Hey all,
I recently got admitted to UC San Diego which I plan to attend in the Fall. As any other student, I will need a computer/laptop for my studies. I don't want to lug my rig down to SoCal, so I'll probably leave it at home. I do have a laptop; Dell Inspiron 1525 which is a 15.6" but I think it's a bit bulky to lug around campus.
Here the requirements I think I will need:
-Budget: $500 - $700; keep it low for a student..
-Portable (11" - 14" range)
-Somewhat light & thin, unlike my Dell
-Great Battery Life (6+ hours on a single charge?)
-Can handle 720p and maybe even 1080p videos
-Enough power to handle lots of web browsing, video playback, word processing, and moderate multitasking (work + web + music + skype?) (no Atom)
-Must last 2-3 years without being replaced (starving student = no laptop replacement anytime soon..)
-No Apple Macbooks (I absolutely hate Apple)
I've read a few thread and looked up a few videos and here's some choices I came up with:
-Lenovo x120e
-HP dm1z
The Lenovo appealed to me more in terms of build quality, keyboard friendly-ness, and specs. If it do end up getting it, I'll probably upgrade the RAM to 4 or 8GB, upgrade to HD to a 7200RPM drive or a SSD (throw nonessential files on external HD) and hook it up to a monitor when I'm in the dorm. Which brings me to my next question;
Assuming I do get a x120e or an ultraportable of the like, when I hook it up via VGA or HDMI (depending on what's supplied), how's the quality like? Will I be stuck with the same 1366x768 resolution that the laptop screen uses? I plan to use a 20 - 22" Widescreen as my dorm monitor.
Last question; Is a ultraportable suitable for my situation? Should I reconsider and get something with more power (perhaps i3 / i5) and bigger in size? This will be my main rig down there and will have to last through several semesters of hard work. Feel free to throw in other suggestions.
I recently got admitted to UC San Diego which I plan to attend in the Fall. As any other student, I will need a computer/laptop for my studies. I don't want to lug my rig down to SoCal, so I'll probably leave it at home. I do have a laptop; Dell Inspiron 1525 which is a 15.6" but I think it's a bit bulky to lug around campus.
Here the requirements I think I will need:
-Budget: $500 - $700; keep it low for a student..
-Portable (11" - 14" range)
-Somewhat light & thin, unlike my Dell
-Great Battery Life (6+ hours on a single charge?)
-Can handle 720p and maybe even 1080p videos
-Enough power to handle lots of web browsing, video playback, word processing, and moderate multitasking (work + web + music + skype?) (no Atom)
-Must last 2-3 years without being replaced (starving student = no laptop replacement anytime soon..)
-No Apple Macbooks (I absolutely hate Apple)
I've read a few thread and looked up a few videos and here's some choices I came up with:
-Lenovo x120e
-HP dm1z
The Lenovo appealed to me more in terms of build quality, keyboard friendly-ness, and specs. If it do end up getting it, I'll probably upgrade the RAM to 4 or 8GB, upgrade to HD to a 7200RPM drive or a SSD (throw nonessential files on external HD) and hook it up to a monitor when I'm in the dorm. Which brings me to my next question;
Assuming I do get a x120e or an ultraportable of the like, when I hook it up via VGA or HDMI (depending on what's supplied), how's the quality like? Will I be stuck with the same 1366x768 resolution that the laptop screen uses? I plan to use a 20 - 22" Widescreen as my dorm monitor.
Last question; Is a ultraportable suitable for my situation? Should I reconsider and get something with more power (perhaps i3 / i5) and bigger in size? This will be my main rig down there and will have to last through several semesters of hard work. Feel free to throw in other suggestions.