Back to school laptop... $700

[CustardPi]

I wondered if you could help me find a laptop for around $700 for school – office, browsing etc. Not interested in gaming. 4GB of RAM and a 64-bit OS isn’t essential but would come in handy in the future since OEM licenses are restricted to their respective OS versions AFAIK. Hard drive space isn’t important as I plan to buy an SSD for Christmas and use the old in an external enclosure. I might install the Windows 7 RC until I can upgrade to the full version so being able to find drivers for everything like webcams etc. is essential.
Here’s what I’ve found so far; let me know what you think...
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10 125721&catid=25315#

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01768920&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jump id=reg_R1002_USEN (available at Walmart)

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10 126027&catid=28239#


I might hold out a couple more weeks to see any back to school deals.. any thoughts?


Thanks lads!
Karl

[JD]

Is this for college/university? If so, are you willing to lug around a 15.6" or 16" laptop?

Of your choices, the HP and Gateway seem pretty much comparable other than 16" vs 15.6". 100MHz difference in CPUs isn't really going to be anything noticeable IMO.

Samsung has less RAM though it seems to have some nifty features like "A water-tight seal around the system helps prevent damage from spilled liquids like coffee (up to 100cc), while a Super Silent mode lets you set the fan that cools down the processor to "low" mode for ultra-quiet operation."

[jcmaz]

I would get a 14inch laptop instead w/ more CPU umph

[CustardPi]

Thanks for the replies guys. Yeah it's for university - I need more space on my desk than my big gaming rig allowed me last year. I have thought about 14" ones, but they just seemed a bit cramped compared to ~15, plus I'll probably postly use paper in class (and obviously labs) anyway so it'll be in my room. I'm gonna look into them anyway though cause it does mean less weight if I can deal with the slightly more cramped space (though the res is the same so it isn't really haha).

Thanks for the help so far!

(sorry, I just love living over here lol)

[CustardPi]

So I saw this today in-store, brand new model and definitely got my attention.

Acer AS5810TZ Timeline Series Laptop | Laptops - English | TheSource.ca

It's not 14" but is less than an inch thick so it's very lightweight for carrying and since it's a CULV platform laptop the battery life is rated at 8hrs! 4GB RAM, 64-bit. The only major drawback is the single-core, 1.3Ghz CPU. However, it does speed up under load and is based on Core 2 so it should be enough for browsing and office. A dual core model would have me sold so it might be wise to wait a week or two and see if any other models come out.

What do you think?

Karl

[geokilla]

I suggest that you wait for the back to school and Labour Day deals. Also check out U.S.A. if you can, especially Best Buy. For $800, you can get a good ASUS notebook that comes with a GPU can game if you feel like it. I know you said you won't game, so you could spend like $500 USD on a similar 14" or 15.4" or 15.6" or 16" laptop.

[CustardPi]

Thanks for the advice :)