Need laptop recommendations for a frugal student on a budget

invasivechimp

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Aug 10, 2014
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4,510
Hello, I'm a little clueless on how to look for good laptops online, I usually just buy the shiny, cheap ones from the store hehe.

1. What is your budget?
Under $800

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
13.3"-14"

3. What screen resolution do you want?
Anything will do

5. How much battery life do you need?
The longer the better, but over 3 hours is preferred.

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? NO

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Will have to use programs like Autocad, Photoshop and Sketchup.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
Not sure, but I prefer SSD or SSHD.

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

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'd like to have lenovo (they currently have online sales on their website) if possible, but I'm open to anything.

13. What country do you live in?
Canada

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/z-series/z40/ What do you think of this model? I wanted the $589 one.
 
Solution


You provided the link to the US site, not the Canadian site. Here is the Z40 that be bought in your country. It is more expensive, but it is also better. It prefer the Canadian version which is not that much more and still within your budget. The Canadian version has:

1. i5-4210U CPU - This is slightly faster (100MHz) than the model sold in the US. Not really a big deal at all though.

2. Full HD 1920x1080 screen - The US version is limited to a 1366x768 resolution. This is standard on most inexpensive laptops and I...

Harry Torres

Estimable
Aug 10, 2014
1
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4,510
If you're looking for a Lenovo, I think the one you pasted a link to is nice...otherwise, a recommendation I can make, take a look at business laptops from Dell, or even Dell Outlet for additional savings. Not only may you find what you're looking for within your price range, but a lot of their business models (Latitude, etc) come with a 3 year warranty out the door. Prev experience...purchased a Latitude D620 from the business outlet, paid just under $900 (vs $1400) as configured, and 3 year warranty, which it was still under when I sold it.
 


You provided the link to the US site, not the Canadian site. Here is the Z40 that be bought in your country. It is more expensive, but it is also better. It prefer the Canadian version which is not that much more and still within your budget. The Canadian version has:

1. i5-4210U CPU - This is slightly faster (100MHz) than the model sold in the US. Not really a big deal at all though.

2. Full HD 1920x1080 screen - The US version is limited to a 1366x768 resolution. This is standard on most inexpensive laptops and I find it to be very limiting because you can only see so much on the screen with the small resolution screen. I prefer 1080p because the large desktop area allows me to view a lot of information at once. The Canadian version of the Z40 comes standard with a 1080p screen.

If you are not sure how the text will look like on a 14" screen with 1080p solution, then go to a store and check out 14" laptops with 1366x768 and 1920x1080 resolution screens. You can always just buy the Lenovo Z40 with the 1920x1080 screen and then lower the resolution to 1600x900 or all the way down to 1366x768. There is a small decrease in sharpness, but it really is not bad at all.

I am actually testing 1366x768 right now on my 15.6" Dell Latitude 3540 which has a 1920x1080 screen. While things may look just a bit less sharp at the lower resolution, it is still fine.
 
Solution