Laptop Recommendations - never had one!

[lilrayray69]

Hey everyone I'm wanting a laptop for college but I really don't have any experience with them so I don't know what brands are good, what prices are decent, and what sort of hardware and overall build to look for.

I've got this desktop PC for any gaming or whatever, so it doesn't need to be a beast. It'd mainly be used for writing papers, internet research, projects and presentations, etc. I'd like to be able to play some less demanding games on it perhaps, but really that's no big priority.

One of the main concerns is battery life, as I'd rather not have to continually plug it in during school. A nice screen would be great, easier on the eyes and all that. Preferably fairly light. Honestly if I could afford a Macbook Pro I'd probably get one, granted I don't much like Apple or MacOS but damn those laptops are made well.

I'd like to stay under ~$700. I haven't heard good things about "ultrabooks", especially them not being reliable. Any recommendations would be a good starting place really.

Thanks

 

[zerogear]

At this point. I think Surface Pro or Surface Pro 2 would be really nice especially since they are two devices in one, and extremely light. They are built quite well and come with Stylus input, which is nice to take notes with (especially with OneNote).

Surface Pro is around 799, and Surface Pro 2 starts at 899. Once Surface Pro 2 is released you may see a further discount on Surface Pro as retailers try to get rid of remaining stock, also Microsoft provides 10% educational discount if you have a .edu email address.

 

[lilrayray69]

Those do look pretty nice. If the Pro 1 drops a good bit when the 2 comes out I may consider it.

 

[VirtualLarry]

see my thread on this one:

Should be a good note-taker, if you can stand the smaller screen and keyboard. Battery life is supposed to be 6.5 hours.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834314110

If one of those Surface Pro units has better battery life and is lighter-weight, then that indeed might be a better choice.

 

[Essence_of_War]

Link to your thread, VirtualLarry?

Edit: It was on the frontpage, my bad!

 

[cousin]

Friends, I have looked through the theme reading the suggestions, and then looked at those Surface Pro 1 and 2. I must say Wow! They are so cool. Very convenient, with very good specs. lilrayray69, that is really good choice. I would like to buy Surface Pro 1, definitely, but my problem is that I do not have my free $800 now.

 

[ninaholic37]

Friends, I have looked through the theme reading the suggestions, and then looked at those Surface Pro 1 and 2. I must say Wow! They are so cool. Very convenient, with very good specs. lilrayray69, that is really good choice. I would like to buy Surface Pro 1, definitely, but my problem is that I do not have my free $800 now.

I tried one today at Future Shop and the rubber keyboard was extremely strange, it felt even weirder than trying to use a "virtual keyboard" on a tablet, I never knew when I was actually hitting the keys or not. Does anyone actually use this (touch cover) keyboard, or do they all opt for the actual (type cover) keyboard for $130 extra?

 

[lilrayray69]

Yeah they seem nice but like ninaholic is saying I'm not sure about the keyboard...unless you get the nicer one, a ridiculous $130. The tablet itself is a bit high at $700 starting - but then add all the peripherals and it quickly jumps higher.

 

[Murloc]

I've had a great experience with a toshiba portégé 13.3''.
As long as you recharge it every night (the battery discharges even if it's turned off, even if you deactivate USB recharching with turned off notebook), it lasts 8 hours of light use (microsoft word, windows explorer). So basically the whole day.
It's also lightweight (1.3 kg or so) and a good size for working but small enough for portability, the case feels nice and not plasticky at all (it's some alloy), the performance is very good and I never feel slowed down, unlike netbooks, if you do light use it's like using a desktop computer. I'm sure it'd be able to run games, the only limitation is the integrated intel GPU.

The problem: this sort of notebook is pricey, you won't find one for 700$.

 

[corkyg]

Murlock - if you turn off Wi-Fi, the battery discharge might be much less when OFF.