Buying a Notebook -- Looking for Advice

[Zieen]

Hello HardForum! I've been coming to these forums for great advice for a long time, but I've finally broken down and I'm going to ask a question.

I'm buying a notebook. Actually, I already bought one, but as it awaits assembly, I'm having second thoughts. I purchased an HP Envy 14 from HP.com during their $300 off sale and, in my haste, I've really wasted my money. I spotted almost the exact same build I purchased from HP.com on Amazon (where I have a prime account) for $100 less, no tax, and free 2 day shipping. If that's not bad enough, my fever to finally buy a notebook blinded me from the fact that I really DON'T need that powerful of a notebook. So I started looking... again.

I'm having a lot of trouble finding the 'perfect' notebook for me. I want something ultraportable or thin and light with good battery life, and switchable dedicated graphics. I also want a notebook with easy access to swap the HDD should I upgrade to SSD later -- when they're more affordable.

More specifically, I'm looking for a Core i3/i5, dedicated graphics (switchable to i3/i5), a 13-15inch LED-backlit display, good battery life, and a sleek, ultra-portable / thin and light design.

Sounds easy enough, but I've been really picky about looks. I love minimalist designs and have a soft spot for raised keys.

I intend to use this notebook as a secondary PC for home use (web, chat, etc when I'm watching TV), light gaming when I'm on trips, and movies/music. The beats audio system on the Envy is one of the biggest things that attracted me -- aside from the design. Oh yeah... Photoshop/photo editing/ hi-resolution photos from DSLR. I was wondering about ditching the dedicated graphics card, but would it still be possible to manipulate 10MP+ photos in Photoshop w/o crazy lag?

So here's what I've been looking at...
ASUS U45JC-A1
Removed... Almost identical to Envy 14, but produced by ASUS... Rather have Envy.

Core i5-460m
ATI Radeon 5650 [Switchable] [HDMI] [1GB]
8GB DDR3 [2 DIMM]
500GB 7200RPM HDD
2 8cell li-ion batteries

For my purposes, which of these laptops seems the best fit? Are they all too powerful for my intentions? Could you suggest something smaller/cheaper if possible?

Sorry for the long post. I'm a bit of a rambler. Essentially, I'm curious if the Envy 14 is just way too powerful for my uses? That Asus has way better battery life, but it sounds like the build quality is questionable. Are the trackpad problems with the Envy 14 really that bad or are people blowing it out of proportion?

To anyone that can provide some input, I greatly appreciate it.

 

[100inch]

Nothing can be too powerful.

It can be too big, to expensive, to noisy, to hot, etc.

So is the envy 14 too big for you, not enough battery life?

 

[darkhunter139]

Pretty sure photoshop would run fine without a dedicated video card. It will make it pretty hard to do any gaming without one though.

How much are you going to be carrying it around? When you say ultra portable do you have a certain weight you would like to be under?

 

[Abula]

The envy was a great deal with the raidance screen, now the option is gone, unless you go refurb. With the envy coming with downclock 5650, to me its better to go with cheaper Acer Aspire TimelineX AS4820TG-7805 $799 or ASUS N43JF-A1 $998.

If you want something smaller check Sony Vaio Z, probably one of the lightlest 13'' with optical rom, but expensive, but if you dont mind about money this would be my top choice. Another option on 13'' is the Acer Aspire AS3820T-7360 $749 i3 370m + ATI 5650.

 

[Zieen]

I think I want to stick with a dedicated card, as long as it is switchable to integrated when graphics acceleration isn't necessary.

As far as the Envy, the price and all the complaints about the trackpad are my question. I'd like to stay under 5 pounds and the Envy is just around that. 13 or 14 inch display preferably -- would go up to 15 if it was lightweight.

The Asus N4 was the third laptop I was looking at before I decided to just settle with the Envy if it came down to that. How is the Envy on heat production? That's something I haven't heard much talk about.

I'll consider that Acer TimelineX. I really like the Sony Vaio Z, but I want to stay under $1000.

I won't actually be carrying the notebook around EVERYWHERE. I just don't like the idea of a desktop replacement. So somewhere between an ultraportable and a desktop repalcement would work as long as it had good battery life and didn't create a lot of heat.