Looking for a Laptop for College

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TheRocheLad

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Dec 4, 2012
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Hey guys I've started College recently and I've found I really need a Laptop for assignments as I'm out and about most of the day. I'm using it primarily for word processing, light programming, small bit of image editing and I'd like to also be able to watch some movies on it as well as browse the web.

1. What is your budget?

Between €400 - €500 ideally, it's probably a little light for buying a laptop but I'm pretty broke.


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


I'd like it to be a medium size notebook if possible, I'll be carrying it around everyday pretty much and it'd be nice if it were easily to get around with. I also don't like laptops which are too small (netbooks I think?), I find they're a bit awkward to use for long periods.

3. What screen resolution do you want?


The highest resolution I can get, within my budget that is, I'm used to working with large monitors so a high resolution would be a plus.


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


Well I've already got a decent desktop gaming rig so something portable would be preferable.

5. How much battery life do you need?

Anything which meets the average and above is fine.

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)?

Not too important I've already got a gaming rig, perhaps Minecraft on medium settings would be nice but not essential.

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

Well Word Processing, light programming, watching video, browsing the internet and light image editing as I listed before.

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

About 500GB and up would be nice.

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

I can get things cheaper on -
PixmaniaPro

But from what I understand their selection isn't the most diverse, I'll buy from any site which ships to Ireland for a reasonable price though.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?

For about two years perhaps? Maybe less depending.

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

I don't really ever use the Optical Drive so whatever is cheapest.

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.

Not much preference as long as they have good build quality and decent support services.

13. What country do you live in?

Ireland

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

That's about it, thanks so much for the consideration.
 

azathoth

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Jun 25, 2011
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Option 1,
http://www.pixmania-pro.ie/ie/uk/19335141/art/asus/x501a-xx280h-white.html
This laptop will perform all the tasks you ask of it, and it is even well under budget.

Option 2,
http://www.pixmania-pro.ie/ie/uk/19297974/art/sony/vaio-e-series-sve1512b1ew-white.html
This laptop has a spike in price, and it is really only slightly faster. The processor is about 10% faster than the first one, and it has HD4000 graphics instead of HD3000. However with the workload, I would personally deem unjustifiable over the price of the first.


Every laptop in that price range comes with the standard 1366x768 15.6" format.
 

TheRocheLad

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Dec 4, 2012
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Hmm, I do agree with you on the price point. Though I do have one concern, I've found generally with cheaper laptops the build quality tends to be worse also. Do you think that's an issue?

I'll look into them myself later when I've got time, thanks for the recommendations!
 

Kiowa789

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Oct 8, 2012
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Don't worry about price/quality with those brands, sony, maybe, Asus is fine however.
 

azathoth

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Jun 25, 2011
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Now days, build quality seems to be hit and miss for any laptop. Be it a $300 netbook, a $600 multimedia laptop or a $1200 gaming PC.

The laptops build quality should be fine though, it's more of a brand thing than a price point.

 
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