A capable, reliable budget laptop?

[GroutEatdoors]

I'm trying to help a friend pick out a new laptop. She's been using an old Dell inspiron 1501 (?) for several years - it's been serviceable, though it's also been reformatted a couple times and is definitely on its last legs. I believe she purchased the old one for around $500, and I think she'd like to stay in the $400-$550 range again.

1) What is your budget?

$400-$600

2) What size notebook would you prefer?

14" or 15", preferably (portable, not too big, doesn't have to be tiny either)

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

interested in Asus, Samsung, Acer, Sony, maybe HP or Lenovo;
don't like Dells very much.

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

no.

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?

standard internet usage, video streaming, dvd-burning, maybe a little video encoding here and there. Good, smooth video playback is a must.

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?

freecell.

9) How many hours of battery life do you need?

At least 5 would be nice.

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?

For complicated reasons this will probably have to be purchased from Best Buy. probably in store, but online might work too.

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

Windows 7

12) From the choices below, what screen resolution(s) would you prefer?

not sure - something nice! Also, this computer may be used to stream to an HD-tv at some point, if that's relevant.

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

probably non-glossy.

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?

no.

15) When are you buying this laptop?

ASAP

16) How long do you want this laptop to last?

A while. At least several years. I think the Dell has lasted almost 5, so that would be the ballpark.

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

I'm guessing SSD is out of her price range. The more disk space the better, though. Maybe 150GB as a baseline and 500+GB being the goal.

18) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD Burner, Blu-ray Reader or Blu-Ray Burner?

A DVD burner would be good.

Thanks very much for any feedback!

[idiot101]

Please have a look at this

HP - 15.6" Pavilion Laptop - 6GB Memory - 640GB Hard Drive - Midnight Black - m6-1035dx

This unfortunately has a glossy display.

Lenovo - 15.6" IdeaPad Laptop - 6GB Memory - 750GB Hard Drive - P580-308725U

There aren't many matte displays in this price range at bestbuy.

[GroutEatdoors]

I will take a look at those, thanks.

Is there any kind of consensus about what brands tend to be more reliable in that price range? My experience for the past decade has only been with Dells, which I've found increasingly disappointing over the years... As its been some years since my last computer purchase, I'm also a little unclear on how to differentiate the different processors (i3, i5, i7) and what is necessary for what needs (and for longevity).

[idiot101]

You simply cannot determine which brands are more reliable. Every OEM has produced a dud. You will need to go with the reviews of the laptop you choose. The Intel processors come with HD Graphics 4000 that are good enough to play any media on the planet. Your workload can be handled by any of the i series of processors. I am still on the Core 2 duo series from 4 years back and I am able to run my laptop without issues. If you are doing any conversions or transcoding, the built in support should help you a lot. You don't have to worry about slow downs for some time. The i5 in the Lenovo is pretty fast. Longevity can be improved by adding an SSD. But right now, you have nothing to be worried about. Business class laptops have better builds for the same price and warranties are generally better.