Low cost ultrabooks (or similar)

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NleahciM

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Hi - I am working on choosing a laptop for my girlfriend. She wants small, light, sturdy, and cheap. She will be running Windows.

I really like the Lenovo Thinkpad X230, as it weighs 2.9lbs, costs $700 for the base model, and seems to have decent specs. I'd probably ditch the HDD and get a SSD, and upgrade the RAM as well. So maybe $800-850 after all that.

Acer has a reasonable looking offering too - but I put more faith in Lenovo (though I'm not sure if that is misplaced due to them being a Chinese company now).

Any words of wisdom?
 
The S3 has lackluster battery life and a poor display.

You picked right the first time. The X230 would be my choice. A 6-cell battery will provide her with roughly ~6-8 hours of battery life. If you opt for a 9-cell you'll get an easy 11 hours in Windows.

The only issue she might have is how it looks :p If she likes the look of it, then that's the one I'd choose.
 
What options are out there for an ultrabook with _GOOD_ screen quality? All I really find are the zenbook prime. I just want to make sure I'm not overlooking something.
 
Samsung 9 series has a very nice PLS display. I guess there's also the Lenovo Yoga? There really aren't many out there with a nice display.

The x230 has an optional IPS matte display. Here's a good review
More reviews and comparison
http://www.mobiletechreview.com/notebooks/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X230.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEQTSsULJng&feature=plcp

Ultrabooks are still a pass, imo. You'll get more from an ultraportable with a standard 35W processor and upgradeable components than an Ultrabook. Better processing power, better battery life, ease of upgrade, and even the weight is comparable. The x230 and the Toshiba R930/935 are just a hair over 3lbs when most Ultrabooks are 3.5lbs and up with only a few that actually weigh less.

All you're really paying for is a thinner design, but it's often at the expense of everything else, price included.
 
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So I'm working on this again - the lady has said that her budget is about $700. The X230 was vetoed because it's not very cute. Any suggestions for a more attractive small and light laptop that costs $700ish or less?
 
NleahciM said:
So I'm working on this again - the lady has said that her budget is about $700. The X230 was vetoed because it's not very cute. Any suggestions for a more attractive small and light laptop that costs $700ish or less?
Click to expand...

if you can find a first gen Zenbook it should be about that cost and pretty bad ass all around.....The one linked above is second gen which is even better but 1200 bucks.
 
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