help choose from 7 college ultrabooks please!

[naturalgoats]

Hello all.

We've narrowed it down to these 7 ultrabooks, based on various review summary charts and these specs:
*under ~3.6 pounds
*i5 or i7 ; not mac
*8GB RAM
*13-14"

-Dell XPS 13
XPS 14
-Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon
431S
-Samsung Series 5 13.3 UB
-Toshiba Portege
-Sony Vaio Pro 13

In addition to the above requirements, I would like something that is
*durable -- will survive banging around in my backpack
*has a matte screen for using in sunlight
*has a webcam
*would prefer NOT touch; will be using windows 7

I wont be playing games so it'll be mostly college/science applications with some netflix/youtube/facebook chats. I'd like it to last all four years and preferably on into grad school.

Of course price is a consideration but I'd like to look at the other stuff first and then go down the list.

Thank you for any help you can offer, even if it's just to cross off one or two of the seven.

--Miranda


Here's the form:

1. What is your budget?
1-1.5K, but some more expensive things available through outlet/refurbished, so not the most important consideration right now.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
13-14"

3. What screen resolution do you want?
good enough for watching movies

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
both -- will not have a desktop at college

5. How much battery life do you need?
as much as possible

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

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
college/science apps -- biology/physics may be computing-intensive

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
fair bit -- bio data in photo form piles up

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
see brands above

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
4+ years

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
not important

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.
as above, went through review sites to narrow down

13. What country do you live in?
USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

 

[SNA3]

Hello back ,

First of all , there is no question that the Lenovo ThinkPad is the most Durable notebook in the Market ..

I need to know few things however ,

Do you want heavy threaded computing? that is , 4 cores i7 ? or ultra low voltage cpu that works slow ? I am not talking about movies here , I am talking about the College needs.

since you will use it as a Desktop as well , then I suggest you avoid the Carbon it is slow .

I am looking into it . give me a sec.

 

[SNA3]

Edit : what ever notebook you choose avoid LC with TN Panels , make sure it has IPS LCD

here is the difference :

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=irUoJ701UeA

and here :

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8MO-XaCZ_8