£500 Laptop suitable for basic games - A pipe dream?

NathanL

NathanL

NathanL

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804
Good morning all!

Here I am again posting on this forum hoping the incredible members might be able to assist me for the umpteenth time.

My other half really enjoys playing video games, but absolutely doesn't want to ship out on a gaming PC, especially when my PC already takes up a hectare of space.

She's currently running a Macbook Pro from 2012, so it's beginning to show it's age, although I'm impresses with how it does run a few of the games she plays.
I'm looking for a laptop that's around £500 that would be able to play some basic games, and be able to hold its ability for 3+ years. I've had a look myself but quickly realised I'm really not knowledgable in laptop specs and do not know what i'm looking for!!

The sort of games she would be playing aren't AAA games, they would be more the sorts of the below:
- Sims
- Minecraft
- Civilisation etc

Basically chilled relaxing games, nothing first person shooter like.

If anyone here has any suggestions, they would be incredibly helpful!! Especially with sales possible coming around in a few weeks time.

Many thanks :)
 
The lenovo ideapad 81yq0016uk has the same specifications as that HP laptop, if you can find it in stock
 
This is doable im sure, there must be 4600u based machines out there at this price point.
Nathan Long said:
Hey Mark, unfortunately not as of yet, couldn't seem to find the one mentioned above - and actually after thinking about it, I'm not sure I want to go with HP as my last two laptops with them have had a lifespan of around 9 months
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9 months? I have approx 115 hp machines out there and some are getting along now (4 years old ish) but overall HP machines are very solid in my experience - Typing this on a envy x360 13" (honestly one of the nicest/fastest machines at this size/weight)

I literally have 4 other probook x360's on my bench now all with the 4500u and again they are really well built and really nice.
 
marms said:
The lenovo ideapad 81yq0016uk has the same specifications as that HP laptop, if you can find it in stock
Click to expand...
I'll take a look thank you :)

Vince said:
9 months? I have approx 115 hp machines out there and some are getting along now (4 years old ish) but overall HP machines are very solid in my experience
Click to expand...
Yeah maybe I just got unlucky, I'm not sure I want to be the one to make the mistake and get my other half the wrong laptop though, I'd be in for it!
 
This time last year you could get a Ryzen 5 laptop for £350 (I bought a Ryzen 3 based Lenovo v155 for £300). I think they're more like £450-£500 now, but it would be fine for basic gaming.

This gives you an idea of capability :

 
Nathan Long said:
I'll take a look thank you :)


Yeah maybe I just got unlucky, I'm not sure I want to be the one to make the mistake and get my other half the wrong laptop though, I'd be in for it!
Click to expand...

If your wife is anything like mine, if you can get one of these with 4000 series ryzen, mine on the right is a 4700u and the 2 on the left 4500u, get that spec at around 500-600 and thats a winner. If you can get the envy 13" at that price there really is not a better machine than it at that money. All of these have full alloy chassis and are super solid.



The 4700u and 4500u are surprisingly capable when it comes to gaming. The envy line is really nice this gen.
 
Nathan Long said:
Hey Mark, unfortunately not as of yet, couldn't seem to find the one mentioned above - and actually after thinking about it, I'm not sure I want to go with HP as my last two laptops with them have had a lifespan of around 9 months
Click to expand...
Wow, you've either been really unlucky or HP have gone downhill since I last bought one. I've got a 13ish year old HP laptop and its still running ok (albeit very slowly), although its showing its age these days my son used it during the first lockdown to do his school work.
 
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