Solved! Looking for some laptop suggstions

[Balthraka]

Hey TH people,
I am looking to get myself a new laptop and would like some advice.
Any help would be appreciated!

Basically, what I am looking for is something:
-Moderate size (13 or 14 inch)
-A good battery
-Lightweight (under 2kgs/4.4lbs)
Those are the 3 most important things. I am using this to replace my 9 inch eeepc because I cant deal with the size of it anymore, but weight is still very important because I travel a lot with it (same for the battery).
-Power wise, I think an i3 or i5 would be nice. Not an absolute requirement, but I want something that can be used as my only computer while travelling so it needs some umph. (Will not sacrifice battery or weight for this).


Here are the anwers to the Sticky questions.

1. What is your budget?
No specific budget.
Just looking for the cheapest thing I can get which fits my requirements.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
Im thinking 13 inch, but maybe 14 inch.
Somewhere between 13 and 14.

3. What screen resolution do you want?
Unimportant.

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

5. How much battery life do you need?
Lots.

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)?
No.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Word processing
Watching movies
Heavy internet use

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

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

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
A number of years.
Have had my eeepc for 4 years now and still use it.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
Not required.

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 like Asus.
But have no reason for that.
So, anything.

13. What country do you live in?
Australia.
But that doesnt matter.

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
See top.


Cheers and thanks in advance.
Tim

 

[Pyree]

Go to:

http/staticice.com.au/

search for "ultrabook"

Looks like ultrabook class laptop is what you need.

They are new to the market. Wait for a few months for more of them to released from another brand in Australia.

I had problems with Acer before, so I usually don't recommend them, but since only Acer is available, go for it if you have to get one now. They are still in the laptop market so their quality is not terrible, my problem is just an isolated incident.

 

[Balthraka]

Thanks Pyree.

The Ultrabook looks really cool! And the weight is amazing.
I am, however, not generally an early adopter. Especially when all the reviews and articles seem to talk more about what is coming in the next 12 to 24 months with Ultrabooks rather than looking at the current one...
That concerns me a little bit...
Thoughts?

Any other thoughts on options?

Cheers
Tim

 

[Pyree]

That is also my advice for ultrabook because there is not much options. Is it possible for you to put the purchase on hold? I expect ASUS to release their ultrabook soon.

Otherwise, you can get a laptop with ultra low voltage cpu to give you more battery life. I had a brief look in Australia and it looks like there are fewer options here compared with other continents. I will give it a more thorough look after diner.

 

[Balthraka]

Can put on hold for about a month.
Not much more.

I believe Asus are releasing theirs in the next couple of days.
They announced today that that was the case.

Can you reccomend some ultra low voltage CPUs?
It seems that the Ultrabooks arent necessarily very good on battery anyway. Light and powerful, but average battery from what Im reading.

As I said in the OP.
Don't worry about being in Australia.
I travel heaps and 'live' in North America for 6 months of the year.
So, it doesn't need to be available in Aus.

Cheers
Tim

 

[Aeir]

Well, from what I can see, Asus actually just did release their ultrabook. UX21 and 31 I believe it was. It claims to have a pretty good battery life, and while I haven't seen any specific numbers, I haven't looked for them.

 

[Balthraka]

Aeir,
Yeah, that's what I thought.
They have announced it will come out in the next couple of days.

Will definitely wait to see what that comes out with.
But any other (non-ultrabook) suggestions for comparison?

Cheers
Tim

 

[Pyree]

In USA, newegg is your best friend.

 

[Balthraka]

Yes.
I know the site.

But I thought some people may have some suggestions...

 

[Pyree]

Ok, form the laptop I search through, it seems that Lenovo x220 is the king in terms of battery life:

http/shopap.lenovo.com/au/en/notebooks/thinkpad/x-series/x220?cid=au|semd|se|google|lenovoaustralia|xD3AC|s&

Read the review here:

http/www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X220.49838.0.html

Oh, also it is cheaper in USA:

http/shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=20E990072AB74EA5EA87218BF129CC11

 

[Balthraka]

Damn. That is expensive!
$1640USD.
(I mean. It's less than that in AUD, but still...)

I know I said that I dont have a budget as such, but surely there is a 13/14 inch lighweight laptop with a decent battery that isn't that much.
No? Haha.

 

[Pyree]

No, it is only $800-900 because it is on special.

The Australian price can be lowered by using coupon code BULKONE15, but still more expensive than in USA.

Edit: With the ANNIVERSARY coupon for Lenovo USA, it is only about $750.

 

[Balthraka]

Ok. Fair enough.
But who knows how long it will be on special for.
It's $1600 retail.

No. You don't understand.
The AUD is stronger than the USD (that may actually not be true. It's dropped the last couple of days). So, when I buy it from the US website with AUS dollars it will be cheaper than the listed price.
Either way. As i said, im in North America half the year. I can get the cheapest price on whatever I decide to buy.



Anyone else with other suggestions on lightweight laptops?
Cheers
Tim

 

[Pyree]

I think the best option is to use AUD, pay by visa, buy the laptop from USA for less then $750 (if you use coupon and downgrade from W7 Pro to W7 Home Premium) and send to your USA address.

 

[Pyree]

Oh, wait or are you French Canadian?

 

[Balthraka]

@ Reply 1.
Yep. Exactly.
"So, when I buy it from the US website with AUS dollars it will be cheaper than the listed price."
May as well send it to Aus address though. Shipping is negligible these days.

@ Reply 2.
No.
But my North American residence is in Canada.

--------

I would really like some comparisons before I commit to the first option presented...
Cheers
Tim

 

[Pyree]

I don't think Lenovo ship them to Australia or Canada if you buy from Lenovo USA.

Try send it to your friends or family in USA that can receive your laptop and resend it to your in Australia.

 

[leandrodafontoura]

Altough its not popular on this forum, I recommend the Apple Macbook Air. Its the only notebook computer I would buy today if I had to.

Given the fact that you will not play games on it, its a perfect choice. There is no other notebook out there that can compete with its small form factor and features. Its ultra portable, its ALL SSD, includes a full back-lit keyboard and an insane battery life. It also has the multi-touch trackpad, wich makes other notebooks look from last century.

You can also check the Sony Vaio, they have some crazy designs, it may be interesting to you.

 

[Aeir]

Leandro: actually, the Macbook air is pretty much specifically what the new Asus Ultrabooks are going to be competing with. I don't think that they have a backlit keyboard (I haven't looked), but beyond that, they're on par if not better in more categories, and have a higher resolution in the 13" model than the equivalent macbook air. I had a site up on my other computer specifically comparing the two side-by-side in chart format when I was looking at them last night. And better yet, the Zenbooks aren't a Mac.

 

[leandrodafontoura]

I am happy with this release from Asus, cause it will force Apple to make even more competivie Airs, but the Airs do offer 3x times more SSD storage and also thunderbolt ports, wich will be compatible with external gaming videocards in development. The Asus has a USB 3.0 port instead, perhaps a better option today.

And in addition, the Air has a multi-touch trackpad, thats an awesome exclusive feature wich makes you work 500% times faster and eliminates the use of a mouse.