Which laptop best suits my needs/wants?

manolito_mp12

Honorable
Oct 25, 2012
4
0
10,510
Hello,

1. What is your budget?

Not more than $500

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

14-15.6 inch

3. What screen resolution do you want?

Not too worried about it, as long it looks good.

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

portable

5. How much battery life do you need?
I would be perfectly happy with 4 or more.

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)?

No gaming at all.

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

Im a college student so primarily word, excel, p point, watching videos, and a lot of internet browsing for research purposes. So general multi tasking i guess.

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

Not much, I think 320GB would be ok but obviously 500GB better.

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

ASUS K55A-BI5093B http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00960AXQQ/ref=asc_df_B00960AXQQ2218031?smid=A1BVYXEL822RF0&tag=nextagusmp0360163-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395105&creativeASIN=B00960AXQQ

Samsung http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4907350&sku=S203-156315&SRCCODE=LINKSHARE&cm_mmc_o=-ddCjC1bELltzywCjC-d2CjCdwwp&AffiliateID=WxHRncoD05Y-qji4yI9AEG6Z2yQfxP0qUQ

Lenovo ThinkPad T430
Lenovo ThinkPad E530
Lenovo G580
10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?

4-5 yrs.

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

I don't really need any optical drive generally but if any a DVD ROM/Writer definitely don't need BluRay

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.

Ive been primarily looking at Asus K series, Lenovo Thinkpads and Thinkpad edge and Samsung.

13. What country do you live in?

USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

My biggest concern is to be durable, portable, good keyboard, and relatively fast for the things that I need it for.

I'm willing to consider any other computers that might suit my needs better wthin my budget.
 

manolito_mp12

Honorable
Oct 25, 2012
4
0
10,510
If it came down to these two laptops:

Samsung NP300E4C-A03US Notebook PC - 3rd generation Intel Core i5-3210 2.5GHz, 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, DVDRW, 14" Display, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. Link: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4907350&sku=S203-156315&SRCCODE=LINKSHARE&cm_mmc_o=-ddCjC1bELltzywCjC-d2CjCdwwp&AffiliateID=WxHRncoD05Y-qji4yI9AEG6Z2yQfxP0qUQ

$479

or

Asus ASUS K55A-BI5093B Laptop Computer - 3rd generation Intel Core i5-3210M 2.5GHz, 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, DVDRW, 15.6" Display, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3924783&csid=_61

$499
 

ittimjones

Honorable
Oct 1, 2012
65
0
10,610
Unless the additional $20 is worth it for the extra 1.6 inches of screen space and bigger overall dimensions, I would get the Samsung.

The specs are almost identical, but small things struck me as the Samsung being the better choice. not only is it cheaper, but it's smaller and lighter, so it'll be easier to tote around and all it's USB ports are USB 3.0.