Going to buy a 15" but which one.

Hopefully I can get a little help from the more experienced folks here. I have been looking at inexpensive laptops and have been to Best Buy, Fry's & Micro Center here in the SF Bay Area looking at the different models and like the build and keyboard of the Lenovo best. Today I looked at a G550 @ Fry's for $499 that I thought would fit my needs and I liked the classy dark gray finish and look.

I am an older gentleman who doesn't play games but would like a good display for photos and websites. I have also been going through the different threads on this site. I am not sure if I need to go to the i3 or i5 processor or upgrade graphic cards. I would like at least a 250gb hard drive.

From all the brands I have seen my choices in order would be;
1. Lenovo
2. Dell
3. HP

Of course I would like to spend around $500 but could go up to $750 if necessary. One last question how much more does the Solid State Hard drive cost and is it available in what I am looking at. I would like something that would last a few years. I would prefer to buy online to save taxes and a refurbished unit would be fine. What about Tiger Direct or Lenovo direct.

 

SSD will be very expensive; an SSD that meets your size criteria (256GB) will cost as much as the rest of the laptop in your case

For photos, websites, watching videos, Intel integrated graphics should be totally adequate. Since you're price conscious, the i3 processor will also be totally fine.

 

Thanks for your quick reply. That's what I thought about the SSD. What about the Core Duo processors instead of the i3? What is the difference between the G550, GL510 & the Y530. There are just too many different models in each brand, very confusing.

 

For a decent sized SSD, I wouldn't go below 60GB I'd say, probably between $125-150 with rebates. If you're looking for a more solid notebook at a minimal price, I'd direct you to the R400 in the Lenovo Outlet. They'll offer better quality in my experience and they usually start $500 in the outlet. The Lenovo Outlet, which is probably you're cheapest option, charges tax in all states as does Lenovo direct.

 

It looks like the R400 & R500 only have 160gb drives, why so small. I am going to need to do more research on these models. Do they go from the cheapest to most expensive like this; G, Ideapad, Edge, R, SL, T & W? I think I also saw a GL. The Y550 seems to have better specs than the R series for about the same money.

Does the Lenovo Outlet have better pricing than sites like Newegg or Tiger Direct? Is there a retail outlet that carries all the models? Also the Edge seems to be a nice intermediate model?

 

R is higher up than SL series.

You can buy an aftermarket 500 gig for around 80 dollars from places like newegg.com, which is much cheaper than what Lenovo can offer you at that size.