CPU and RAM.
Generally if you plan to do lots of Photoshop, Video Editing, 3D modeling. You will need a solid cpu, one important thing I like to mention about the i5 2410M is that it is dual-core and not quad, the reason you see it as 4 core on windows is because 2 out of 4 cores are virtual means they do not physically exist.
Same thing with the i7 it is not an 8 core it is a quad-core. This feature is called Hyper-Threading which really boosts performance under certain applications, however 4 real cores are more powerful then 2 virtual/2 real cores.
Make sure to also pay attention to how much memory(RAM) you are getting with the laptop. Generally 4GB of RAM is usually enough for the laptop however when you are doing lots of Image or Video processing you might need more then 4GB. Some laptops might not have the desired amount of RAM out of the box, however you can almost always upgrade the amount of memory a laptop has(make sure to check with the manufacturer about the maximum supported memory of your laptop).
GPU(Video Card)
Most cheaps laptops would likely use intel integrated graphics, however you most likely will not be able to play latest games or run even some old games on high settings. That said the laptops around 900$ range will feature a dedicated gpu, a quite solid laptop gpu is Nvidia 540M, it can run Crysis 2 on Medium/High settings with reasonable framerates. ATI is not far behind on laptop video cards, for instance the AMD 6850M is just as good as the 540M and is actually better. Gaming laptops start from 999$ and all the way to 2000$+ as laptop gpu such as 460 or 560 are quite expensive.
The Conclusion.
A good laptop is a balanced laptop, meaning that you have a good cpu, enough ram, and a dedicated gpu. It is better to buy a laptop that has an i5 with a 540M instead of i7 with integrated graphics. However it all depends on what you plan on doing on your laptop. A simple breakdown showing which components will have the biggest impact on performance:
Photoshop/Video Editing: CPU/RAM
Gaming: GPU
Most cheaps laptops would likely use intel integrated graphics, however you most likely will not be able to play latest games or run even some old games on high settings. That said the laptops around 900$ range will feature a dedicated gpu, a quite solid laptop gpu is Nvidia 540M, it can run Crysis 2 on Medium/High settings with reasonable framerates. ATI is not far behind on laptop video cards, for instance the AMD 6850M is just as good as the 540M and is actually better. Gaming laptops start from 999$ and all the way to 2000$+ as laptop gpu such as 460 or 560 are quite expensive.
The Conclusion.
A good laptop is a balanced laptop, meaning that you have a good cpu, enough ram, and a dedicated gpu. It is better to buy a laptop that has an i5 with a 540M instead of i7 with integrated graphics. However it all depends on what you plan on doing on your laptop. A simple breakdown showing which components will have the biggest impact on performance:
Photoshop/Video Editing: CPU/RAM
Gaming: GPU
