Looking for budget workhorse

[endershadow]

1. What is your budget?
$250-400+

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
14-15 +/-

3. What screen resolution do you want?
720p+ if possible

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Less than 6 lbs, my current dell!

5. How much battery life do you need?
At least 6 hours?

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)?
Probably not. Maybe steam games that aren't too graphics intensive.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Running stat program R 64 bit on pretty big data sets so 6-8 GB RAM? Multiple tabs in chrome.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
250 GB is more than enough.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
http/www.officedepot.com/a/products/866072/Dell-Inspiron-14z-i14z-2100sLV-Ultrabook/?cm_mmc=Affiliates-_-CJ-_-1122587-_-11272891

http/outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/Online/InventorySearch.aspx?brandId=2201&c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh&dgc=EM&cid=262181&lid=4746153
http/outlet.lenovo.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 ?
I suppose I need one? DVD ROM

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've had good luck with Dell for several generations. I've only had to replace a power supply and video card on my current Desktop.

Doesn't have to be Dell.

13. What country do you live in?
US

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
i3 or i5? Is an i3 enough of an upgrade over my T3200 2.00 GHz?

Am I going to have to buy refurbished for these specs/budget?

Thank you!

 

[Maxime506]

I think, dell inspiron 15 3521 (non-touch) which has a i3-3217u CPU should be enough for ya. (Actually even Pentium 2117u or Celeron 1007u is enough, they all build base on the same 22nm technology)

And...all brand new laptops has DVD writer (except some ultrabooks)

N'...never buy a refurbished laptop, it will cause some strange issues which may piss u off while u'r in use.

 

[endershadow]

I think, dell inspiron 15 3521 (non-touch) which has a i3-3217u CPU should be enough for ya. (Actually even Pentium 2117u or Celeron 1007u is enough, they all build base on the same 22nm technology)

And...all brand new laptops has DVD writer (except some ultrabooks)

N'...never buy a refurbished laptop, it will cause some strange issues which may piss u off while u'r in use.

K, thanks. What kind of issues have you seen with refurbs btw?

I probably wouldn't upgrade to less than an i3. I don't mind buying a little more than I need. But I'll check out that Inspiron 3521 for sure.

Generally an i3 is more than sufficient for everyday tasks so maxime is right. You have quite few options because of the budget. Here are from me:
1. Asus X55C-DS31, 15.6" with i3. Only $380.
2. Dell Inspiron 13z i13Z-3636sLV. 13.3" screen with i-3 useriesfor better mobility. Only $382.

I like the Asus better.

For complete list visit General Purpose Laptop

Have a nice hunting.

The office depot Dell I listed has an SSD as well as 6 GB RAM. I don't need to upgrade right away, so maybe I'll wait for a deal on a Dell or Asus so I can squeeze a little more bang outta my budget.

Thank you very much for the input guys!