Where are all the decent 13.3" laptops for around £800 or so? Been trying to find one but.. it's like they don't exist. Ultrabooks are nice and all but out of my budget area, same with macbooks. I'm trying to find a replacement for my 2007 Macbook pro (running windows). Ideally I'm after: i5 sandy or ivybridge (Must have good cooling if ivy - I'm hearing a lot of stories of overheating laptops constantly being throttled by poor cooling with ivybridge) Some kind of nvidia dedicated graphics or ivybridge i4000 if the price/etc is right. Not too fussed about SSD vs HDD. Ideal setup is a builtin 24gb SSD with a HDD or something like that. 13.3"-14" size, needs to be reasonably portable. I don't understand these lap-and-a-halftops, and I need a reasonable screen size so I can use it a lot. Rock solid build quality - this macbook I'm using has been heavily used for over 5 years now - I need another laptop that can last as long. The longer battery life, the better. It will be used on battery and is not a "desktop replacement" I did have a look at the Asus U36-SG RX068X... but I was not pleased with the build quality and had to return it as the case was warped along with a broken LCD. It crashed repeatedly on it's first boot too... Not pleased . Is this usual for asus laptops? I thought they were supposed to be one of the best brands? Any suggestions?
http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/laptops/lenovo-ideapad-u410-review-50008819/ The user reviews here scare me :c close but not quite there. Thanks though!
Oh that its just the idiots and pre patch. WiFi in a metal cage..... if its an issue a micro USB wiFi stick will fix that. Either way that issue has been patched since. Check out Lenovo support page. First MAC Unibody had the exact same issue with WiFi.
Dell XPS are, at least, worth a look, both 13" standard, and 14" ultra. It's a case of working out ideal model, on Dell's site (no mean task), and shopping around for a "sensible" price. I've got an XPS (not that size), and found build/performance pretty good, as is after-sales. Perhaps not 5*, but maybe 4.
Amy particular reason you aren't sticking with mac? There are some pretty good deals on last years air models knocking around at the moment
Asus U46-SV is within budget (it's ~£700), fits all your requirements (14", good build quality, good keyboard, fast i5 Sandy, GT640M on Optimus, light weight (~2kg) and great battery life at 7-8 hrs web browsing/document writing/programming). Then you can spend a bit extra on an SSD if desired.
Can't find anywhere in the UK that sells this, is this a us market laptop or just not available in the UK yet? will have another look when I get home. As for Dell... Nope. Too many horror stories, including my own experiences. Apple is good but very expensive, even last year's models :c
Keep an eye on ebay for 'good as new' Sony Vaio Z series laptops. I just got one for £750 inc shipping which was 13.3" - 1600x900 Core i5-2450m 128gb SSD 4Gb RAM 1.17kgs and included the power media dock (contains 1gb 6650m, dvd drive and extra ports)
leno thinkpad edge E330 isn't bad for the price. I got an HD 6630 in mine but they seem to have replaced it with the GT610 now.
