Best $400 laptop?
 

I need to buy a new laptop in the next week. I dont care if its refurbished, would almost prefer it. It needs to be able to have a fast hard drive to access data extremely quickly and preferrably a quadcore. Higher resolution the better. Also need to be able to plug into a monitor but i think any of them should be able to do. Is there a big difference between a hard drive that us 7200 rpm vs 5000 rpm? I have. A ssd HD on my main computer i use to play poker on and its absolutely fantastic.

There IS a huge difference between a 7200rpm and 5400 rpm drive speed wise, however the 5400 drives tend to last longer.

Fujitsu LifeBook refurb laptops - as low as $299 for an i3-2310M lappy (direct AC)
From Fujitsu America Outlet- http://store.shopfujitsu.com/fpc/Eco...11-1080#refurb

Several laptops to choose from. Use coupon code: FALLSAVINGS (valid 11/15 thru 11/17) to take $200 off the price. Note, these are REFURBS and come with a 90 day warranty.

Notably:

LifeBook AH531
Quote:
REFURB, LIFEBOOK AH531,WIN7HP,SHARED GRAPHICS,INTEL CORE i3-2310M,1YEAR,DL DVD WRITER,4GB(2GB+2GB),500GBSATA HDD,INTEL WLAN,WI-DI,BLUETOOTH,15.6HD,WEBCAM,US KEYBOARD,6 CELL BATTERY(CP515766-01)(RCP515766-01)
Price: $499 - $200 coupon = $299

LifeBook AH530
Quote:
REFURB, LIFEBOOK AH530,WIN7HP,INTEL HD GRAPHICS,INTEL CORE i5-480M,1YEAR,DL DVD WRITER,4GB(2GB+2GB),500GBSATA HDD,LAN,ATHEROS WLAN,BLUETOOTH,15.6 CRYSTAL VIEW HD,WEBCAM,US KEYBOARD,OFFICE STARTER 2010,,6 CELL BATTERY(CP487023-01)(RCP487023-01)
Price: $549 - $200 coupon = $349

How many hands of poker do you need it to be able to run at the same time?

Not necessarily... there are several factors in play that could easily invalidate that argument. 7200 is not always faster than 5400.

The specification you should be looking for is IOPS(Input Output per Second). It's much much better for determining the actual performance of a HD. For example, you could have a 7200rpm 3 platter HD and compare that to a 5400rpm 4 platter HD, and find that despite the additional rpm, the platter size is large enough that you end up with a slower data transfer than with the 5400rpm drive with smaller platters. Smaller platters can easily make up for the rpm difference in cases like that, and you'd end up with a more expensive 7200rpm drive that's actually slower than its 5400rpm counterpart.

You are correct about the lifespan though. 5400rpm drives do last longer.

Basically... If HD performance is that important to you, splurge for the SSD. Otherwise, look at the IOPS and ignore the rpm when comparing HDs. Don't buy a 7200rpm drive just because 7200 is a bigger number than 5400.

Additional info if you're curious: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/ou/how-hig...ip-you-off/322

This post got me excited until I clicked the link.
Cheapest thing left is $1,229.