Suggestions Needed for Lightweight Laptop for College Student

[yagirldirkbird]

I'm looking for a lightweight laptop for college. I have a Dell Inspiron 5735 with a AMD A10-5745M APU with Radeon(tm) HD 2.10 GHz processor, which has been fine for all my high school work (mainly on Microsoft programs). I am also comfortable with the Windows 10 OS. The only problem is it that it's so bulky and heavy (17.9 inch screen, not sure about the weight) with terrible battery life. It will be fine to use in my dorm, but I need something lightweight to take with me to class for notes and other classwork purposes that will function similarly (small laptop or tablet, whichever is best). Also I'm not interested in spending more than $400 if at all possible. Any suggestions from technology experts?

P.S. I'm majoring in Global Business with a concentration in Information Systems, but unfortunately right now I do not have much knowledge when it comes to comparing computers.

 

[jaguarskx]

The following Acer laptop with a Core i3-7100u for $350 is likely the best laptop that will fit into your budget. Do not believe the stated 12 hour battery life. I believe reviews peg the actually battery life to be around 5 to 6 hours based on average daily usage.

https/www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-i3-7100U-Windows-E5-575-33BM/dp/B01K1IO3QW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1475751103&sr=1-15&keywords=e+15&linkCode=sl1&tag=tecdea0f-20&linkId=973caed1ea66abfb86c5ee0a1596151b


Here's a review (and there is also a playlist link which includes upgrades and few games if you are interested).

https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcdK_jmyOJY