Does this laptop not exist?

C

Child of Wonder

2[H]4U
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May 22, 2006
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I'm in the market for a new laptop but am tired of toting around a 15" 6lb beast when I travel. Using a laptop that large just does not work on an airplane. So I've been looking at 14" and 13.3" laptops but am exacerbated by the fact that every manufacturer has a hard on for 1366x768 resolution. I need more real estate on my screen than that. To top it off, very few laptops in the 14" range have a dedicated GPU either.

Here are my requirements and I seem to be totally unable to find a laptop that satisfies them. I turn to you, [H] gurus, for your help. Anyone seen a laptop that meets the following criteria?

- Intel i7 Ivy Bridge CPU, quad core preferred
- RAM expandable up to 12GB+
- Option to replace primary HDD with a SSD on my own (already own one)
- Dedicated GPU that can play modern games (NVIDIA 640M or higher)
- Screen resolution of 1600x900 or higher
- No larger than 14" screen
- Backlit keyboard preferred
- Greater than 4 hours of battery life
- Under 5 lbs
 
I just saw this Lenovo IdeaPad Z400 Touch announced, but its not coming till around March. Seems to meet your needs besides a few areas. Though I'm guessing its going to be limited to a dual core i7 and the ram is only up to 8GB. Not 100% sure on the weight just yet either. I would assume it would be within your limit though.
 
Asus' Zenbook line would fit well
http://zenbook.asus.com/zenbook

The UX32 (13.3") comes in just under your requirements: Ram can be upgraded to 10GB total, 4-5hrs battery and a gt620m that you would have to overclock up to gt640 performance.

However, the UX42 (14") is right on the money with a GT645m gpu, should get 6hrs of battery, 8GB of ram by default which should be upgradable, though I don't know by how much.

To get a quadcore from the zenbook line, you'd have to look at the u500vz (15.6")which just barely comes in under your 5lbs with a few other perks like a better video card, gt650m, and a touchscreen.
 
xBanzai89 said:
I just saw this Lenovo IdeaPad Z400 Touch announced, but its not coming till around March. Seems to meet your needs besides a few areas. Though I'm guessing its going to be limited to a dual core i7 and the ram is only up to 8GB. Not 100% sure on the weight just yet either. I would assume it would be within your limit though.
Click to expand...

That looks promising. Two bad it comes out after two business trips I need to make this month and next. If I don't get something beforehand, this is definitely one I'll keep on my radar. Thanks!
 
Tekara said:
Asus' Zenbook line would fit well
http://zenbook.asus.com/zenbook

The UX32 (13.3") comes in just under your requirements: Ram can be upgraded to 10GB total, 4-5hrs battery and a gt620m that you would have to overclock up to gt640 performance.

However, the UX42 (14") is right on the money with a GT645m gpu, should get 6hrs of battery, 8GB of ram by default which should be upgradable, though I don't know by how much.

To get a quadcore from the zenbook line, you'd have to look at the u500vz (15.6")which just barely comes in under your 5lbs with a few other perks like a better video card, gt650m, and a touchscreen.
Click to expand...

The UX42 was one that hit everything out of the park EXCEPT the pitiful 1366x768 resolution which was an instant dealbreaker for me. The Lenovo Y480 suffers from the same limitation. If either one offered a 1600x900 or 1920x1080 resolution screen that company would have my business in a heartbeat.
 
Vaio S13P can be configured with all your desired options. I'd definitely get the extra sheet battery if you want more than passable battery life.
 
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