Solved! College Notebook for 1000$

[elliotth]

1_What is your budget?

$1,000, (including student discounts, I can get a MBP for under 1,000$... Usually discounts knock off about 100$)

2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

13-14 inches (give or take no more than .3-.5 inches)

3_What screen resolution do you want?

Not a big deal

4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

Portable everyday to class and dorm. By no means is this a gaming machine.

5_How much battery life do you need?

At least 4-5 hours of internet browsing, music playing, and word processing activity.

6_Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?

No games. The end.

7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)

Watching and streaming decent quality movies and tv shows.

8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?

250GB-500GB

9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

Noooooope.

10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?

A few years.

11_What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?

A standard drive will do fine.

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.

Whatever is reliable.

13_What country do you live in?

USA all the way.

14_Please tell us any additional information if needed.

I would very much prefer a streamlined design that can easily go in and out of a backpack. Also, I would like it to have a firm, well-spaced keyboard, along with a spacious, intuitive trackpad.


Been looking at Thinkpads and Macbooks... Any information would be lovely... I'm really desperate and fearing buyer's remorse.

 

[buwish]

Check these out:

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220717
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220739

 

[elliotth]

Those seem to have excellent specs but they seem to fall short of Lenovo and Apple's great touchpads and keyboards.

 

[IsabellaWinTeam]

1_What is your budget?

$1,000, (including student discounts, I can get a MBP for under 1,000$... Usually discounts knock off about 100$)

2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

13-14 inches (give or take no more than .3-.5 inches)

3_What screen resolution do you want?

Not a big deal

4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

Portable everyday to class and dorm. By no means is this a gaming machine.

5_How much battery life do you need?

At least 4-5 hours of internet browsing, music playing, and word processing activity.

6_Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?

No games. The end.

7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)

Watching and streaming decent quality movies and tv shows.

8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?

250GB-500GB

9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

Noooooope.

10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?

A few years.

11_What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?

A standard drive will do fine.

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.

Whatever is reliable.

13_What country do you live in?

USA all the way.

14_Please tell us any additional information if needed.

I would very much prefer a streamlined design that can easily go in and out of a backpack. Also, I would like it to have a firm, well-spaced keyboard, along with a spacious, intuitive trackpad.


Been looking at Thinkpads and Macbooks... Any information would be lovely... I'm really desperate and fearing buyer's remorse.

Hi there,

You should check out the Acer Aspire Timeline 3810t. It has a multi-gesture touchpad, 500 GB hard drive space, and 4 GB of RAM. The only thing that is missing is an optical drive, but it sounded like you were going to be mostly streaming video.

What do you think?

Cheers,
Isabella
MSFT Windows Outreach Team

 

[elliotth]

Hello, thank you for the reply. After checking over the Timeline 3810t, I realized that it's processor, while battery-friendly, would slow me down quite a bit.

between a Macbook pro 13" and Thinkpad Edge 14 what would you say is better for a student? Is there another Thinkpad that comes to mind?

Keep the suggestions coming, please.

 

[buwish]

Well, a Macbook pro 13" will run you around $1200, plus tax and such. The Thinkpad on the other hand is around $700-$750, so it's a bit cheaper and within your budget range. If you aren't gaming, I'd say the i3 or i5 (what I've seen in the Edge) and a somewhat decent dedicated GPU will do just fine for a student.

 

[elliotth]

I have the ability to purchase the baseline Macbook Pro 13" for about $980.

My configuration of a Thinkpad Edge includes the
Core i3
4gb of memory
6-cell battery (I don't want to go 9-cell because of the unsightly bulk)
Webcam, Windows 7 and a neat fingerprint reader.
Will the difference between 5400rpm and 7200rpm drain battery life?

That will run me between 700-800$ depending on HDD selection.

Here are my concerns about each:
Thinkpad Edge:
Portability, battery life, graphics (they are only integrated, I'm not sure they can play HD Hulu?)

Macbook Pro:
OS X, Core 2 Duo, lack of ports

The Mac seems like it is geared more toward students... But I really like the Thinkpad's "get it done" attitude. I am a Windows kinda guy but if the switch is easy, I will make it. I will probably dual boot XP for productivity. The price of the Mac is not that big of a deal, because 1. I can get a decent deal, and 2. I want this laptop to survive my college experience so this will be an investment.

I'm ordering tomorrow. So, any information you can give on either of these notebooks would be awesome.

Is there ANY other notebook I should be considering? A PC that is very Macbook-esque?

 

[IsabellaWinTeam]

I have the ability to purchase the baseline Macbook Pro 13" for about $980.

My configuration of a Thinkpad Edge includes the
Core i3
4gb of memory
6-cell battery (I don't want to go 9-cell because of the unsightly bulk)
Webcam, Windows 7 and a neat fingerprint reader.
Will the difference between 5400rpm and 7200rpm drain battery life?

That will run me between 700-800$ depending on HDD selection.

Here are my concerns about each:
Thinkpad Edge:
Portability, battery life, graphics (they are only integrated, I'm not sure they can play HD Hulu?)

Macbook Pro:
OS X, Core 2 Duo, lack of ports

The Mac seems like it is geared more toward students... But I really like the Thinkpad's "get it done" attitude. I am a Windows kinda guy but if the switch is easy, I will make it. I will probably dual boot XP for productivity. The price of the Mac is not that big of a deal, because 1. I can get a decent deal, and 2. I want this laptop to survive my college experience so this will be an investment.

I'm ordering tomorrow. So, any information you can give on either of these notebooks would be awesome.

Is there ANY other notebook I should be considering? A PC that is very Macbook-esque?

Hi there,

Have you looked into the Sony Vaio laptops? The Sony Vaio EA series has a 14" screen and has a nice, sleek appearance that is very customizable. It also has dedicated graphics and is great for watching HD movies. What do you think?

Cheers,
Isabella
MSFT Windows Outreach Team

 

[elliotth]

Hi there,

Have you looked into the Sony Vaio laptops? The Sony Vaio EA series has a 14" screen and has a nice, sleek appearance that is very customizable. It also has dedicated graphics and is great for watching HD movies. What do you think?

Cheers,
Isabella
MSFT Windows Outreach Team

It does seem hit many of the marks, but the maximum battery life is far from ideal.

Sorry to be so picky

Any thoughts on the Thinkpad Edge 14" Vs. Macbook Pro 13"?

 

[IsabellaWinTeam]

It does seem hit many of the marks, but the maximum battery life is far from ideal.

Sorry to be so picky

Any thoughts on the Thinkpad Edge 14" Vs. Macbook Pro 13"?

Hi there,

The Thinkpad Edge 14" is a really great value and it has excellent specs. It is also portable and has a very responsive keyboard. It looks like it could be a really good fit for you. Have you read user reviews concerning the actual life of the battery?

Cheers,
Isabella
MSFT Windows Outreach Team