Choose laptop/netbook for school with a good battery

[yonyz]

Hi,

Two days ago I started college and I find that I need a laptop or netbook or anything of the sort to take notes. There's a lot to take and pen and paper doesn't cut it. We also have loads of powerpoint presentations so a laptop is almost vital in the library.

So I need something with good battery and a small screen (smaller than 15.6 inch that is).

It also needs to be around 300 USD.

I'll use it for PP presentations viewing, and taking notes (Word 2010).

No need for loads of RAM and a gaming GPU or CPU or anything, just the basics, to save as much money as possible.

Thanks.

 

[Tibbs01]

You are going to be looking at refurb's at the $300 dollar pricepoint (or a chromebook). Something like this would be an option if you can go to $400.00: http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834310636

The other thing to note is most any make/model with a standard 6 cell battery is going to get you in the 4-5 hour range of moderate use in a power saving setting. Stepping up to a 9 cell battery can usually get you into the 6-8 hour range of moderate use but you are looking at adding ~75.00 for one if you can find a decent deal.

Edit: Sorry I just noticed the one I linked is just a 4 cell lithium ion battery, which they rate at "up to 5 hours" meaning you will probably get 4 tops while just doing basic MS Office functions. If you watch videos or do anything else it's probably a 3 hour at best scenario.

 

[yonyz]

Hi Tibbs01,

I very soon realized I won't find anything I like in the 300 range. Eventually I purchased a used ("Like New", as the Amazon seller says) Zenbook UX31E-DH52.

It has a decent screen (13.3 inch, 1600x900), 128GB SSD which is super important for fast startup (I'd rather have it turned off as much as possible to conserve battery, between classes), good keyboard, is an ultrabook, and I got it (used, again) for 550 USD, while new is 770 USD, so that's a nice price. It also looks great and sports an i5 1.7 Ghz processor, so it shouldn't lag too much at basic stuff.

 

[Tibbs01]

Hi Tibbs01,

I very soon realized I won't find anything I like in the 300 range. Eventually I purchased a used ("Like New", as the Amazon seller says) Zenbook UX31E-DH52.

It has a decent screen (13.3 inch, 1600x900), 128GB SSD which is super important for fast startup (I'd rather have it turned off as much as possible to conserve battery, between classes), good keyboard, is an ultrabook, and I got it (used, again) for 550 USD, while new is 770 USD, so that's a nice price. It also looks great and sports an i5 1.7 Ghz processor, so it shouldn't lag too much at basic stuff.

Should be a good machine for you, enjoy!!

 

[yonyz]

Little update, I cancelled that order because all reviews said the keyboard is actually terrible, and that's very important for a college laptop.
I ordered a Lenovo IdeaPad U310 instead.
13.3", basic res - 1366x768, 32GB SSD for boot plus 500GB HDD, USB 3 ports, i5 third generation 1.7Ghz, and it's good looking and, unlike other ultrabooks, can be opened and have some parts replaced (RAM, WiFi card [I'm gonna install a dual band one for 10 dollars], that slow HDD will also be replaced by a nice SSD.
Also has HD4000 graphics, much better than the UX31e's HD3000, and with the lower res I might be able to run some good old games.

Anyway, price is even better - 450 USD.

 

[yonyz]

Best answer selected by yonyz.

 

[Maziar]

This topic has been closed by Maziar