. It shouldn't have issues actually running any games for some time. If you're the sort of person who likes to max things out, consider getting a netbook and saving for a desktop, or getting a more gaming-focused laptop and living with the size.