Laptop help!

Well it finally happened my laptop passed away :(

So I need some recommendations on some laptops

I will mainly use it for school and as an engineering student I sometimes use some heavy software so I would at least need around 8 gigs and an i5 processor.

I wouldn't do heavy gaming on it mainly civ 5 and the upcoming beyond earth of course, some banner saga, starcraft and maybe some sims, but not any demanding games.

Lastly I travel a lot and I walk a ton around campus so I would need it to be as portable as possible.

My budget is $1500.

Thanks in advance :)

Portable

Play games

Pick one

Portable.

As I said it doesn't have to play games, as long as it plays civ 5 on medium settings I'll be happy (I'm addicted to that game)

At $1500 he can get a laptop that basically plays anything out there at high to max settings.. And depending on the genre of games he plays it can be used easily for the next 5 years.. This myth of laptops can't play games is fucking dumb especially when pc games cover just a wide gambit of games out there, some not very demanding.. Basically the games he would be struggling with a few years down the line would be the next graphic kings like Crysis 3, something that makes up a small % of actual games released on the pc platform.. Sure it isn't going to have the kind of performance of a desktop of similar price, but such a comparison is ridiculous when not taking into account that a laptop is portable, a desktop isn't.

As for the OP, look at the MSI, Asus, brands.. The 14" and 15.6" variants of both are great and do not require you to spend above say $1200.. And it will more than surpass your needs because both can play the majority of games out there at very high settings.. Another great laptop model to check out is the Levono Y510 line up, usually selling for less than $1000 with solid specs.. Only thing I have worried about that specific models is cooling.. Having a laptop with great cooling is very important in my mind, which is why I love my Asus g46vw laptop.. It never gets hot.

Get Lenovo Y510P

@dgkenji:

I recommend the Lenovo Y series laptops.

I have a Lenovo Y500 and it could play games at decent settings, works well with heavy software.

The downside is the battery life is kind of low at around 2hrs and its a 17" laptop. But its more compact than other gaming laptop, such as alienware and asus ROG laptops.