Looking at two different AMD Fusion laptops...one entry level and one more equipped

I am looking to pick up an inexpensive laptop (sub $800) for light gaming, as a secondary system. The two system that caught my eye that seem to be nicely priced are as follows:

Entry Level:

HP G6-1B22CA
15.6" 1366 x 768
AMD A6-3400M (Quad Core, 2.3GHz, 4MB L2 Cache)
AMD Radeon HD 6520G
640GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
6GB DDR3 Memory
DVD-RW Burner
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth
Up To 7 Hours Battery Life (6 Cell)
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
$499CDN

Mid Range:

HP DV6-6188CA
15.6" 1366 x 768
AMD A8-3500M (Quad Core, 2.4GHz, 4MB L2 Cache)
AMD Radeon HD 6755G2
750GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
8GB DDR3 Memory
DVD-RW Burner
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth
Up To 4.5 Hours Battery Life (6 Cell)
Windows 7 Home Professional 64-Bit
$799CDN

What do you all think of these two systems? Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

What type of games are you going to play? Looking at a basic spec comparison, the A8 has 400 shaders at 444MHz vs the A6 with 320 at 400MHz leading to roughly 30% better performance (+20% shaders, +10% clock speed). From a pure gaming POV, go with the A8 unless you really want the extra 2.5 hours of battery life.

 

Honestly, I was going to run most of my RPGs on the go...

I'm hoping that either of these systems would be suitable (even if settings are turned down) for both The Old Republic and Diablo III once they are released.

For now, I'd be looking at:

World of Warcraft
Titans Quest
KOTOR
KOTOR II
Freedom Force
Freedom Force vs. the 3rd Reich
Dragon Age
Dragon Age II
The Witcher
The Witcher II

 

I'd go with the A8 just to be on the safe side (and if it's a really safe bet at least you can get some eye candy ).

EDIT: doing a little bit of digging, it looks like the A8 should be able to run at 1366x768 resolution with medium to high settings depending on the game. It should be roughly comparable to a Mobility Radeon 5650, http://www.notebookcheck.net/?id=24035

 

The A8 HP config actually has Dual GPU for Crossfire (one dedicated GPU and one in the APU). That's why the GPU name is so... strange

 

If you're in Canada, check out the Gateway NV75:
Gateway 17.3" AMD Quad-Core A8-3500M Laptop (NV75S03H) - Black : 17" Laptops - Future Shop

It's a fully-loaded A8 with Blu-Ray and $100 cheaper than the HP. It also has a dedicated 1GB GPU like the HP, but it's not listed on the website.

 

It's listed, since the 6650M is the dedicated GPU, and the unlisted GPU (6620G) is part of the A8 APU

 

The dGPU in the HP is the 6750m, not the 6650m, though.

 

Unfortuantely, I have to budget things differently now and need to look at $500 being my max. Also, the prices of the two laptops that I mentioned in my initial thread have gone up in price; they were on sale and the special ended yesterday apparently.

Now there is a 14.5" HP G4 that is on special for the next 7 days:

HP G4-1164CA
14.5" 1366 x 768
AMD A6-3400M (Quad Core, 2.3GHz, 4MB L2 Cache)
AMD Radeon HD 6520G
750GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
4GB DDR3 Memory
DVD-RW Burner
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth
Up To 7 Hours Battery Life (6 Cell)
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
$469CDN

This unit is also smaller than the other two, which is what I was initially looking for anyway. I'm going to do some more research to see how the 6520G APU would handle some of the games I mentioned...

 

if you can increase the processor to atleast 3410mx. then thats better than the initial processor u had in mind.

the graphics should be fine if you're not planning to run any gpu intensive games as well as cpu intensive games.

ON that note. all fusion series comes with a better igpu [greater than the intel hd 3000]. so partner it up with a discrete graphics thats available for purchase to somewhat enable crossfire and increase your gpu's capability.

 

Is the integrated APU really a HD6500 in the HP G4-1164CA?
If yes it is using the same Madison platform wich the 5650M does use...
However i dont think you can easily set up crossfire with a HD6500M (wich is propably a HD5650M) and a HD6990M (just 4 example).
Even if; you wouldn´t really profit from it.

 

yeah the igpu of A6 is 6520G while the A8 is 6620g.

here's a list of compatibility AMD Radeon? Dual Graphics

the 6770 is possible. but doubt anyone atm sells it. cause hp uses 6750 on both a8 and a6 series. [dv6zqe series]
[6750 - same gpu used on macbook pro's]

to make it much clearer.
whatever brand of laptop you buy, as long as it has a APU onboard [llano]
you'll get the ff igpu:
A4 - 6480g
A6 - 6520g
A8 - 6620g
the only thing that will differentiate them is the 2nd graphics card being put into it.

 

FYI, the new HP G4 with AMD A6 has been posted on FS's website.

I'm thinking this may be better than the DV series with extra dGPU. In a 14-inch size, the dGPU is a lot of heat and battery life to waste for marginally better game performance.

And the price... wow! Netbook price for a half-decent gaming machine.

 

I checked out the HP G4 at Futureshop. WEI score of 5.9. Looks like it should be fast enough to play games at medium settings.

I'm gonna wait a bit, but it looks good as a portable machine. Add a 4 GB DIMM for like $30, and it's a pretty rockin' laptop for $500 methinks.

 

The DV6's GPU is great, CPU decent, at about the speed of a Q9000.

I'd choose that one.

The 6750M is legit, even if the APU Crossfire is off.

 

I would suggest the Dv6 too. Sadly out of your budget now. If i were you , i'd save up for it as Dv4 will be inadequate and you'll want something better in a few months as result. Better to spend more now and get the Dv6.

 

Sorry, I missed what you said in post #9. But I still have a recommendation, if you can spend up to the originally stated 799 CDN.

Something like this Lenovo @ 799 is a good option. Sandy bridge i5 2410M + GT 520M may give a more consistent performance than the 6520G, which has no dedicated video memory.

 

I'd recommend these.

http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku.asp?CatIds=67,68,3359&webid=343076&affixedcode=WW

http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku.asp?CatIds=67,68,3359&webid=330174&affixedcode=WW