Lightweight Laptop with Long Battery life.

E

eptheta

Disciple
Nov 8, 2010
35
0
0
35
The priority is Lightweight > Battery life >> General specs

Here's a little more about what I want, but it isn't necessary if it compromises too much on weight and/or battery life (you can decide what 'too much' is):

Budget: Whatever it takes

CPU: Anything really.

GPU: Integrated Graphics-- I don't play any games other than spider solitaire, so I don’t really care.

Screen Size:14-15" is good. Just not those exceptionally tiny 10-12" ones.

Brand: I don’t trust HP when it comes to reliability, I sort of trust Dell, and I don’t know if the other brands are reliable.

What I'm going to do with it:

- Impress clients with the sexy presentations I make on Powerpoint. (Word, Excel… Everything MS Office, all the time)

- Play Spider solitaire… a lot. Playing it is the only time when I am truly happy.

- Check my email and surf the net regularly.

- Keep it on for hours at a time (sure, maybe on standby), while I watch TV.

- Laugh/be surprised while drinking coffee near it

Necessary features:

- Lightweight-- As light as possible that satisfies the minimum requirement.

- Long battery life--As long as possible without an ugly protruding 9 cell pack.

- Boot up fast/ Get out of standby quickly.

TL:DR: I want a reliable laptop that will last me decades, has long battery life and is lightweight, that I can carry to office and use to fill excel sheets.

Thank you.
 
harishgayatri

harishgayatri

Adept
Dec 6, 2009
507
42
92
35
the Mac does not come with spider solitare/solitare.
<
 
red dragon

red dragon

Justiceforall
Skilled
Jan 30, 2010
2,305
2,967
478
Praha, Czechia
If you can skip s.s and enjoy chess,buy a 13 inch Air.

All Windows ultraportables suck in some way or other.

No point installing Windows in MBA just to play solitaire.

Sent from Galaxy S2
 
A

agantuk

Skilled
Aug 1, 2009
2,395
75
138
OP mentions excessive usage of Office. While Office on Mac looks good (visually), it is still 'different'. I am probably used to Office on Windows a lot, but Office for Mac has been designed to cater to Mac users, instead of just being an Office for Windows clone.
 
E

eptheta

Disciple
Nov 8, 2010
35
0
0
35
I'd prefer not to buy a Mac. The person who is going to use this laptop has a hard enough time with technology in general, so any sort of change (even the absence of a windows logo key on the keyboard) will only cause chaos.

Isn't there any good laptop with Windows 7 that is really light ???
 
avi

avi

Skilled
Nov 23, 2010
4,189
1,745
252
^to answer easily no. Lightwright windows + good battery life costs a lot, Mac is cheaper
<


@agantuk - Office for Mac is good. I didn't find anything hard.

One imp thing : The Powerpoint for Mac, called Keynote is lot lot better than MS Office. Use google, if you don't trust me
<
but docs & excel, is not good as MS Office. Thats why I suggested MBA. He will make kickass PPTs with Keynote.
 
E

eptheta

Disciple
Nov 8, 2010
35
0
0
35
Spot on Agantuk!

^Sure, maybe keynote is better, I'm not here to dispute that, but let's just say(for the scope of this forum topic) that I'm a technologically challenged Windows fanboy who is too stubborn to change his way of life.

I'm okay with the cost (How much costlier could it be anyway...), I just need a few models to start deciding. Googling 'best ultraportables' doesn't help too much since I'm always given results that are the best 'overall'(graphics/ram/CPU etc--things I don't care about in my position)

+ I don't know if the ones on the 'top 10' lists are even available in India, and getting excited about a laptop only to find out it's only available in the US is kind of a let down.

So again, anything other than the Macbook Air ?

Thanks!
 
A

agantuk

Skilled
Aug 1, 2009
2,395
75
138
If you are looking for light models, VAIO has a few - though Sony is a brand I never recommend anyone when it comes to computers. Among the costlier ones, the Thinkpad T420s and similar laptops in that range are light, have excellent battery life and are fast. They are primarily business laptops and so are rugged too. Price should be similar to the MBP. There is also the X220 you can take a look at, though for all these models (MBP included), I find it odd paying so much just for the light weight factor, considering these machines can do so much more and hence the price
 
sunny27

sunny27

Stig's Indian Cousin!!!
Skilled
Oct 7, 2009
2,191
220
153
37
Top Gear Test Track
Thinkpad x220 gives me 14 hours of battery life with the 9 cell battery. It has a core i7 2620m cpu + 8 gb ddr3 1333mhz + integrated mobile broadband(3G) + IPS screen (720p) + 720p webcam and the best keyboard in the world (for laptops) - all this for 55k.

Its more durable than anything -- its a thinkpad! It can resist spillages and very rough handling. The Macbook costs twice as much and sucks twice as much too in every dept which includes performance, battery life, features, upgradibility, overall costs and durablity.

BTW you can extend the thinkpad's warranty to 5 years.
 
E

eptheta

Disciple
Nov 8, 2010
35
0
0
35
Sunny, thanks for the rec, but I think the screen is waaay too tiny for my needs (correct my if I'm wrong, but it has a 12.5" screen right?)

I wanted a minimum of 14" actually, and I know I won't get incredibly light laptops, but I saw a few that are less than 2kg that seemed good.

Can you guys check out this:Lenovo E420S

http://www.flipkart.com/lenovo-e420s-2nd-generation-core-i5-320-gb-2-windows-7-professional/p/itmd66cxgzygecnk

It seems pretty good, although it is a little costly. It's 1.8kg and the rest of the specs are in the link.

What do you think ?

I am looking for things similar to this.

I should have said this before, but here are the specs that I think will suit me:

<2kg, i3, Integrated Graphics, 14" screen. Any other good laptops that fall in this category?
 
sunny27

sunny27

Stig's Indian Cousin!!!
Skilled
Oct 7, 2009
2,191
220
153
37
Top Gear Test Track
Btw if its a 14 incher you are after try getting the Thinkpad T420s with the new sandybridge core i7/SSD/Nvidia optimus technology. Its the absolute best in reliability and durability along with performance. T520s is the 15" version with the same specs.
 
red dragon

red dragon

Justiceforall
Skilled
Jan 30, 2010
2,305
2,967
478
Praha, Czechia
X220 is a great little laptop,but it is way too thick for an ultraportable,and looks freakin ugly even compared to Windows ultraportable.

Most importantly in India,it is extremely overpriced.
 
Top Bottom