Looking for a thin laptop with either long battery life

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shortylickens

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,080
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or replaceable/up-gradable batteries.

School of Management requires it, even though on the Mason home page they say no current programs REQUIRE a laptop.
Minimum requirements were written by someone who does not understand computers.

- 2.3 GHz

Thats it, thats the requirement. No specification of core type. So in theory I could use an Athlon XP or Pentium 4 laptop, if I could find one.

Also needs office 2007 but again, they didnt specify which one. I'd assume the Student/Teacher version since that makes sense.

I think I'd like to go with one of those new thin laptops but I need it to survive a whole day at school and I dont know for sure I'd be able to plug it in or not. Needs to be either super power efficient (but not the Mac) or have the ability to swap in larger batteries. I am not partial to or against any particular brand. A netbook wont be sufficient for all day typing. I'm thinking about something between 11 and 14 inches and no more than 4 pounds. Have seen quite a few advertised at 3 pounds or even 2 and a half.
 
shortylickens

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,080
136
I should mention I wont be running ANYTHING on this besides Office. No couch, no games, no movies, no music. I have an Atrix 2 with 32gigs of storage for entertainment.

Need to save battery power for school work, during the day, and nothing else. I'll probably end up taking my moms Swiss tech backpack (got her an ergonomic one with lumbar support this past Xmas) and slipping it in the little padded sleeve. May not even take along a wireless mouse.
 
akugami

akugami

Diamond Member
Feb 14, 2005
6,210
2,550
136
Try to test the keyboard if possible at a brick and mortar store. Some of those laptop keyboards are complete crap. They are simply unusable. I'm a touch typist but my typing speed is cut by more than half using most laptop keyboards. It got to the point where I would do the "two finger typing" that you see someone who doesn't know how to type do.

I'm hoping to pick up a Lenovo T430 but the price is a tad too high at the moment. I've heard that the Lenovo X230 (also pricey) has the same keyboard and is much lighter. Battery life seems decent on both units as long as you're not running Crysis.
 
M

maniac5999

Senior member
Dec 30, 2009
505
14
81
It sounds like you need either an Atom or Bobcat based netbook (Personally, I'd go Bobcat, although, I'm waiting for 28nm refresh, or possibly Haswell to update my beast)

As others have said, try to use the keyboard/trackpad before buying, One other thing that I'll throw in is that you may not actually want "Thin" We get that you're looking for a super portable laptop, but from my experience, portability is defined by the X and Y dimensions (length and width) not the Z (height). Personally, my old U230 is somewhere between an 11" and 13" air in X and Y, but about as thick as 3 11" airs stacked on top of each other (1.22") The thickness has never bothered me. ..Now if only it could get reasonable battery life...
 
shortylickens

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,080
136
Nope, no Atom netbooks. Keyboard is too small, system is too slow to actually do anything.
I've got a netbook right now and its not good for much besides couch surfing.

Those Lenovos seem nice but kinda of expensive considering its just for school work. But I like the 30 hour battery.

NEW RULE!
- Needs to be around 600 dollars, though I could go up a little if the device is good. Like maybe 700.


And I think I will go to the Best Buy mobile store at the mall and play with some keyboards. I just got my mom an HP a month ago. I did not like those flat keys.
 
P

Puddle Jumper

Platinum Member
Nov 4, 2009
2,835
1
0
shortylickens said:
Nope, no Atom netbooks. Keyboard is too small, system is too slow to actually do anything.
I've got a netbook right now and its not good for much besides couch surfing.

Those Lenovos seem nice but kinda of expensive considering its just for school work. But I like the 30 hour battery.

NEW RULE!
- Needs to be around 600 dollars, though I could go up a little if the device is good. Like maybe 700.


And I think I will go to the Best Buy mobile store at the mall and play with some keyboards. I just got my mom an HP a month ago. I did not like those flat keys.
Click to expand...

Using the Lenovo education link posted above you should be able to get an Thinkpad x220 for a little over $700. I would be sure to spend the money to get the upgraded display, it's any IPS panel and a steal for $50.

I realize that's over your budget but the x220 is absolutely perfect for your needs, it has the best keyboard you can get in a laptop and good battery life as well.
 
shortylickens

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,080
136
Those Lenovos look alright but way too thick and heavy. At Best Buy I found a Toshiba ultrabook and it definitely fits the bill for compactness. Keyboard was acceptable. The other brands I really didnt like, especially HP.
8 hours of battery should be enough for me. Gotta research and see if it actually works that well. And it was only 700. Could probably do better online.


EDIT:
Nope, thats 200 cheaper than the official price.
 
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P

pelov

Diamond Member
Dec 6, 2011
3,510
6
0
Anonemous said:
Get a toshiba portege, thin and light 3.2 lbs with a DVD drive (which can be removed for an additional hdd) it also has 6-7 hrs of battery life.
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Port%C...dp_ob_title_ce
Click to expand...

Where? :)

All I've seen is this:

http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Porteg...s=toshiba+z835 but it's got an i3.

actually, you're right.
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Porté...id=1340395986&sr=8-1&keywords=toshiba+protege
But any word on these with a Trinity or IB? I own a Satellite 17" Toshiba that has fantastic build quality and is quite sturdy but am looking to replace it with something lighter and better graphics.
 
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shortylickens

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,080
136
That thicker Toshiba looks perfect. Only a tad heavier and better features and a MUCH better bargain.

Thanks Anonemous!
 
W

weovpac

Golden Member
Apr 12, 2000
1,381
0
76
paperwastage said:
the x220 starts at 3.3 pounds (depend on config etc)

it has a optional 9 cell battery for 7-8 hours, and optional slice for up to 15

x220, probably you can hunt in lenovo's outlet mall(seeing that it's successor x230 has been announced). definitely seen some versions(i3, no ips screen) for under $700
Click to expand...

+1
 
J

jihe

Senior member
Nov 6, 2009
747
97
91
shortylickens said:
Nope, no Atom netbooks. Keyboard is too small, system is too slow to actually do anything.
I've got a netbook right now and its not good for much besides couch surfing.

Those Lenovos seem nice but kinda of expensive considering its just for school work. But I like the 30 hour battery.

NEW RULE!
- Needs to be around 600 dollars, though I could go up a little if the device is good. Like maybe 700.


And I think I will go to the Best Buy mobile store at the mall and play with some keyboards. I just got my mom an HP a month ago. I did not like those flat keys.
Click to expand...

You can find previous gen X220's for about 700. It has better keyboard than the new X230 in my opinion.
 
shortylickens

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,080
136
Thanks buddy, but I already ordered the above mentioned thicker Toshiba. It only weighs 3.2 pounds.
 
R

rsutoratosu

Platinum Member
Feb 18, 2011
2,716
4
81
i just took down the z830 today, its 2.4 lb.. prob not a screamer but its like the lightest ultrabook i seen for sale ... new ones are always coming out
 
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