LF Mid/Low end Laptop recomendations

[Mythbinder]

I have never purchased Laptops so do not know much about what to look for in shopping for one.

Need to buy a laptop for my daughter who will be starting Highschool this Fall. No she doesn't "need" one but Daddy stupidly told her if she graduated 8th with nothing lower then a B on her final card she would get one. Damn me she did it.

Definitely doesn't need to be top of the line, most she will use it for is Youtube/music/movies some light gaming 14yr old girl stuff etc, hopefully homework. I was think that for longevity hopefully last 4yrs of highschool should at least be SB gen cpu.

I'd like to stay under $500 if possible
If you would kindly point me in the right direction of what I am looking for
Which chip SKU's, brands, other basic spec's I should be looking at, even just a few resources to beef up on general laptop info

 

[Valis]

Screen size? My small lap 12" favourite has for long been the Asus 1215B with E-450 1.67Ghz. (ca 350-400 USD)

http://www.asus.com/Eee/Eee_PC/Eee_PC_1215B/

http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/asus-eee-pc-1215b.aspx (This one in the review, has the older E-350 1.6Ghz, but part from that and the lack of USB 3.0, it's the same).

I guess they might be making one with the AMD Trinity soon. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Seraphimcaduto]

If you are looking at under $500, then you should be able to find a sandy bridge I5-24xx or amd llano a8 in that range. The amd will be considerably better at video tasks/gaming (for the most part) and the intel will be faster at most of the other tasks. Another option would be to go for an amd a6 or intel SB I3 and swap out the hard drive for a SSD, which will make it feel ALOT faster.

 

[Valis]

Yes, the AMD Llano A6,A8 (even A4) on 14 - 15 Inch screen will be the best bang for the buck, probably HP or ASUS, I'd reckon. A SSD will reduce the load times and disk accesses many times.

 

[Infraction Jack]

Here is one I am considering for myself it should work great for her also.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834246328

 

[kbp]

^ +1

I've got the 570 i5 and put a Intel 320/160gb in it.