AMD Radeon 5650
If you're a serious gamer and want to look for a powerful laptop with superior graphics, you have got to remember the name of this graphics card - AMD Radeon 5650. The 5650 is a popular graphics card, but is only beginning to be seen in entry-level gaming laptops that are generally within the $1200 to $1600 price range.
So if you're on a budget and want to run your games in high resolution, or at least have the most demanding games run in smoothly-rendered low resolution, look out for this card. A powerful graphics card also helps improve high-definition video streaming and editing experience and also help to reduce RAM usage when playing games.
There are, of course, better and more superior graphic cards like the Nvidia GeForce GT435M and the Radeon 5730 that you might want to consider. But, keep in mind that laptops having these graphic cards would most probably cost you around $3000 to $5000, depending on the type of RAM, processor speed, etc.
Notebook brands often play up processor clockspeeds to differentiate their products from others, but the one specification that arguably matters more is the graphics card type. As most vendors will fit processors and graphics cards that are of a matching performance level in the same machine, you can be sure that if your machine comes with the 5650, the processor will also be decent.
SSD
Solid State Drive, or SSD, is a flash-based alternative to the Hard Disk Drive, or also called HDD. SSDs are more reliable because they have no mechanical parts and have a much better chance of surviving a drop. SSDs also promise better performance than hard drives, with boot-up speeds as much as three times faster.
SSDs are also more power efficient so laptops can run longer on battery power. However, SSDs cost a lot more than hard disks. A 128GB SSD drive costs about $300. On the other hand, a 750GB laptop hard drive goes for about $150. Do note that given SSD technology is very new and still evolving, the SSDs found in laptops are often inferior to those you can buy off the shelf.
There is also a hybrid SSD/hard disk option which promises better performance than regular hard disk drive but it is still inferior to the pure SSD system.
3D games and movies
To play games and view movies in stereoscopic 3D, you need a 3D capable graphics card, 3D screen, the right software, 3D Blu-ray drive as well as a pair of special glasses to enjoy the eye-popping experience.
Do not have to worry about having to figure out the technical specs. Just look out for the 3D logo and the PC should be able to play games and view movies in 3D. Considering the new Blu-ray and 3D technology, having a laptop with a 3D capable graphics card, 3D screen, the right software, 3D Blu-ray drive as well as a pair of special glasses would be very costly.
Eyefinity
Eyefinity is the feature in AMD graphics cards that lets you combine three monitors into a single contiguous display. For gamers, this means that you can now see three times as much as before. The added peripheral vision will be extremely valuable when playing racing and dogfighting games, as well as first-person shooters.
Eyefinity is available on both desktop and laptop PCs running on an AMD Radeon 5000 series card, which is just about any modern PC running on an AMD card. However, you'll need a sufficiently powerful card - we recommend at least a Radeon 5770 card.
While Eyefinity desktops are now common, it is rare to find an Eyefinity capable laptop today as there is often insufficient space to fit 3 output displays, one of which must be a Display Port. But with the new Radeon 6000 series of cards launching in laptops next year, it will support the new Display Port 1.2 version which lets you connect a single mini-Display Port to 3 monitors.
So here are the four buzzwords to look out for when choosing a suitable laptop. Some pictures below showing 3D games, movies, etc...
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