Need help picking between F3SV-A1 or F3SC-A1

I'm in Canada. The ASUS F3SC-A1 is $1230 while the ASUS F3SV-A1 is $1410 (from http://www.filtechcomputer.com/). Which would you say is the better value? Is the nearly extra 200 worth the upgrade in CPU and Graphics?
I'm not a heavy gamer, nor am I a moderate one. I just play some sports games about 2-3 times every 3-4 months. My main concern is which one has the best battery life.
Any help is appreciated. Thanks

 

The 8600M is much faster than the 8400M. Have you checked the resellerratings for that store by the way? Also, you might want to check out NCIX if you're in Canada or milestonepc.com.

 

I would recommend you use MilestonePC. They have received stellar ratings from buyers and the prices should be similar.

I think if you really don't play games much the 8400M will suffice. It will also give you better battery life because it's a weaker card.

 

well if you dont play games that often save yourself the cash and get the 8400. unless when you play them you must have settings on full, but 2-3 times every 3-4 months isnt very often so i think you should get the 8400, and as mentioned it does have the better battery life

 

You are correct the 8600 is faster than the 8400, by a good margin. Depending on your gaming needs, you may want consider the G1S?

As for battery life, it is really hard to say, until we see reviews, but I have personaly tested the V1JP and V2J, and well despite the X1700 vs X450 respectively, they both had a discharge rate of 25 watts, of course the V2J has a smaller battery and smaller screen, but the discharge rate was the same for some reason.

Generally yes we can say that the weaker the card, the more battery life you should get, but I personally don't feel that is necessarily true, unless we are dealing with integrated cards versus dedicated cards.

 

well, i can tell you right now that the f3sv-a1 only gets 2 hours max on battery saving mode. I cannot tell you how much the f3sc-a1 will get though.

 

Thank you for your replies.
I'm not very familiar with the discharge rates of these batteries, but I do know that a low discharge rate means longer lifetime. Is 25 watts good?
Also, since these laptops come with 6-cell batteries, am I able to purcahse a better battery from anywhere? I can't find any on Asus's website.

And finally, I'm really just looking for an Asus laptop that will maximize my value (at no more than $1500 before taxes, after I add in an extra stick of ram). It's main use will be for school work, a bit of photoshop here and there, and some movies every so often, as well as streaming video.
Am I correct in picking one of these 2 laptops for the best value given my price range? Or is there another model I should consider (or perhaps another brand--of course, I'd prefer either Asus since they have a 2 year warranty, or HP laptops, but any will do)

 

I'd consider a Dell Vostro 1400 if I were you. You can get it with the 8400M graphics card, same as the F3SC-A1, but it will be cheaper and can get over 3 hours on the 9-cell battery.