Laptop with Intel Haswell + HD 4400/5000 graphics for €600 or less?

PyeContinental

Hi all, I have been asked to find the perfect laptop for as little money as possible. That's the standard impossible task really isn't it? I realise that this is the forum for PC building and upgrading, but I hope some of you might be able to recommend a laptop that you have personal experience of that might fit the criteria, more details of which I've added below.

1. What is your budget? €600

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Gaming, Internet, general college coursework.
I don't know what games will be played, but I am guessing that the gaming expectations of this laptop would have to be tempered by the budget. To be able to play Minecraft could be enough, and more demanding games can be left for the Xbox and an actual desktop PC.

I am wondering whether there might be a laptop within budget that has a Haswell processor with integrated Intel HD graphics, such as the 4400 or maybe even 5000, that would negate the need for a separate nVidia or AMD graphics chip. I hope that it isn't the case that any laptop with such a spec will automatically fall into the marketing category of "Ultrabook" and therefore be way out of budget. If so, then recommendations for a laptop with a near-low to middling discrete graphics chip would be welcome.

In either case, a laptop with a good physical build quality (in particular things like hinges and screen back) and a decent real-world battery life (4.5 hours plus) so a 6-cell battery without being too bulky or heavy. Basically this is a request for a good compromise on the best of all worlds - good processing and graphics capabilities, good battery life, good portability, and all for a budget price. The standard challenge, eh?

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes - whatever is preinstalled on the laptop, likely Windows 8

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? N/A The question's not really relevant to a laptop of course, but I'll use this space to say that my advice to the prospective owner will be to get a laptop with an internal HDD now and to replace it with a 500GB SSD in about 18 months' time when I expect these will be much more affordable and will be a nice upgrade to keep it feeling up to date. This I think will help keep initial costs down and put more money into the graphics and processing "core" of the laptop now which are unlikely upgrade items in the future.

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? 1920x1080, No

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? No

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? N/A

8. How can you pay? Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser

9. When are you purchasing? Before Christmas

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? N/A

Thanks.

PyeContinental

What about this TOSHIBA C50-A
2.5 GHz Intel Core i3 3120M
Intel HD Graphics 4000 (Ivy Bridge)
6GB 1600 MHz PC3-12800 RAM
500GB 5400 rpm SATA II 3Gb/s HDD
8x DVD±RW
15.6" 1366 x 768 screen
Realtek ALC269Q audio
48 Wh battery (3.5hr runtime claimed)
Wifi + bluetooth
2 x USB 3.0, HDMI out
SD card reader
2.3Kg Polycarbonate ABS case
Windows 8.1 64-bit
Now increased to £318.21 on Amazon, which is about €398 including Irish VAT rate and assuming an exchange rate of £1 to €1.22

or this Acer Aspire E1-572 (NX.M8EEK.002)
1.6 GHz (2.6 GHz turbo) Intel Core i5 4200U
Intel HD Graphics 4400 (Haswell GT2)
6GB RAM
15.6" 1366 x 768 screen
750 GB SATA II 3Gb/s HDD
DVD SuperMulti (writer drive of some kind)
37Wh 4-cell battery (up to 4hrs battery life claimed)
Wifi, no bluetooth
1 x USB 3.0, HDMI out
SD card reader
2.35 kg
Windows 8 64-bit (looks like 8.1 update may be available)
£400 on Amazon, which is about €500 including Irish VAT rate and assuming an exchange rate of £1 to €1.22

Or are the claims made for Intel Haswell graphics performance and power efficiency just marketing hype, and would an nVidia or AMD discrete graphics chip be as good or better for games playing and battery life?

PyeContinental

This Lenovo IdeaPad Z500 has a discrete GPU and would indeed be much better than even the Intel Haswell integrated graphics. This is likely to be at the cost of the battery life however. Once reviewer on Amazon claims to get only about 1 hour on light use, which actually sounds difficult to believe it's so little.

There may also be issues with the wireless connectivity, an annoying trackpad, fragile keyboard, and general build quality. Some of the preinstalled software may cause OS issues.

2.6GHz (3.2GHz turbo) Intel Core i5 3230
Intel HD Graphics 4000 (Ivy Bridge)
Nvidia Geforce GT 635M GPU
4GB RAM
15.6" 1366 x 768 screen
1TB HDD
DVD writer drive of some kind
35Wh battery (maybe as little as 1hr battery life)
Wifi, bluetooth
1 x USB 3.0, HDMI out
SD card reader
3.2 kg
Windows 8 64-bit
£450 on Amazon, or about €563 including Irish VAT rate and assuming an exchange rate of £1 to €1.22

Can anyone come up with any alternatives, especially something that's likely to have a better battery life?