Suggestions For A New Laptop? Help!

[jaredhaley]

Hi guys,

I will be attending grad school in the fall of 2017 and there is a computer requirement that I must meet in order to be able to download various programs and complete assignments. I currently have a 2012 MacBook Pro and have been having issues with it that need to be fixed. My grad school also says that Macs can be probably be used although they are not officially supported. The combination of these two aspects just makes me want to buy a PC and fix my Mac in my free time for personal use. So, to sum everything up, I am looking for suggestions for some PC laptops that I will simply be using for school and that meet the following spec requirements. I would generally like to stay under 600 dollars and have a 13" screen since all I will be using it for is school work. Thank you for your suggestions. NO NETBOOKS OR TABLETS ARE ALLOWED.


Windows 7 32 or 64 bit Home Premium or higher is recommended (Mac OSX 10.6 or higher will likely work but is not officially supported)

Browser: PC - Microsoft Internet Explorer version 8

Mac - Safari version 3.2.1 or higher

Do not use beta versions of these browsers

Computer cannot be more than 2 years old

Minimum 4-year service plan

Minimum dual core processor

Minimum 2 GB of RAM

Minimum screen resolution 1024 x 768

Wireless card that supports 802.11 b/g/n

Microsoft Office 2010 Standard Edition or Higher

A CD/DVD Drive

External Storage device for data backup

 

[mpc007]

13 inch and a DVD drive is pretty rare. Are you also allowed to pick 14 inch?

 

[jaredhaley]

13 inch and a DVD drive is pretty rare. Are you also allowed to pick 14 inch?

Well Im willing to go up to 15 inch although I would like to stay between 13-14 inch. Also, I recognize that I will probably need to buy an external CD/DVD drive

 

[mpc007]

Well if you go external there is a whole host of options available. I'd go for something nice with a recent intel i3 cpu. Those are largely available below 600 dollars. HP x360 is pretty decent:

https/www.amazon.com/HP-x360-Performance-Touchscreen-Convertible/dp/B01L21KHG2/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1483737235&sr=1-1&refinements=p_n_size_browse-bin%3A3545275011%2Cp_36%3A-60000%2Cp_n_feature_four_browse-bin%3A2289794011%2Cp_n_condition-type%3A2224371011

Only downside is the conventional hard drive but swapping out for a ssd won't cost the world.