Notebook Vs. Laptop

[samiosam]

I am really confused here, and I need your help.
I want a portable, special need machine. It won't be replacing my desktop.
I need it for portability, checking guides while playing PS3 games, using it while traveling for entertainment (mostly movies, but I would like to know that I can play games), and most importantly for work, like Office/VISIO use. I want it to be small, because I need to connect to network equipment for work purposes.

1. What is your budget?
600-900

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
13-16, but depends on how THICK/BIG it is.

3. What screen resolution do you want?
I'll be watching HD movies, but I am not concern about resolution.

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

5. How much battery life do you need?
at least 4 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)?
NOPE, but maybe low-medium in case I need to.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
extensive OFFICE/VISIO. Web browsing, and watching movies.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
Doesn't matter, but at least 250.

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

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
at least 5 years

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
normal read/write dvd, but again not important

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 just want a smooth looking laptop, not ancient looking ones.

13. What country do you live in?
I am buying from US, but work outside most of the time.

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
Not sure about difference between i3 and i5, and I have no idea about AMD processors.

 

[buzznut]

So you have quite a list of needs. It sounds like portability and battery life a very important and dedicated graphics for gaming is not so much. So here's where I would start.
In the 14 inch category you'll find nice machines that will have good battery life and be light and portable. The screens will be large enough for watching movies but you won't have to lug around a beast all day.
I'd recommend looking at the core i3, your needs are fairly modest for power computing. Although if you find a deal on a i5 machine and it looks like it has everything you want I'd consider that a better choice in terms of how long you want to keep this PC and still having it keep up with growing needs.
Thing is, you can get a fancy shiny machine but if it has a lousy touchpad or uncomfortable keypad or whatever you'll end up hating it.
I have a 15.6 inch that I hated lugging around campus and it has atrocious battery life so I don't take it anywhere anymmore. I'd sell it but it has a couple busted keys and none wants a big ass laptop anymore.

Here's a couple of places to look for quality laptops:
www.notebookcheck.net
www.notebookreview.com
www.pcworld.com

Also the PC World in print is a good read too. All these places review a ton of notebooks so they know what a good laptop looks and feels like.

 

[samiosam]

What I meant by smooth looking laptop, is a nice feeling keypad, and a nice touch pad.

They told me the i5 = a lot more heat than i3. And that i5 consumes battery faster.

I'd take back the gaming thing, I won't be playing any games on it. Just watching Movies, web browsing, and a lot of OFFICE/VISIO work, like working on 10 VISIO/OFFICE files at the same time.