Is this enough for me, or should I wait?

The i5's fine but the 630m's no great shakes. Modern games will only run well enough at lower settings so it really depends on which games you want to play and how pretty you'd like them to look. I'd go read the X460DX owner's thread to see how people find the screen, keyboard, speakers, and so forth.
Edited by Dishastur - 7/30/12 at 12:08pm

What is your budget?

That MSi is one of the lightest 14" laptops with those graphics. Acer TimelineX 4830TG is just a little heavier (~0.2 pounds), but just as thin. It also has the same CPU/graphics specs (the 630M is just a 540M rebrand), 8GB of RAM and a 750GB HDD, and it's only $700. http://www.amazon.ca/Acer-TimelineX-AS4830TG-6828-Notebook-Advanced-N/dp/B008DLZW2O/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1343707495&sr=1-1

Lenovo Ideapad Y480 is only $850 with an i7-3610QM quad, 8GB DDR3 RAM, and Nvidia 640M LE graphics. If you go with the Y480, you can add an mSATA SSD as the boot drive, and keep your HDD and DVD-RW drive. Not sure if the MSi has an mSATA slot. Only downside is, it weighs ~0.5 pounds more, and it's ~0.2 or 0.3" thicker. http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/webca/LenovoPortal/en_CA/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=B03996D9E2F700F73D06C9DBF7A37D21&action=init

128GB Crucial M4 mSATA, $118 + GST and shipping, might be cheaper if you can find a Canadian seller. http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?imodule=CT128M4SSD3

Anyway, i5 is probably fast enough for video editing, but you may as well be safe with an i7 . 630M is enough for light gaming, but the 640M LE is a little faster (its basically a 550M or 555M rebrand, maybe 15% faster than 630M). And some games proba
Edited by jrbroad77 - 7/30/12 at 9:15pm

I've been following the Y480 pricing pretty close (every couple weeks since it came out) and it's almost always $850 for the cheapest model with an i7-3610QM and 640M LE graphics. But Lenovo's sales usually last a week - whether that goes through the weekend, or just until Friday, I'm not sure. You might have to wait a week to get it, if the price is jacked up next week. Also note the 10% off your next purchase for signing up for their newsletter. And at the very worst case, you might be able to haggle with the Lenovo customer support if the price is over $850 when you want to buy.

get y580 for $848

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/872545-REG/Lenovo_20994CU_IdeaPad_Y580_20994CU_15_6_.html

gtx 660m

and i7-3610m

The 20994CU model of the Lenovo IdeaPad Y580 isn't a good option, because it comes with a 15.6" 1366x768 display. 1366x768 resolution in a 15.6" display makes things onscreen large, and 15.6" displays that have 1366x768 resolution tend to have very poor image quality due to low contrast.

14" 1366x768 displays are similar to 15.6" 1366x768 displays, but the difference in that scenario is that if you need the small size of a 14" laptop anyway, then it's almost unavoidable to get this type of display. The 14" size is devoid of decent displays. 1366x768 resolution is also a tad more suited to the smaller 14" size than it is to the larger 15.6" size.

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As one option, I would suggest giving some consideration to the current HP DV6 deal, where you can get a NVIDIA GT 650M and a 15.6" 1920x1080 display for under $800.

HP DV6t (i3-3110M, NVIDIA GT 650M, 15.6" 1920x1080 matte IPS display) - $724 + tax ($769 + tax w/ i5-3210M)
- http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/load_configuration.do?destination=review&config_id=7367534
- Use coupon code: NBY8552
- Don't: Downgrade to the 1366x768 display, unless you need the large text. You generally shouldn't buy the HP DV6 in any configuration that includes the 1366x768 display. 15.6" 1366x768 displays make things onscreen large, and tend to be low-tier LCD panels with very poor image quality due to low contrast.
- Don't: Downgrade the GPU to the GT 630M unless you only plan on doing light / moderate gaming. The GT 650M is considerably faster.
- Don't: Downgrade the GPU to integrated graphics unless you only plan on doing very light / no gaming. Integrated graphics will probably provide disappointing game performance in the majority of modern titles.
- Do not sacrifice your display (if gaming) or your GPU (in general) in order to upgrade the processor, if the processor upgrades would otherwise be outside of your budget.
- Consider: Backlit keyboard.

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If you like the Lenovo IdeaPad Y580, then the only models I could recommend are the models that come with the 1920x1080 display. It's a great laptop (My sister owns one), but the 1920x1080 models are the only ones that I will recommend to most users.

The cheapest 1920x1080 model is as many more dollars more expensive as there are dalmatians in that movie, but it's worth the cost. And if you can't go the extra $101, then you should probably be looking at a different cheaper laptop model with minor sacrifices to other components instead of major sacrifices to the display as is the case with going from the 1920x1080 Y580 to the 1366x768 Y580. I do not consider the 1366x768 versions of the Y580 to be good options in most cases.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y580 (i7-3610QM, NVIDIA GTX 660M, 15.6" 1920x1080 glossy display) - $949 + tax
- Sign up and sign in here: http://shoplenovo.i2.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/na/StdAffinityPortal/en_US/Lenovo:EnterStdAffinity?affinity=barnesnoblegold (Barnes and Noble Gold discount page)
- http://shoplenovo.i2.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/barnesnoblegold/StdAffinityPortal/en_US/config.workflow:ConfigureMtmAsItem?mtm-item=:000001C9:0000393A: (i7-3610QM, GTX 660M, 15.6" 1920x1080, 500GB 7200RPM) - $949
- http://shoplenovo.i2.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/barnesnoblegold/StdAffinityPortal/en_US/config.workflow:ConfigureMtmAsItem?mtm-item=:000001C9:00003943: (i7-3610QM, GTX 660M, 15.6" 1920x1080, 1TB 5400RPM + 32GB SSD for hybrid cache) - $1039
- These models come with the 1920x1080 display. There are other models that come instead with a 1366x768 display, but those models are not recommended unless you need the larger text. 1366x768 resolution in a 15.6" display makes things onscreen large, and 15.6" displays that have this resolution tend to have very poor image quality due to low contrast.
- Click the green "Activate eCoupon" button in the cart.

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Sager NP6165 (i5-3210M, NVIDIA GT 650M, 15.6" 1920x1080 glossy display) - $920 no tax
- http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np6165-clevo-w150er-p-4344.html?wconfigure=yes
- http://www.malibal.com/boutique/pc/configurePrd.asp?idProduct=557
- Select Windows 7 under Operating System if you cannot acquire your own copy for cheaper.

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Edited by edit1754 - 8/2/12 at 3:46pm