When is Intel HD graphics not enough?

I'm going over a dozen questions trying to pick out a new laptop. But one I'd like extra feedback on is when exactly would the integrated Intel graphics on an Intel i5 laptop not be adequate. Obviously its fine for browsing, reading, etc. But what about photo editing with Photoshop, light video editing, and very important to me is media playback. Music WITH visualizations (being output to my LCD TV via HDMI) and video playback including X.264 encoded HD rips from my blurays, HD streaming over the Internet and playing DVD's directly. I don't plan on doing gaming on the laptop (other than maybe a light game for the kids on a trip).

Do you guys think it's still always best to get a laptop with a discrete video card that uses Optimus or put the money toward a faster disk, extra battery, etc (battery life is important). I'm not even sure if the activities I described above would even kick on the video card with Optimus.

Thanks for your ideas!

 

The recent iterations of Intel graphics are not enough if and only if you intend to play modern 3D games or use certain programs that do computations on the GPU (if you use these, you would probably know what they are). For your purposes, the i5 graphics are more than enough and if you do not intend to play games, you should definitely put the money towards something else. A GPU adds weight to the laptop and lowers battery life (unless you get Optimus and never use it, but that has it's own set of glitches).

 

As stated above, Intel HD graphics are good enough for light business work, YouTube, and average joe schmoe. Serious gamers and people doing CAD work will need powerful discreet GPU options.

 

I have done those w/ my previous Dell laptop (GMA 4500HD which is a previous generation Intel HD + Pentium dual core) without any problems. So, I believe you shouldn't have any problems with those tasks w/ i5 + Intel HD.

 

It is not good enough for playing modern games on high settings, and for, in my experience, watching 1080p video.

 

Your notebook doesn't do 1080p? When I had my E6410, it handled 1080p video just fine...how much RAM do you have?

 

It is not my computer, but...
3gb ram, although this was pre-previous gen, X3100 GMA.

 

Exactly. I think something is wrong with his setup. I have never had any problems with 1080p playback using the Intel GMA MHD4500.

Also, according to Intel,

Outstanding Blu-ray* logo capable, HD video playback with full hardware decode from AVC/VC1/MPEG2. Improved HDTV connectivity with integrated HDMI and DisplayPort* supporting up to 1080P.

Mobile Intel GM45 Chipset - Overview

 

I see. We are not talking about that Intel graphics here. The OP is asking about the Intel HD graphics.

 

I would advise that if you can at all help it, look for something that has ATI or nVidia integrated graphics. In general, these will run not too much more money than a system with the 4500HD, and can be 50-100% faster should you decide you want to do anything graphically intense.

My girlfriend's Core i5 system ran $829 (at Best Buy - you can order CI5's on Dell's website for example for $699 these days) last summer and came with I believe an nVidia GeForce 335m? And that thing regularly plays WoW and does some other stuff pretty well. It's still integrated, but it has I believe 512MB of dedicated VRAM so as not to detract from the system memory, and is about double the speed of the 4500HD.

Otherwise if you're dead set on something with the Intel HD stuff, I say go for it.

 

I would not buy a SB laptop with discreet GFX unless you are buying a mobile workstation or gaming machine. SB gfx is good enough for most graphics related tasks plus quick sync makes it good advantage for encoding/decoding tasks.

 

If it was a GT 335M then it was not integrated, it was a decently powerful discrete GPU. That is miles ahead of any integrated GPU, and no wonder it'd play WoW well.