Light Laptop w/specifics- Recommendations?

[Katherine Robinson]

I need:
- 4 pounds or under but not over
- 14" screen
- Under $2000
- Very sturdy and well made (I travel a lot)
- Windows 7 can be installed (i do not want windows 8 so it must be possible to remove windows 8 if it comes with that and be compatible to run with windows 7)
- i7 processor
- 8GB ram
- As much hard drive memory as possible. If lowish memory capacity, can use external drive for data.
- I don't need a touchscreen but will accept a laptop with a touchscreen if I must to get my specs.
- No potentially-annoying security bells and whistles upon start-up that cannot be easily removed if they tend to be problematic such as a thumbprint- I'm not worried about security but AM worried about issues with security features. I like to turn on the computer and have it be ready to use fast and run shortest possible gamut of security, PINs and user screens.
Am looking at New Latitude 7000 Series Ultrabook, but for some reason can’t find and i7 except at 12 inches. Dell salesman trying to tell me some i5's are "better" than some i7's- I am NOT a tech person- this advice concerns and confuses me.
- Don’t want any ports to be missing- need all usual ports.
- I do not game but I do run some beefy programs at once.
- I live in the U.S.
- Robust wireless connectivity is important (current dell xps 14 z has below par wireless connectivity in my house)
- I'd like this to last 3 years
- Long battery life is nice but not on my must-haves.
- I use logitech unifying wireless peripherals and do not want to be forced to replace them

- Should I be worried about not having an old fashioned hard drive? Some computers I’ve seen have "solid state” or “hybrid" hard drive- should this make me nervous?

-Should I get a great refurbished lightweight laptop that was top of line before and has everything I want rather than new without everything I want? Which one?

Thank you so much. As a non-tech-savvy person, I wish I could get a consultant instead of a salesman to help me get the right laptop. (If you are such a person please contact me!)

 

[Deleted member 1697763]

To be perfectly honest, you are describing either a macbook air or any intel ultrabook . What sort of programs will you be running and will the be OK with a dual core CPU and 8gb of ram?

 

[velo3100]

The first thing I need to know is the programs you use as this makes a big difference as ultrabooks are not designed for heavy multi - tasking.
Second thing I need to know is the amount of space you are use currently. This is because hard drives generally have more space and are cheaper but are slower whereas ssds and hybrid drives are faster but more expensive.

My recommendation from what I understand from the above is go with a dell or lenovo as they are the best for security. I can't give an exact recommendation until you answer the above questions but after you have I can tell you what the laptop should have and then you can look and find the laptop that is the best for you.

 

[jaguarskx]

I would consider Lenovo's ThinkPad laptops.

The 14" ThinkPad E450 starts at 4lbs and it can be configured to use the new Intel Broadwell CPU for better battery life. ThinkPads are designed very well, but he E450 is not designed to MIL-SPEC specifications like the premium ThinkPad T series which makes those laptops pretty rugged. The starting price is $510 and there are options that allows you to configure it to your liking. The default Core i3-4005u CPU is the Haswell generation CPU. The others are the recently released Broadwell generation CPUs.

http/shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/e-series/e450/#tab-customize


A SSD or solid state drive is expensive compared to a standard hard drive, but they allow programs to load much faster and they are considered to be very reliable. However, they have lower capacity; to keep the cost of the laptop down. 1TB SSDs do exist, but you will find them to be very expensive... meaning more than the base cost of the ThinkPad E450 itself. Hybrid drives are basically standard hard drives with a solid state cache for a little better performance.


Lenovo will be releasing a new generation of ThinkPad T series laptops, but there are no dates yet. I am guessing late February. In the mean time you should consider the 14" ThinkPad T440s which weighs in at 3.6lbs and has a base price of $820 and is also very customizable.

http/shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/t-series/t440s/

The updated version will be called the ThinkPad T450s and will use the Broadwell generation Intel CPUs. However, the most significant change will probably be the trackpad where they will bring back physical buttons trackpoint (the red pointing stick between the G and H keys). As mentioned, the T series is designed to be rugged. They can be dropped from the height of the average desk onto a hard floor and still function perfectly. They have even been dropped from 9 feet on to a carpeted floor and still function fine. More extreme would their durability to survive a 35MPH direct impact long enough to retrieve vital data off of the hard drive; not sure about a SSD since video tests did not indicate if a SSD was installed. Lastly, the keyboard is isolated from the internal electronics of the laptop and has small holes in it which means you can spill 8oz. to 12oz. of liquid directly onto the laptop when it is on and the laptop will continue to function fine. The holes allows the liquid to drain out of the laptop.

 

[jaguarskx]

Since the ThinkPads are business laptops you can opt for Windows 7 Pro 64-bit to be installed for $50.