Help picking a laptop

[Plotnus]

1. What is your budget?
$750 - $1250
2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
14" to 15.6" screen
3. What screen resolution do you want?
1920x1080 minimum
4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
portable
5. How much battery life do you need?
Min 5 hours, more is better
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)?
It will mainly be for productivity
7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
All tasks assigned and required by my Masters of Computer Science Program. At the moment I don't know what they will be.
8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
I do not require high storage. At the moment my guess is a minimum of 128 gb
9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
Amazon, newegg, bestbuy, no shady sites
10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
United States
11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
I do not want an optical drive. If this you think I should have one let me know
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.
I prefer to buy from Lenovo, Asus, and Dell. Lenovo and asus for their reputation, dell because they offer a discount to students, all of the above because the score well on laptop brand reviews. I do not want a mac, and I'm not drawn to acer, for some reason, and this may be mistaken, I suspect they may be cheaply made given their price point.
13. What country do you live in?
United States
14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
Good keyboard preferred,
Low heat is preferred.
Touchscreen is a plus but not necessary
The computer will be used as my portable for studying in the Library, and to bring to classes for my Masters of Computer Science lectures and discussion. It will get a lot of use and be carried in a backpack every day. The program lasts for 2 years.

Thanks for helping me with this.

 

[Felipe259]

I went with the Asus
http/www.amazon.com/dp/B00IAA5BSS/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=20GAES5JB6FGU&coliid=I2Y0O3KALZX78E

http/shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y50/

 

[iBUYPOWER - Jason]

I recommended the ASUS to a couple of people on the forums. It's a great buy for the performance it gives! Also the Y50 series are a great choice as well, especially since they offer an i7 Intel Processor and a 850M for a little over $1,000.

Those two are the best offerings from both ASUS and Lenovo, I'd look no further. Felipe259 is on point with these recommendations!

 

[Plotnus]

I like them both. Thank you.

Are there any options with a longer battery life? The asus has about 4 and the lenovo has about 5.

Also, a dedicated gaphics card is not needed because I'm pretty sure I'm starting to phase out of games.

Also, of the two which would you choose? At the moment I prefer the y50 became of its better battery life, thinner profile, and superior dedicated graphics card.

 

[T3PShooter]

+1 for the ASUS N550JK DS71T http/www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IAA5BSS. ASUS is a better manufacturer and more reliable.

 

[iBUYPOWER - Jason]

Would you still want a dedicated GPU in your laptop? I can find laptops that are more catered to battery life versus graphics performance.

 

[Plotnus]

Would you still want a dedicated GPU in your laptop? I can find laptops that are more catered to battery life versus graphics performance.

To be honest, I'm not sure exactly what I want. I keep switching in price range, and specs. So to answer your question I'm fine without a dedicated graphics card, although the card is a plus.

Also, I went to FRY's today, and found the 13"-14" laptops more appealing, some of the 15.6" laptops are too big for my taste.

Picking a laptop is proving very difficult. I was in love with the Lenovo T440/540, then the yoga2 pro, then the y40, Then I started looking at macs because I find it strange that their battery life is so superior to Win Laptops.

-I need the Laptop to be Linux comparable...
-I used to game, so their is that pull towards dedicated graphics, but recently quit gaming (3 days ago) because I'm tired of the negative attitudes. So a dedicated graphics card is no longer needed. I'll be too busy for games while pursuing my masters anyways... well for the most part.
-I want a nice keyboard
-Nice display is a must since I'll spend so much time looking at my computer.
-To be honest I'm feeling very overwhelmed by the amount of options, and some of the designs/engineering is flawed. I don't want to buy those...
-a output adapter for a monitor would be nice so I can connect the laptop to a screen for working at home

all help is appreciated. I've been looking for weeks!!