New Laptop Assistance!

[Andrewjpf]

Hey, so as the title suggests, I am getting a new laptop. The current one I play Minecraft on is my parents', and it is bad enough that I need to install mods to even play. Since you all probably know computers better than me, I was wondering what you would suggest on getting. My preferred requirements would be:
-Can play Minecraft smoothly with HD texture packs and no lag
-Cannot be over $1000
-Since it cannot be over $1000, no Macs or Alien ware.

I mean you don't have to respond, I was just wondering about your thoughts on the matter. If you do answer, thank you!

[IceDevice]

Windows Surface. First thing I thought of.

[freakboy31]

Acer Aspire 5750
IBM Thinkpad x41 (quite old but can play Minecraft)
Potato

[Andrewjpf]

Why Windows Surface? A tablet would be really good for me in college, but some reviews say it isn't that great.

[Ricksterm]

Windows Surface. First thing I thought of.

What is this madness?!?

[IceDevice]

Y'all know I ain't a computer professional. I thought of a laptop and I posted it. I don't know the pros and cons. It was the first thing that popped into my mind.

[freakboy31]

Try Apple Lisa. It's not a Mac.

[Andrewjpf]

Okay so I thought strongly about getting an asus. The specific laptop i found met all of my requirements for college, except the graphics card.

Now this is where I am lost since I know little about computers. The required graphics card as specified by my college is a discrete graphics card. The one that I would get with the asus would be an intel HD graphics 4000. What I want to know: would the intel card still be good enough?

When I went to my local Best Buy, the employee said that his manager told him that my laptop would have to be more expensive to handle what my college wants (asus laptop = $700). Note that this laptop will be used with my engineering program.

So the main question: "Will a $700 asus that has an intel hd graphics 400 be good enough for an engineering program that requires a laptop with a discrete graphics cards, and if not, what does my price range look like?"

[skoch26]

So the difference between discrete and integrated are that integrated are part of the CPU, so it is sharing processing power with the CPU causing lower performance and discrete being a dedicated GPU connected to the motherboard via PCI-E slot, meaning it processes graphics separate from the CPU which means better performance.

There are a lot of factors that will affect the price of a laptop, not just the GPU and CPU. For instance, the resolution of the screen, HDD/SSD types and sizes, etc. I personally have a Dell XPS 15. It has a 1 GB dedicated (discrete) graphics card, 750 GB HDD, Intel i-5 quad core processor, 1366x768 screen resolution, and with battery, windows 7 and Microsoft office, it came out to just over $1000. So just keep these things in mind and put your priorities on what your school is looking for. If you need to sacrifice screen resolution or HDD space for a better GPU, then do so.

So to answer your question, if your school is looking for a discrete GPU, that intel integrated one might not be enough. And it is hard to put a definite price on what you are looking for.

[Skeletonrooster]

Lenovo provide cheap laptops but decent specs