Best laptop for CS Student under $400

[mjohnson2012]

1. What is your budget?
$425 absolute maximum, would prefer $350-$400

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
13" or less

3. What screen resolution do you want?
1366x768 or better

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Portable

5. How much battery life do you need?
Five hours?

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop?
Not really important, I have a desktop for that.

7. Tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Writing papers, web browsing, web design, software development (probably C++ and Java).

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
320 GB?

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
newegg.com, amazon.com, wherever is cheapest though.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
3-4 years would be nice.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
Don't think I'll really need one.

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
Never purchased a laptop, so no experiences.

13. What country do you live in?
USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
I've considered the $250 Chromebook, pretty certain it's what I would purchase if I was a non CS student.

I have a nice Windows 7 desktop at the house.
Weight, screen (prefer matte), keyboard, and trackpad are most important.

I have no problem with refurbs if the value is good.

 

[quilciri]

Most modern compilers will use as many cores as you can effectively throw at it, so I'd suggest a four core A-series from AMD. The multi-threaded performance is better from the four physical AMD cores than from the hyperthreaded I3's in the same price range.

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230960

I know you specifically mention gaming was *not* a requirement, but just as icing on the cake, the laptop is a halfway decent gamer as well.

 

[mjohnson2012]

Sorry, duplicate topic: http/www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1626643/laptop-student-400.html

 

[quilciri]

Oh, btw. it's mislabeled on newegg. the APU is an AMD A-8 4500m, not an Allwinner Cortex.

 

[mjohnson2012]

Oh, btw. it's mislabeled on newegg. the APU is an AMD A-8 4500m, not an Allwinner Cortex.

Yeah, I figured as well.
Thanks