Advice Buying a college laptop

snooleen

Budget: 500. Could maybe push it to 600.
Intended Use: For college. It will be travelling for 3 hours everyday so it would want to be sturdy :P But also light
Mobility: Same. I want something that will fit in my backpack and won't be too bulky.
Warranty: My dad is buying this and he doesn't believe in warranty :P
OS: I'd LOVE a macbook or macbook pro but it doesn't fit the budget. I despise Windows 7 and for this reason I'm not off adding a Dell Inspiron 15 to my shopping cart and instead seeking advice here before I rush into anything.

Any advice would be appreciated My own research so far has led me to conclude that a dell inspiron is probably my best option but as I said, I'd like to be sure of it before I buy anything!

bhickey

The Dell Inspiron 15 should be spot on but try and stretch to an i3 processor. The extra grunt with the i3 processor might help you get over the Windows 7 thing eventually.

snooleen

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/ieweb/LenovoPortal/en_IE/catalog.workflow:expandcategory?issBase=ProductsCategory&issCategory=/Notebooks/IdeaPad%20notebooks/U%20Series

What does anyone think of this? Sounds good for college and seems to be less bulky than a dell.

ED E

This: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Toshiba-Satellite-L650-12K-Notebook-i3-330M/dp/B003TJ9FY6/ref=sr_1_84?s=STORE&ie=UTF8&qid=1283885266&sr=1-84

Darwin

The Lenovo is a nice enough machine (I know somebody who has one), but it has no integrated DVD drive so you would need to budget for this. Also the one you have linked to for 589e has a 4-cell battery - you need the 8 cell to get the touted 10 hour battery life. It won't be a speed demon either with that ULV processor. I think you might have to be prepared to make some compromises within your budget. The Samsung R530 is available with a Core i3 processor within your budget and it packs a decent spec. The compromises are weight (1KG heavier than the Lenovo) and screen size (15"). Some links:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-notebook-i3-330M-320Gb-Silver/dp/B003EJPK36

http://www.microanvika.com/product.asp?PNO=SAM14625&MPNO=NP-R530-JB01UK%20&PNAME=Samsung-R530-15%276-W7HP-3GB-320GB&ref=&cam=SAM14625&key=142428

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Samsung_R530-JB01UK_Core_i3_Laptop_in_Red-Silver_NP-R530-JB01UK/version.asp

http://www.elara.ie/products/detailsfull.asp?productcode=ECE1938908

http://www.dabs.ie/products/samsung-r530-intel-core-i3-3gb-ram-320gb-hdd-dvdrw-windows-7-home-premium---15-6--screen-laptop-6NB9.html

snooleen

Both look great, thanks! I'm not sure what exactly to do yet, I'll have to make sure my budget does stretch to 600 first. And I don't mind the compromise, it's minor for me