looking for a powerful 14" notebook with good battery life... need help

[A6ndrew]

New member here and this is my first post, so here goes:

I just graduated with a BSME (hence little knowledge of electronics) and i am a novice when it comes to "good" computers... That said, I have always used cheap laptops for school but I would like something nice now. i know NOTHING about different graphics cards other than integrated = worse quality with less power consumption and dedicated = better quality, more power consumption... as for processors... some people have told me "i7 or bust" some have told me "i3 is fine"... hence my confusion.


General Questions

1) What is your budget? 800-1500 (will explain why the large range later - see question #6)

2) What size notebook would you prefer?
*must* be 14-14.5"... i have a 15.6" notebook now and its too big/clunky for me to sit comfortable on the couch with. That said i think 13-13.3" will just be too small

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: ASUS, dell, Lenovo, and others (really like ASUS, not crazy about the bamboo ones though)
b. Dislike: HP, Toshiba

5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed? no, must be new.

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?
I just got a job as a mechanical designer (lots of CAD) and it would be nice if my personal computer had the ability to handle CAD work in case i ever got the urge to (or needed to) open/review/modify work files at home. CAD program would be Siemens NX 7 if that matters. 3D modeling, drafting, multi-part assemblies etc...

yes, i can use a company notebook if i need to, but that means having two laptops to carry around because i wont be able to use the company notebook for personal stuff. so *IF* i can get a 14" notebook that is capable of handling CAD work (and everything else listed below) for $1500 i would be interested. otherwise i cant really justify going beyond that.

if not, than i would like to keep my budget around 800-1100 for the following uses:
heavy internet use, streaming big/HD videos, torrenting, 10+ tabs open at once, etc...
Watching Bluray/HD quality movies smoothly would be sweet
needs webcam/needs to be able to video chat smoothly while doing other stuff
all your typical office/email stuff

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? no games.

9) How many hours of battery life do you need? at least 4, but as close to 10 as possible

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? buying online without seeing is okay with me

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

Screen Specifics

12) From the choices below, what screen resolution(s) would you prefer? Not sure about this... i dont mind small text as long as it's not really tiny. what is best for a 14" screen?

13) Do you want a Glossy/reflective screen or a Matte/non-glossy screen? glossy... i think...


Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you? yes. Lightweight and thinner is much preferred. sleekness and smoothness are important.

15) When are you buying this laptop? ASAP

16) How long do you want this laptop to last? 3-4 years

Notebook Components

17) How much hard drive space do you need; 80GB to 640GB? Do you want a SSD drive? dont need a SSD 500GB +/-

18) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a CDRW/DVD-ROM, DVD Burner or Blu-Ray drive? just regular DVD



Thanks in advance for any help!

[User Retired 2]

Suggest work through the Sandby Bridge notebooks for an eGPU list. Sony SA, Toshiba R840 and Lenovo T420s are the thinnest/lightest units with a 1600x900 LCD. Though no quad-core option. A $850 Lenovo Y470 quad-core + bluray covers many of your needs however it's 1366x768.

THere's a 33% off coupon that takes a 15.6" HP DV6TQE with a 1080p LCD, quad cpu and HD6770M for < $900.

[Leoben]

A $850 Lenovo Y470 quad-core + bluray covers many of your needs however it's 1366x768.

That seems like a rather nice deal (other than the hoop jumping).

A question though. Do you think the OP really needs a quad core? It's included default in this deal of course but is there a reason he needs it?

[User Retired 2]

A question though. Do you think the OP really needs a quad core? It's included default in this deal of course but is there a reason he needs it?

Any 3D modelling CAD work would be assisted by a quad's computational power. Though re-reading the post it seems an "i7 or bust" is OK (dual-core)? Which opens the options up.

[mmmangoes]

-thinkpad t420
-Asus U46SV

For cad- HP Elitebook 8460w