Computer Advice

Wondering if any nerds out there can help me make an executive decision.

I am looking to get a new laptop. I plan to do minimal gaming (like some steam games, etc) but nothing major. I would like it to run efficiently, but doesn't need to be super souped up or anything. I would like to remain within a budget of around 300 if possible. Any suggestions? What kinds of things should I be looking for?

With a budget of $300, you should not have any expectations gaming wise. You would be limited to tablet style games and not real PC games. If you don't need the portability, I suggest at least doubling the budget and get yourself a desktop PC. Laptops are overpriced and perform like shit unless you spend big money.

You'll have to get a refurb at that price but anything with an APU will be fine for minimal gaming

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834299284&ignorebbr=1

For $300 only gaming you will be doing is Flash Games (Candy Crush etc), and older isometric titles.

There are tons of decent refurbs floating around for ~$300. You could probably find one with a 128GB SSD, 4GB of RAM, and an i5 processor that would do just fine for most non-graphically intensive games. Of course, there will be many recently released games you can't play, but there should be plenty of indie titles and older titles that should work.