Portability + Power + Budget: possible?

patlav1980

Distinguished
Oct 25, 2011
3
0
18,510
1. What is your budget?
950$ (tax included) but would be very happy to get something cheaper if the performance isn't that far

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
14.1 or 15.4

3. What screen resolution do you want?
Not proficient enough to know but will list my needs below

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Portable for sure. I'm looking for something light as I will be transporting it everyday along with books.

5. How much battery life do you need?
3+ hours of real battery life

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)?
Possibly. Nothing too intense though. Probably games like Civ 5, Crusader Kings 2. Highest settings would be nice.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Watching movies, Streaming (watching), lots of microsoft office work

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
Flexible here but would like a reliable HD.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
None

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
2-3 years

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
Flexible

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.
Don't have sufficient info to have an idea on the subject.

13. What country do you live in?
Canada

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
Since I will be using the laptop mostly for school, I would like it to be able to get up and running quickly from the moment I open it and also be very low on the noise department. Also worth mentionning again that it has to be as light as possible, even if it cuts my options on the performance front.

Thanks for the advice

 

patlav1980

Distinguished
Oct 25, 2011
3
0
18,510
The envy seems to have an outdated processor. It might have a hard time satisfying my needs starting year 2.

The Acer seems to produce a lot of heat (from what I've read on the amazon reviews). Having owned a Ferrari Acer 5000 I can say that heat kinda turns me off now. :p

Thx for the help ProdigyForce and junky77. Hearing a few more opinions would help a great deal here.