A:Answer No. This is in no way a "beginner" laptop. If you or your graduate is an obsessed gamer with money to burn, this is a possible choice. Otherwise, this machine is total overkill and a needless expense. I own it. I LOVE it. It's a terrific high tech pastry of fun and productivity. But I wanted the power because I edit long videos and play games on high settings. I needed something super bright, and I'm used to high end graphics (I have 3GB 970M with a 250 GB 850 evo SSD). And even for me this is more than I need. Also, I knew the weight of the thing (8.8 lbs) would kill me, but I went with it anyway, and got an Everki titan bag to carry it -- when I'm well rested and have good shoes on. This is wonderful computer.
But a good beginner PC laptop (as of May 2016) is $299 to $699, no matter how much disposable cash one may be trying to dispose of. It weighs less than 5 or 6 lbs, it has 4 GB of RAM (or 8), a 500 GB hard drive (5400 rpm is fine) and does NOT need a dedicated graphics card. If you want to step up a notch, go to 8 GB RAM, and either a 1TB hard drive, or an SSD (depending on whether you want storage space or quickness). Or you could do BOTH of those upgrades and buy more storage, too, for less money than a high end gaming machine.