Please recommend a laptop for college student under $800

[DNyholm]

My niece needs a new laptop for college. Of course she wants an apple, and I have found a MacBook air 128GB HD i5, 8GB Ram for under $800, but I am not an apple guy and feel I can get a much better performing computer for much less (or same) money. This is what I am looking for:
13-14" screen
6+ hrs battery life
SSD drive (hopefully 256 or bigger)
integrated graphics
current tech processor
HDMI output
2+ USB (3.0)
thin and light are priorities as well.

I am looking for some suggestions on configurations to start looking at. Also brands. It has been a while since I purchased a computer/laptop so I am not current with what brands to look for.

Also, if you think the Mac may be the correct route to go, please let me know that as well. I personally feel a Mac is a pretty wrapper around mediocre parts for a high price. They charge almost $200 to upgrade from a 128 GB to a 256 GB HD and there are no user serviceable parts in order to do the upgrade myself for much cheaper.

Any guidance would be appreciated!! Thanks in advance!


EDIT: After I posted I saw my signature. As you can see, it has been a LONG TIME since I have searched for computers as the one in my sig is still trucking along!!!

 

[giantpandaman2]

Macbook Air is slow as molasses and almost useless...but it works for general students who are only using it for messaging, internet, and word processing.

There are definitely faster laptops available...but none nearly as light or maybe as durable at that price. $1000+ is where the quality really starts to improve. A T series Thinkpad would probably be best...but I doubt she'd be happy with its chunkiness or the screen.

So, as sad as I am to say it, the Macbook Air is probably the computer she'll be happiest with.

 

[Commodus]

I have to fundamentally disagree with giantpandaman2 on the MacBook Air -- it's only slow if you're doing serious media editing or playing games, and it's far, far, far from useless. What model year is the MacBook Air? if it's 2014 or newer, I'd say it's up to the job for school.

One important thing to remember is that Apple isn't just charging for processor speed, storage and RAM. It's charging you so that you have a computer that lasts for 12 hours of real-world use. So that you get a keyboard and trackpad that are actually nice to use, instead of mushy keys or jittery tracking (that last one is a recurring problem on Windows laptops). So that you don't have to spend 2 hours on the phone with extremely poor tech support to get a solution that could have been offered in 20 minutes.

This isn't to apologize for its shortcomings. I wish the Air had a better display (not an issue for school, just a nice-to-have), more baseline storage for the money and didn't require an adapter for HDMI, but it's a near-ideal school computer. You don't have to worry about plugging in between classes, it's great to type on, it's really easy to carry and it'll feel fast thanks to that SSD.

If you need Windows alternatives? I'd lean toward the Dell XPS 13. It's faster, packs a higher-res screen and is very compact, it's just not going to last as long on battery or have the same input quality.

 

[giantpandaman2]

My mistake, I had the Air mixed up with the Macbook. Macbook is slower than molasses. Macbook Air is actually not that bad.

I'll have to disagree with you on both keyboards and trackpads. The nicer laptops are equal to the Air, and, in fact, better when it comes to keyboards in my opinion. The problem is the OP's price is too low to get to most of those.

Personally, I only like the Macbook Pros out of all Mac laptops, even though they are in sore need of an update and some slimming. They have good screens and a decent keyboard coupled with excellent battery life.

 

[nerp]

Macs are fragile and break easily. The keyboards are garbage. I've owned plenty and still own some. Get her a ThinkPad.

 

[Piano Man]

My niece needs a new laptop for college. Of course she wants an apple, and I have found a MacBook air 128GB HD i5, 8GB Ram for under $800, but I am not an apple guy and feel I can get a much better performing computer for much less (or same) money. This is what I am looking for:
13-14" screen
6+ hrs battery life
SSD drive (hopefully 256 or bigger)
integrated graphics
current tech processor
HDMI output
2+ USB (3.0)
thin and light are priorities as well.

I am looking for some suggestions on configurations to start looking at. Also brands. It has been a while since I purchased a computer/laptop so I am not current with what brands to look for.

Also, if you think the Mac may be the correct route to go, please let me know that as well. I personally feel a Mac is a pretty wrapper around mediocre parts for a high price. They charge almost $200 to upgrade from a 128 GB to a 256 GB HD and there are no user serviceable parts in order to do the upgrade myself for much cheaper.

Any guidance would be appreciated!! Thanks in advance!


EDIT: After I posted I saw my signature. As you can see, it has been a LONG TIME since I have searched for computers as the one in my sig is still trucking along!!!

I just did a simple power search on newegg.com and came up with these. Can't vouch for thim, but they fit your requirements (I also filtered for laptop with at least 8GB of RAM and 1080p displays).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315444

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315380

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834297403

 

[Commodus]

My mistake, I had the Air mixed up with the Macbook. Macbook is slower than molasses. Macbook Air is actually not that bad.

I'll have to disagree with you on both keyboards and trackpads. The nicer laptops are equal to the Air, and, in fact, better when it comes to keyboards in my opinion. The problem is the OP's price is too low to get to most of those.

Personally, I only like the Macbook Pros out of all Mac laptops, even though they are in sore need of an update and some slimming. They have good screens and a decent keyboard coupled with excellent battery life.

I've definitely seen some nice Windows keyboards and trackpads, but they're rare... and like you said, generally not near this price range. Apple's advantage is that, as a rule, it maintains its quality across laptop models. Even the 12-inch MacBook's thin-travel keys are at least solid and reliable. I'm not so sure about the trackpads, because Apple is pretty good about using multi-touch to its advantage.

Have to admit: although I think the 12-inch MacBook is good for the basics, it's just not priced well for what it does. I'd want Apple to either cut the price dramatically or admit it and build something more akin to a modernized MacBook Air.

 

[fire400]

depends what class of the macbook air. i7 with 8gb is very decent, but the price tag, not so great for budgets compared to PC laptops.

however, the newest 13" macbook air i5 with 8gb, $750 + tax, with student coupon deal and stacked sale discount at best buy? that's hard to beat, especially given the battery life the macbook air will promise. thees units are vastly, vastly... improved in overall system performance over the 4gb models with the older haswell processors, and offers excellent multitasking.

Lenovo Yoga 710 14", silver one with thinner bezel, not a bad deal, except for the keyboard is terrible for individuals that are used to the shift key on the bottom right, 'cuz now it's on the far, far right, and requires quite a reach for most typers.

if going for the thinkpad yoga x1 or carbon designs, dig through forums first. because some of the revisions are plagued with flaws that are near impossible to fix.

there is a black and gold HP model out, M3-u003dx, macbook air wannabe, basically with touch screen and half the battery life.

i'd do macbook air 8gb, or x1 8gb carbon on eBay for ~$500.
new replacement batteries for x1 carbon are only $50 if you want the full battery life replacement pack.

 

[Commodus]

I'd add that if your niece wants a Mac and she doesn't need any Windows-only apps (that's usually only true in fields like engineering), it's probably best to get what she wants if you can find it within budget. She'll be happier overall. That $750 Best Buy deal that fire400 mentioned is really, really good -- I'd look into it.

 

[Azuma Hazuki]

Asus makes an excellent Q300-series machine that gets exclusively sold at Best Buy. I believe the model is Q303A or somesuch...Skylake i5 CPU, 13" 1080p screen, solid black metal body, backlit silver keys. My one gripe is that the arrow keys are tiny--we're talking "Toshiba Radius" tiny--but in every other respect it's awesome.