Trying to find a laptop

[mentalcase87]

I am looking to find a laptop but I just keep finding myself caught up on the details I shouldn't be worrying about due to having built a gaming rig not to long ago. I am after something transportable and I really believe I want a touch screen for win 8. I love the idea of convertible units and am swaying toward that but having a hard time finding one I like. I want at least 4GB of ram and I believe I want a processor over 2.0ghz I will be primarily using it for RDP, web browsing, possibly playing some games but my desktop is the go to for that, and studying for my microsoft certs. My labs are run on another pc running vmware so they won't really have a impact on the system, maybe some photoshop if it can handle it.

I am so used to having my SSD that I feel like I am making a mistake by finding a system that doesn't have at least 8GB of ssd to use for the OS. I want to spend under 1K and would really like to stay under 800 if possible. Amazon is my biggest go to for purchasing but I do have a BBY close by.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

[EliteRetard]

$400 11.6" Asus Vivobook, i3, 4GB, Win 8, touchscreen...everything you need.
If you want just add a good 256GB SSD for ~$160.

Actually they're $500 at Amazon/BB right now...wait for a sale or buy elsewhere.

There are several 14-15.6" touchscreen units for $550-650 if you want larger/faster.
Dell, Acer, Asus, Lenovo, no reason to spend $800-1000.

Then there are refurb deals like Dell outlet...

 

[mentalcase87]

Thanks for the input I'm going to look into them now. Do you have input on a unit that could also just be a screen with a keyboard dock? I really wish the surface pro would of pulled it off.

 

[mentalcase87]

The Asus is pretty solid, paired with a hybrid drive that could be perfect.

 

[Gloomy]

Then there are refurb deals like Dell outlet...

This is my recommendation. There are some pretty crazy coupons active at the moment until the 19th.

The current XPS ultrabook lineup is very attractive. I wouldn't touch the XPS 15 with a 20ft pole since it seems to have some issues but the 12, 13, and 14 are really good laptops.

Here are the coupons:

Take 30% off any Dell Outlet XPS 13 Ultrabook, XPS 8500 desktop or XPS One 2710 all-in-one!
8DQRXPX$?1$RTZ

Take 25% off any Dell Outlet XPS 10 Tablet or XPS 12 Convertible Ultrabook!
HX?R1SXHL6QC1D

Take 25% off any Dell Outlet XPS 14 Ultrabook or XPS 15 - L521X!
FB8PQHBVV6Z8V7

Take 25% off any Dell Outlet Inspiron R Series or Ultrabook laptop!
01NFGB6TL4T2F1

I already nabbed a maxed-out XPS 14 with a 512GB SSD for 900 dollars.

 

[EliteRetard]

Thanks for the input I'm going to look into them now. Do you have input on a unit that could also just be a screen with a keyboard dock? I really wish the surface pro would of pulled it off.

Asus has their transformer line, I've seen them going for stupid cheap as of late ($400-500 with dock)...but they're Tegra 3, not x86 compatible.

My dad got a tablet with a separate keyboard, currently not as useful as an actual laptop IMO. In the case of the transformer line though they do get much better battery life.

Any tablet that is x86 compatible is going to be as large as a similar screen sized laptop currently. Haswell may change things.

Part of why I recommended going cheap with something like that Asus Vivobook, throw away price should tide you over for a year or two until we get some better revisions on Windows tablets. First gen stuff is almost always lacking or worse.