Looking for a new laptop, suggestions welcome

[burnley14]

I'm in the market for a new laptop, looking to get a small one (<14") with a thin profile. I'm not going to be playing 3D games on it, this is mostly for note-taking, email, office, etc. It will however be used with my TV to play Netflix and such, and thus needs to have HDMI out.

Important considerations:
-Budget less than $800, would rather spend about $650.

-Screen size 14" or less (13.3" ideal)

-Screen resolution is not very important, higher is better obviously but not a deal-breaker.

-Battery life is important, but really only need about 4 hours with moderate/heavy use

-Portability is important, slim profile

-Reasonably powerful (enough to play Netflix and Hulu via HDMI out without any hiccups) but doesn't need to play 3D games or render or edit videos

-I am not overly attached to any one brand, though I do not like HP and tend to favor Asus.

-Hard drive space is a non-issue, I will be replacing the drive with my SSD (so I guess it must be a 2.5" form factor)

-Non-glossy screen is very important

-Not too concerned with color or other appearance, just nothing outrageous

Hope this is enough to get the hunt started. Looking forward to the suggestions. Thanks!

 

[WR2]

Hello burnley14;

If an anti-glare/matte screen is important that means looking at the business class notebooks.
A great deal in a 14" Sandy Bridge notebook: Dell Latitude E6420

-> Save 38% off Latitude E-Family Laptops with List Price of $1199 or More at Dell Small Business with Dell Coupon Code F3MX8LBF15MNM3 [Exp. 04/22]
Configure the E6420 to $1200 and with the 38% discount it will run about $745.

Upgrades: Core i5-2410M CPU / Centrino Advanced-N 6205 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless Card / Dell 375 Bluetooth Module / LCD Panel 14.0" 1600x900 Anti-Glare
Those upgrades take the price to $1202 (before discount to $862) and the coupon code should let you get it for about $745 = about $117 in savings.

 

[WR2]

Forgot to mention - Dell wanted an extra $40 to upgrade from 2GB to 3GB and an extra $85 for a upgrade to 4GB.
So it comes with 2GB installed - 1 stick of RAM.

And you can upgrade yourself:
2GB DDR3 1333 laptop RAM $25 - 4GB total
4GB DDR3 1333 laptop RAM $45 - 6GB total

 

[burnley14]

Thanks for the reply WR2. I tried customizing the E6420 like you had said but when I do, it only discounts the 38% from the total price (the ~$1600), producing ~$1000, instead of taking 38% off the $862 discounted price. I'm not sure if I cannot use the coupon and the discount simultaneously? Otherwise I don't know why this wouldn't work for me.

 

[WR2]

The total price should be $1200 to get a final price of $745

 

[WR2]

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[WR2]

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[burnley14]

Got it, thank you for clarifying.

 

[jaelbrt]

ASUS UL80 Series UL80JT-A2 Notebook w/ NVIDIA Optimus Intel Core i3 330UM(1.20GHz) 14" 4GB Memory DDR3 1066 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 310M+Intel GMA HD at http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220952 I don't know about the battery looks 00$pretty good for for your price range.

 

[burnley14]

WR2, I've done a little more browsing and found the E5420 looks to be almost identical to the E6420, but less expensive. Is there any reason to pay the premium for the 6420 if I can get improved hardware for the 5420 to fit into that $1200 customization window?

 

[WR2]

None at all, if you're OK with the slightly larger size. Typically, the smaller size notebooks cost more for the same performance.
If you had not limited your requirement to 14" or less I would have used the 15" E5420 as the suggested model.

 

[burnley14]

Okay cool, thanks for the advice. How did you come across that Dell coupon?

Also, thanks to cloudy2010 and jaelbrt for your input as well, I'm just more a fan of customizable options.

 

[WR2]

The main places I would check are
http/www.logicbuy.com/Laptops
http/www.dealigg.com/
and an occasional THG Daily Deals & the NewEgg deal sheets

 

[burnley14]

Thank you very much for your help

 

[burnley14]

Best answer selected by burnley14.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Clevo 150HNQ runs for about $750 w/ an i-5 (no OS)

15.6" 1366 x 768 HD (16:9) LED Display (+$65 for 1920 x 1080)
Intel Core i5-2520M Processor, 2.5 GHz, 3MB Smart Cache
4GB, PC3-10600/1333Mhz DDR3 - 2 x 2GB
Switchable! nVidia GeForce GT 540M 1GB GDDR3 with Optimus Technology / Intel GMA HD for Power Saving
320/7200rpm GB SATA-300 (SATA II 3GB/s)
8X Max. DVD±R/RW Writer/Reader / 4X Max. +DL Super-Mulit Drive
6 Cells 62.16WH Li-ION Battery
Integrated 802.11 b/g/n + Bluetooth V3.0 Combo
Built-In 2.0M Pixel Digital Video Camera
Built-In Fingerprint Reader
Built-In Gigabit Ethernet LAN Card
Built-In 9-IN-1 Flash Memory Reader(MMC/RSMMC/MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/SD/Mini-SD/SDHC/SDXC)
2 USB 3.0 Ports
2 USB 2.0 Ports
1 eSATA Port
1 HDMI Output
1 CRT port
1 Kensington Lock Port
Built-in Microphone and 2 Speakers
3 Audio Jacks for Line-Out, Microphone-In, and S/PDIF-Out
100/240V Autoswitch AC Adapter

http/forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/91510-clevo-guide-v2-0-faq-reseller-info.html