Looking for a light notebook for school

[blackjellognomes]

1. What is your budget?
Can only dish out $1000 atm.

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

3. What screen resolution do you want?
Whatever's standard for the screen size (prolly 1366x768 or WXGA)

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
I'm looking more for a portable laptop, but I'd like if it can still handle Steam games like L4D and TF2.

5. How much battery life do you need?
8+ Battery life is a big thing for me.

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)?
I've got a desktop for gaming, but again, it'd be nice to be able to play most Steam games on medium or better.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)
Standard school-related applications like web browsing and word processing; I'll be watching Hulu and movies.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
250GB minimum

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

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

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
I'll be fine as long as it can read standard DVDs. Burning is not a priority, but it might occasionally be useful to have the option.

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.
Asus, for their quality and value.
Apple, because somehow their Macbooks get great battery life.
Toshiba, because I've heard good things about their Satellite and Portege lines.
HP, for offering a wide range of laptops and for realizing that a sleek look is a sleek look even if it probably is a Macbook "ripoff".
Dell is alright because they sometimes have huge discounts, but I'm not particularly attracted to their offerings.

13. What country do you live in?
US

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
I'm not looking for a gaming laptop. Please don't recommend me some Alienware or Sager.
I want a laptop that's basically a 13" MBP that runs Windows natively and preferably costs a bit less. I've found the 13" MBP at Microcenter for $1000, but I'm not fond of OSX and installing Windows wouldn't be great for the battery life, from what I've heard. I'm not sure if such a laptop exists, but that's why I'm here. I'm liking the Asus U35Jc, except that it lacks an ODD and it's 310M is noticeably slower than even the MBP's 320M.
Um. I'd prefer avoiding low voltage processors; just looking for a standard C2D or i3. Definitely want 4GB DDR3 and HDMI and an LED backlit screen.
Oh, and I don't mind if the laptop requires a 9 cell battery or something to get the 8+ hours of battery life, as long as the cost of the laptop + battery doesn't exceed $1000.

 

[blackjellognomes]

I'd suggest u go with this ASUS G-Series Intel Core i7 Quad Core 1.6GHz 15.6" Widescreen Notebook. Very nice gaming laptop for sure. A little over your budget. Anyway, it might worth u a peek.
http/www.dealstudio.com/searchdeals.php?type=id&q=d194838&ru=28902445
Hope it helps.

I doubt it'd last 2 hours on a full charge and I was looking for 8+ hours.... It'd probably be overkill anyway, I'll only be playing Steam games like CSS and L4D. Thanks for the recommendation though.

 

[jednx01]

I would look at Dell Outlet if I were you. You can buy "previously ordered new" systems for a much lower price than you would usually pay from dell. For example, you can buy a latitude e6410 for $600-800. The e6410 has a 14 inch screen, metal casing (it's a business grade laptop, so it's much sturdier than most lappies...), and it comes with a 3 year warrenty. "Previously ordered new" systems from dell outlet are systems that people have ordered, had dell build, then cancelled the order. Dell garentees that the system will be as good as new (because it IS new). The disadvantage is that you cannot customize the specs since the laptop is already built. The advantage is that the laptops often cost 1/3 to 1/2 the price of the SAME laptop at dell's normal sales department. Dell outlet is run by dell, so you don't have to deal with a third party. Important note: when on dell outlet, "refurbished" is NOT the same as "previously ordered new." Refurbished means that somebody else used it and then dell refurbished and and is now reselling. "previously ordered new" means that it has never been used by another customer.

Here's an example:

dell latitude e6410:
core i5 520 @2.4ghz
windows 7 professional
160gb 7200rpm SATA hard drive
4 gigs ddr3 1300mhz ram
512 nvidia NVS 3100m graphics card
14.1" ultrasharp 1440x900 LED display (matte, not glossy. Good for use in bright areas since it doesn't reflect)
3 year warrenty (this is true for the upper level latitude laptops. Much better than the typical 1 year warrenty that usually comes with laptops. Both Dell.com and dell.com/outlet offer identical warrenties)

Price for system from dell oulet for new system: $729
price from standard dell sales department for same system: $1482

This can play some light games, but you might want to consider something more powerful than this. Dell outlet sells almost all dell models, so you should be able to find something that is to your liking. Just a friendly tip: if you need more battery, you can always by a second one battery.

 

[blackjellognomes]

I would look at Dell Outlet if I were you. You can buy "previously ordered new" systems for a much lower price than you would usually pay from dell. For example, you can buy a latitude e6410 for $600-800. The e6410 has a 14 inch screen, metal casing (it's a business grade laptop, so it's much sturdier than most lappies...), and it comes with a 3 year warrenty. "Previously ordered new" systems from dell outlet are systems that people have ordered, had dell build, then cancelled the order. Dell garentees that the system will be as good as new (because it IS new). The disadvantage is that you cannot customize the specs since the laptop is already built. The advantage is that the laptops often cost 1/3 to 1/2 the price of the SAME laptop at dell's normal sales department. Dell outlet is run by dell, so you don't have to deal with a third party. Important note: when on dell outlet, "refurbished" is NOT the same as "previously ordered new." Refurbished means that somebody else used it and then dell refurbished and and is now reselling. "previously ordered new" means that it has never been used by another customer.

Here's an example:

dell latitude e6410:
core i5 520 @2.4ghz
windows 7 professional
160gb 7200rpm SATA hard drive
4 gigs ddr3 1300mhz ram
512 nvidia NVS 3100m graphics card
14.1" ultrasharp 1440x900 LED display (matte, not glossy. Good for use in bright areas since it doesn't reflect)
3 year warrenty (this is true for the upper level latitude laptops. Much better than the typical 1 year warrenty that usually comes with laptops. Both Dell.com and dell.com/outlet offer identical warrenties)

Price for system from dell oulet for new system: $729
price from standard dell sales department for same system: $1482

This can play some light games, but you might want to consider something more powerful than this. Dell outlet sells almost all dell models, so you should be able to find something that is to your liking. Just a friendly tip: if you need more battery, you can always by a second one battery.

Wow, thanks for the tip. I'll definitely look into that.

 

[blackjellognomes]

Best answer selected by blackjellognomes.

 

[Maziar]

This topic has been closed by Maziar