New budget laptop or used powerful laptop? Student in need

I didn't bite on the Lenovo x120e and I should've. I didn't bite on the HP DM1-3025 and I don't regret not biting. (HP hasn't been the most quality brand of all laptops I've owned) I had a Dell XPS M1530 that I purchased in 2008 and that laptop is still strong to this day. (Had a motherboard replacement but that was from nVidia bad chips and Dell was super good about replacing it). I enjoy Dell but I also am interested in Intel Thinkpads or ASUS gaming series.

I've looked at the deals and there's an HP for $379:
http://slickdeals.net/forums/show...&t=2909267
14", Phenom II processor, 4GB DDR3, 14" screen, HDMI-out, HD 4250 graphics, 320GB hard drive. After tax, I'm looking at about $415 with a one year warranty and it's an HP.

There's also an IBM for $329:
http://slickdeals.net/forums/show...&t=2913317
Slower processor, less memory, no HDMI but it's IBM brand and $50 cheaper. Most likely this is a complete no. I need something that will last a couple of years and be useful as both a work-station and slight gaming machine. This also has a larger screen.

More or less for less than $500 it looks like this is the "new" trend:
Dual core processor, pretty snappy speed/series, crappy video card either HD 3000 or some low end non-discrete, decent hard drive space, HDMI-out, quality is about mid-range or less.

Now, I've looked on Craig's List and theres:
IBM ThinkPad T410 for $550 "never used" with a Core i5 2.66GHZ, 2GB single dimm DDR3 memory, 320GB hard drive, HD 3000 graphics. Even though it's about $180 more, it's a T410 so the quality is much better and it has a Core i5 processor. Warranty is questionable.

ASUS G50VT-X5 -
Like new condition, restored to factory settings. $475 (negotiable). This has Core 2 Duo P7450, 4GB DDR2, 320gb 7200, nVidia 9800M GS 512mb dedicated. it's a very aesthetically emphasized computer with republic of gamers art, lots of lights. It has an extra HDD port but you need to purchase the caddy from ASUS. over-all a powerful gaming video card, but a slightly outdated processor and absolutely no warranty left. It's a couple years old (original release date was mid 2009). I can probably talk him down to $400 and I wouldn't have to pay tax.

Used Macbook/Macbook Pro-
There's a used 2010 May edition Macbook pro with the 9600M GT 512mb dedicated 15" screen for $450 and black late-2008 Macbook for $400-500.

Now, at any point I can have either deals. Every week there's used laptops for sale on Craig's List or Ebay and every week there's a sub $500 laptop on sale at Best Buy.

the last option is to wait for another Dell Outlet coupon for 20% off and try to snag an XPS L502X with the GT 525M or 540M video card for less than $600/550. It will come with a warranty and I will be pretty much the first owner. That's the best option probably, but I will have to wait for a deal.
What do you guys think?

Dude, jump on that T410 with both feet. That's an awesome deal, and it may still have warranty left. That will last YEARS longer than any new but low-end entry level HP, Asus, etc.

I too am a student and have been looking around a bunch lately, I've heard that the best time to buy is July-August (if you can wait for it), otherwise...if you have an .edu emaill address, you can use it to your advantage at any of the mfr's websites and get some decent deals sometimes, the $500 kind of makes it tough.

I've done a great deal of research as well regarding durability and reliability, if this is important to you then I'd stay away from HP, MSI, and Gateway, as all are on the lower end of all the reports I've seen regarding reliability. The brands that top that list are usually Toshiba, Lenovo, and Sony, but I've also heard a bunch of good things about Acer and Asus, just kind of depends on the models...

Here's a couple examples of some that should be reliable and within your price range

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6834146912

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6834146930

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6834127344

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6834246076

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applic...CatId=4938

And there's just a few...the last one has a processor that's better rated than the new "sandy bridge" core i3 and it's a slower quad core processor.

Not sure exactly what your requirements are, but hopefully that helps!

There's always deals on laptops all the time. The prices on laptops aren't going back up again. The longer you wait till school starts, the better the deal will be. Months don't matter anymore. Every week someone has got a laptop on sale. I would wait till you are about to start the semester.