Justified Pricing? (HD 4650M - GT 230M)

Hi all!

I am confused about the pricing between these two computers, both are essentially the same, but with different GFX cards:

http://www.dse.co.nz/dse.shop/4b5656b800cff2f62744c0a87f3b06ff/Product/View/XC6403
and
http://www.playtech.co.nz/product.php?action=showdetail&id=8745

Now, keep in mind that these are new zealand prices, so keep your shock and gasps to yourselves please Im fully aware that NZ sucks fairly hard at exchange rates.

My friend owns the A500, and im leaning towards the L500. At this point in time he can play Dragon Age on max detail with widecreen resolution. Will the L500 be able to the same? Also, im aiming my new laptop towards the new Aliens Vs Predator game thats coming out in a month so would either of these be able to play it? (i know system req isnt out for it yet, but estimations would be nice )

Cheers all for the help!

 

Right off the bat, that laptops doesn't look the same to me. The A500 has a i5 520M processor (very superior to T6600), Blu-Ray and TV Tuner. In contrast it has a slightly worse graphics card. Your call, depending of your preferences.

 

I'd say that the L500 would perform about the same as your friend's A500, if the A500 has the 4570 or the 4650 or the GT 320M, in terms of gaming.

The reason the A500 is so much better is generally because the A series is more of a premium model rather than the traditional budget orientation of the L500. You will probably find the A500 has more features too, but the main reason it costs a lot more is because it uses a Core i5 processor, which is a fair bit better than the T6600, especially when it comes to heavy multitasking and multi-threaded applications. The A500 also has Blu-ray.

Heh, NZ doesn't suck as hard as Australian computer prices. That A500 here would probably $2300 AUD ($2450 NZ).

 

Arioch is right, how could you not see that?
Check the specs of the CPU's. And look them up here.
Keep in mind that the i5 has 4 cores (2 virtual)

 

And an on-die GPU? Or is it not featured on that model CPU?

 

Yes, that's true, another advantage. One GPU for gaming and another GPU for battery use.

 

Yep, it has switchable Intel HD graphics. Plus hyperthreading, turbo-boost, and enhanced speedstep. I'd definately say buy the i5. As far as 4650 vs gt230 they're in the same class and perform pretty close to each other.

 

Thanks for the verification guys.

 

This ASUS N61JA is a nice alternative. You get an i5-430M, GT 320M, at $1899.

I'd choose it over either of the Toshiba machines.

 

umm that i5-520 is dual core... i5-720 should be quad core

 

You are confusing desktop i5 line with notebook one.
In notebooks all Core i5s are dual core while only Core i7 are quad core.
Desktop line i5s are quad core and have more cache but don't have integrated GPU, not to mention their TDP is some 70-90W.