Wanted: a cheap laptop for gaming

Over Christmas, I have a 13-year-old grandson visiting from New Zealand. I would like to get him a laptop that he could use for schoolwork, but his great love is computer games. Any suggestions around the £500 mark?
John Abbott

When it comes to laptops, "cheap" and "gaming" don't go together well. People who are serious about PC gaming usually go for desktop computers that have fast (and hot) processors plus even faster (and even hotter) graphics cards.

There are a few laptops designed for gaming but they tend to be big, heavy and expensive. A decent budget would be £1,000 to £1,500, and you can easily spend £2,000. You probably have to compromise at £700 to £750, with Dell's Alienware MX11x r3 being the obvious choice, and that's with an 11.6in screen. It can be a real struggle to get something good for £500 or less.

Still, any PC that can handle games such as Crytek's Crysis – which is very demanding because of its real-time lighting and shadows – or Battlefield 3 will easily handle the sort of programs commonly used for schoolwork.

Fortunately, there's another way to look at the problem. Almost any mainstream, multimedia laptop can play games at some level. It won't play demanding games with the greatest level of detail and a high (and therefore very smooth) frame rate such as 60 frames per second. Choosing medium or low settings for some functions (object detail, lighting etc) should provide an enjoyable gaming experience with a frame rate of 25-30fps.

The basic specification for an affordable games PC is straightforward. Look for something with a second-generation Intel Core i5 (Sandy Bridge) processor, 4GB of memory, dedicated graphics, and 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium. Multimedia laptops usually include a DVD drive. The size of the hard drive doesn't matter, but fast (7,200rpm) is better than slow (5,400rpm).

The Intel Core i3 processor is cheaper that the Core i5 but it's slower and lacks the TurboBoost feature. However, it's an acceptable compromise. It's not worth spending more on a Core i7.

Intel's Sandy Bridge chips include integrated HD Graphics: a dramatic improvement on Intel's earlier Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) system, but aimed more at decoding movies than running 3D games. A gaming laptop really needs a dedicated graphics system, preferably one compatible with Microsoft's DirectX 11.

Try to get something affordably mid-range such as an Nvidia GeForce GT 540M or 525M, AMD Radeon HD 6630M or ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650. There are slower options such as the GeForce GT 520MX and GT 520M, which are presumably better than nothing. There are faster options, such as the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 and Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M, but I'd expect those to be out of your price range.

The Notebookcheck website has a convenient list of Laptop Video Graphics Cards ranked by performance. When you come across a laptop graphics card, search this page to see how good it is.

Find out which particular PC games your grandson plays, because Notebookcheck has a very useful page: Computer Games on Laptop Graphic Cards. This tells you which graphics cards can run which popular games at various levels of definition. The list includes World of Warcraft, Fifa 12, The Sims 3, StarCraft 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Shogun 2, Battlefield 3 and so on – most of the "modern classics".

It's hard to recommend specific laptops because, lacking the opportunity to try them with different games, I don't know the best trade-offs. Also, a laptop I've ignored could become the best choice if it's offered at a good discount. However, I'll point to a few examples and trust readers with more gaming experience to suggest alternatives.

The Lenovo G560, which has a 15.6-in screen, looks a good entry-level choice because it has AMD Radeon HD 6630M graphics, good screen resolution (1600 x 900 pixels) and a better-than-average keyboard. The compromise is that it only has a 2.53GHz Intel Core i3-380M processor, but it looks good value at Amazon.co.uk's price, £429.99.

The G560 is probably a better bet than the Dell Inspiron 15R (aka N5110 FCG61), which has a 2.20GHz Core i3-2330 and Nvidia GeForce GT 525M graphics for £488.98 (including delivery) on Dell UK's website. The 1366 x 768 pixel screen resolution is lower than the Lenovo's, but gaming at the lower resolution requires less processing power. The Inspiron design is not very inspiring, and while Dell's XPS range is much more attractive, it's also more expensive.

The Medion Akoya P6627 has the advantage of including a 2.67GHz Core i5-480M processor and Nvidia GeForce GT 420M graphics, but again, the screen resolution is 1366 x 768 pixels. The Medion comes in under budget at Amazon.co.uk's price, £485.95, but only because it has been reduced from £705.95. (I've not seen one of these machines.)

You will obviously have more choices if you increase your budget. For example, you could get your grandson an Asus N53SV-SX858V with a 2.40GHz Core i5-2430M processor, Nvidia GeForce GT 540M graphics with 2GB of video memory, and a Full HD screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels for £615 plus delivery.

Bear in mind that, if you're buying a high-spec laptop at this sort of price, you're paying for the chips. You can't really expect light weight, long battery life or designer-styled metallic construction as well. This is not the kind of machine to pack in a school bag and chuck around.

However, before you actually buy your grandson a laptop, you must find out from what kinds of games he plays, and whether he wants to play them on a laptop rather than on a Microsoft Xbox 360 or Sony PlayStation 3. If he's a "casual gamer" or plays online games, there's no point in spending money on a laptop fast enough to run the PC titles listed at Notebookcheck.

There are plenty of good laptops for less than £500, and for schoolwork, he might well prefer a smaller, more portable laptop with a 13.3in or 14in screen to the usual 15.6in models. Finally, an Apple iPad is great for casual gaming, makes a very attractive gift, and is also within your budget.

Help wanted!

Coming up to Christmas, I've received a few queries about computers for younger children, aged 2.5 to 7. I'd usually suggest a Sony PSP or Nintendo DS Lite for pre-teen users, though I gave my own son a Psion Series 3a. A touchscreen tablet is now the obvious answer, if you can afford one. Are V-Tech's more affordable "electronic learning toys" good starter systems, and how old do you have to be to benefit from a netbook or laptop? If you have children in this sort of age range, please let me know what you think by emailing Ask.Jack@guardian.co.uk.