Solved! I need to find a good college laptop

[mchad1403]

OK, so i'm going off to college this year and i don't want to do what both of my sisters did for college and save my dad some money. Both of my sisters got brand new 17" macbook pro's. Now what i'm hoping is that if i save my dad a chunk of cash i can get some parts for my desktop (i'm commuting), a new desk, and some other fun stuff.

Here is my faq:

1. What is your budget?

Hopefully Under $1000 - $1200

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

15" - 17"

3. What screen resolution do you want?

Nothing specific

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

Portable

5. How much battery life do you need?

2+ Hours (Standard it seems)

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)?

Simple browser games to get me through class, maybe some league of legends here and there (Medium/low gfx)

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

Nothing specific

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

250 GB and up, preferably 500GB

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

tigerdirect.com
Newegg.com

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 ?

Simple combo drive will suffice

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.

Idk much about laptops, im all desktop h/w, s/w

13. What country do you live in?

US

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

Hopefully looking to get a Core i series processor (My mind can be changed on this). 4GB of RAM is fine. Must be light.

 

[WR2]

Hello mchad1403;

How about something in the 13" range? Lightweight, a dedicated graphics card and a six hour battery runtime. With a bit of style thrown in and on sale @ $549.
ASUS U33JC-A1 13.3-in 2.4GHz Core i3 Bamboo Laptop
Core i3-370M, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 13.3" 1366x768 LCD w/ Geforce 310M graphics.
Weights just 3.7 lbs. It doesn't have a DVD burner built in but with your home rig that shouldn't be an issue these days with 8+GB USB flash drives available.
A few reviews: Asus U33Jc-A1 Bamboo review @ Computershopper
ASUS U33Jc Review @ LaptopMag

OK, bamboo might not be your 'style' and it is last years model. But it's still a first gen core i3 with enough performance to carry you through 4 years of class work and will handle entertainment and very light gaming as you mentioned just fine.
And it gives you maximum flexibility for negotiating your desktop upgrades.

Over @ NewEgg the ASUS U33JC-A1 is out of stock but here is it's last listing for price comparison.

 

[AntiZig]

Hello,

I took a small look around

this would be the best deal: ASUS N53SV-XV1 = $999 + free shipping
this laptop got great specs
some other options would be
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246003
or
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214190

Edit: seems like WR2 beat me to suggesting a smaller size. up to you

 

[WR2]

What's your timeline on getting a new laptop? There might be a bit more activity in the laptop/notebook market over the short term.

We're looking at the reviews and benchmarks of AMD's latest release in the Llano mobile APU today. Check the website's front page for the review.

 

[WR2]

A couple deals Im watching in the bigger 14" and 15" models:
Lenovo IdeaPad Y470 14-inch laptop Sandy Bridge 2nd Gen Core i3 $615 or Core i5 $679
Both have 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, DVD burner, JBL speakers and 1366x768 LCD with a GT 550M graphics card.
While not a full-blown gaming laptop this will do a pretty good job acting like one.

Dell XPS 15 15.6-inch "Sandy Bridge" Laptop Core i5 $645
4GB RAM, 500GB 7200rpm HDD, JBL speakers and GT 525M graphics.