Need help choosing a laptop for college, programming, and possible gaming

[justinhack93]

I am a Computer Science student looking for a laptop that can handle heavy processes and maybe do a little bit of light gaming. I need to be able to take this to all of my classes so nothing too large, bulky, or heavy.

I am looking at 15 inch laptops with 1920x1080 resolution and my budget is $1200. Touch screen or SSD would be nice but aren't required.

Here are a few laptops that I'm looking at:

Lenovo Y50 (http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y50/)

Price: $1,029
CPU: i7-4720HQ
Screen: 15.6" (1920x1080)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 4GB
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 1TB 5400 RPM

Lenovo Y50 Touch (http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y50-touch/)

Price: $1,099
CPU: i7-4720HQ
Screen: 15.6" MultiTouch (1920x1080)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 4GB
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 1TB 5400 RPM

MSI GE62 Apache (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-ge62-apache-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i7-12gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-black/4285012.p?id=bb4285012&skuId=4285012)

Price: $1,099
CPU: i7-5700HQ
Screen: 15.6" (1920x1080)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 2GB
RAM: 12GB
Storage: 1TB 7200 RPM

MSI GP62 Leopard Pro (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-gp62-leopard-pro-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i7-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-black/1313124667.p?id=mp1313124667&skuId=1313124667)

Price: $999
CPU: i7-5700HQ
Screen: 15.6" (1920x1080)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M 2GB
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 1TB 7200 RPM

ASUS ROG GL551JW (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-matte-black/1312401684.p?id=mp1312401684&skuId=1312401684)

Price: $1,049
CPU: i7-4720HQ
Screen: 15.6" (1920x1080)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 2GB
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 1TB 7200 RPM

ASUS X550JX (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i7-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-dark-gray/8963091.p?id=1219698445364&skuId=8963091)

Price: $850
CPU: i7-4720HQ
Screen: 15.6" (1920x1080)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M 2GB
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 1TB 5400 RPM

ASUS K501LX (http://store.asus.com/us/item/201506AM160000048/A23314)

Price: $799
CPU: i7-5500U
Screen 15.6" (1920x1080)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M 2GB
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 256GB SSD

 

[bjsm]

I would get the Lenovo y50 no touch version, your first link. And maybe in the future buy a ssd.

 

[why_wolf]

Skip any that come with 5400 RPM HDD unless you want to replace it with an SSD right out of the box. Otherwise you'll just be cursing why the computer is always so slow despite all the other parts being so good. 7200 is alright but SSD is best of course.

Other than that I have no recommendations.