(Credit: MacMall)

You know the deal with most bargain laptops: lower-end processors, weak graphics, smallish hard drives, and so on.

If you need a little more power than the average low-end lappie affords, check this out: MacMall has the refurbished HP Pavilion g6-1c58dx 15.6-inch laptop for $384.99 shipped.

That price buys you a quad-core AMD A6-3400M processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, and a 15.6-inch LCD. As my dad often says, that oughta keep you out of mischief.

(Interestingly, OnSale has a 17-inch model, the Pavilion g7-1237dx, for the exact same price--but it has a dual-core processor. All the other specs are virtually identical. So which would you rather have: a bigger screen or a faster processor?)

In addition to the zippy CPU and spacious hard drive, the Pavilion g6-1c58dx offers AMD Radeon HD 6520G "discrete-class" graphics. That's just a fancy marketing term for faster-than-typical-integrated graphics, but don't confuse it with actual discrete graphics hardware. This system should be able to handle mid-range games and video chores, but nothing too fancy.

Still, that's better than what you get from most sub-$400 laptops. My only real concern here is with the warranty, which isn't specified anywhere. But I pinged a MacMall sales rep and was told 90 days, which is typical of HP refurbs.

I'm not saying this is a powerhouse PC, merely that it's more powerful than the average bargain laptop. If that fits your particular bill, have at it!

Bonus deal: Yesterday I mentioned the Mac version of Duke Nukem Forever as part of an Amazon game sale. If you're a Windows user, Steam has Duke Nukem Forever (PC) for $4.99. (While you're at it, grab the expansion pack, Duke Nukem Forever: The Doctor Who Cloned Me, for just $2.49.) This endlessly awaited game may have been a disappointment overall, but it's definitely worth five bucks.