Suggestions for Ultrabooks or Similar?

skywlker32

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Apr 26, 2011
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18,510
I am looking to buy a new laptop soon for portability and would like some suggestions on the make and model since I have been unable to find what I want. I currently have a netbook that is on the way out and am looking to replace it. The netbook I have is a 10.1 in. screen and am fairly comfortable with that for my useage.

What I am looking to get is probably a 11-13 inch screen laptop with long battery life (6hours plus of real time useage) and reasonable performance (somewhere about the performance of an i3 processor). I would like to have hdmi output, but would be willing to go without it. Preferred hard drive space around 500gb. Although it seems to be unreasonable at this point, I was looking to spend under $800 for the laptop, but any suggestions would be welcomed.

If you know of a laptop build that is close to what I have proposed, please let me know.

Summary

1. What is your budget? $800

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? 13" and under or very thin 14"

3. What screen resolution do you want? around 720p or better

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

5. How much battery life do you need? 6+ hours preferred

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)? gaming not necessary, definitely nothing more intensive than Team Fortress 2

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.) video playback and web surfing

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? preferred 500gb

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links. no preference

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? uknown

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

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. something with decent build quality

13. What country do you live in? US

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed. explained above

Sorry for initially not including this QA.
 

skywlker32

Distinguished
Apr 26, 2011
4
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18,510
I think I have my search narrowed to the Thinkpad x230 and x131e, but am unsure of which would be better for me. Again, I am more concerned with battery life between these, as they would both be plenty powerful for what I would use it for. The only thing that the x230 doesn't have from what I can tell is HDMI, but I believe I can use an adapter to get HDMI hookup.
 
Between the x230 and X131e, I would get the x230 because it has a larger 12.5" screen which makes it easier to read and it is also lighter. Yes, you will need a mini-displayport to HDMI adapter which probably adds another $20 to the total price.

Just be aware that there are complaints about the x230's trackpad. No issues when using a mouse or TrackPoint ("eraser head").

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewforum.php?f=69