Laptop for 800 or less

[jduvall88]

General Questions

1) What is your budget? 800 or less, i can maybe squeeze 850 if the specs are just that much better

2) What size notebook would you prefer?


c. Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen
d. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen

Prefer 14 to 15

3) Where will you buying this notebook? You can select the flag of your country as an indicator. USA

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?

a. Like: Lenovo, Dell, Asus
b. Dislike: Alienware

5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed?Yes

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?General use(IE School/work) Light gaming (nothing ultra modern thats what my xbox is for)

7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both? Both

8) Will you be playing games on your notebook? If so, please state which games or types of games? MAYBE starcraft 2 but that doubtful

9) How many hours of battery life do you need? avg, 3 or so?

10) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK? yes

11) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista or Windows 7), Mac OS, Linux, etc. Windows 7, Linux (Debian)

Screen Specifics

12) From the choices below, what screen resolution(s) would you prefer? Keep in mind screen size in conjunction with resolution will play a large role in overall viewing comfort level. Everyone is different. Some like really small text, while others like their text big and easy to read. If you are unsure of what to purchase, we would highly recommend you check some notebook screens before you buy to see what you like. You may also wish to take a look at the notebook screen guide for more information.


* Standard Resolutions: WXGA, HD, 720p
* Actual resolutions: 1280x800 and 1366x768
* Offered on larger Netbooks and Notebooks up to 16"
* Lower resolution screens offer big text and icons that are easy to read. Less stuff fits on the screen, which translates into more scrolling. Multiple windows can be worked with, though they may have to overlap some.
* Midrange Resolutions: WXGA+, HD+, 900p
* Actual resolutions: 1440x900 and 1600x900
* Offered on all Notebooks. Keep in mind text will be very small on a 12" WXGA+ notebook.
* A set of in-between resolution options that are found on some machines. Considered base resolution on 17" inch and higher laptops. Text and icons are smaller than standard resolution screens, and more windows fit onto the screen. These resolutions are very good for working with multiple windows side-by-side, without having to overlap them.
* Maximum Resolutions: WSXGA+, WUXGA, FHD, 1080p
* Actual resolutions: 1680x1050, 1920x1200 and 1920x1080
* Offered on Notebook 15" and larger
* On these screens text and icons will be very small. Text can often be hard to read, though some do like it. A very large number of windows fit on the screen, and there will be little need to overlap any of them. Max resolution screens are good for applications that require high detail (CAD, graphics editing, etc.)

13) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen? I would really prefer non glossy (lenovo-ish) screen

Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you? Not as much as specs

15) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last? At least 1-2 years

Notebook Components

16) How much hard drive space do you need; 80GB to 640GB? Do you want a SSD drive? 250+ would suffce

17) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a CDRW/DVD-ROM, DVD Burner or Blu-Ray drive? DVD is fine blu ray would just be gravy


Right now I'm looking at ASUS UL80Vt- A2 14-Inch Thin and Light Laptop the graphics boost thing is interesting but the rest of the specs are solid enough for me.
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[ZaZ]

T400 from the Lenovo Outlet might be worth a look.

[jduvall88]

T400 from the Lenovo Outlet might be worth a look.

The lenovo outlet (outlet.lenovo.com) is down for maintence until further notice

[ZaZ]

It's not like it's never coming back.

[jduvall88]

Well after looking around the lenovo t400 is very nice (Newegg link

Its a solidly built computer its a thinkpad what isnt nice (ok so the Intel Hd4500 but I'm sure it'll handle stuff like Neverwinter nights and other old games just fine and probably even some fairly newer games)

I also came across Asus K50ID-X1

Now its a little bit bigger than I wanted, about 200 dollars cheaper (171) more memory but has a glossy case and screen

Also looking at Lenovo Ideapad y550p

Its again more expensive but it rivals the asus for specs gotten some so-so reviews.

Any input

[synaesthetic]

Gateway NV5925u.

Currently $700 from tigerdirect.com with Bing Cashback refund.