Laptop for a long trip

Hi everyone,

I'd appreciate your feedback and advice on which laptop to purchase.

I'm going for a 1-year trip, and wish to buy a laptop that will serve me during that period, with the following requirements.

- Light and sustainable, as I'll be on the move often (buses, trains)
- 15 inch screen
- Not intended to run games, nor heavy applications (as Matlab)
- It is mainly for internet browsing, Outlook, and one or two IDEs (as Visual Studio)
- Battery that will last for ~5 hours before running out

My budget will be derived from the requirements.

I was aiming for 700EU, but perhaps it's enough, and I'd have to raise it according to above requirements.

Thanks a lot for reading this and for any help.

Best Regards,
Tony

 

Hi Tony,

There are some really nice ultrabooks out there at the moment, and I think you'll be able to meet your requirements with that sort of budget easily enough. Something like this is very good value at the moment (as there's a cashback offer on): http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LJOTIEK/

What I'd probably recommend is testing out the weight of a few laptops from a PC shop, just so you know you can be happy with that aspect - as although the laptop I linked to above is relatively light, that could be the most important point if you're taking it traveling for a year. There are lighter ones available, but they get expensive.

 

Also, this page may be worth a read:

http://www.ultrabookreview.com/2404-14-15-inch-ultrabooks/

Let us know which one you go for!

 

Hi,
Thank you very much Ian!

I deeply appreciate your kind help!

I'm finding it very hard to find SSD 15'' laptop at my budget (~700-750 EU), not for Gaming though, without Touch Screen (to reduce cost?), 1920x1080.

Could you please direct me to one?

Thank you.

 

I think it's going to be very difficult to get an off the shelf laptop for that price with an SSD, at least one that isn't heavy. You can get an HP laptop that meets those specs (link), but it's going to be very heavy.

You may be better off getting a cheaper, lighter laptop with a mechanical drive that meets your requirements and then upgrade the HDD to an SSD yourself, if it's essential. A 128GB SSD is ~€60 now

 

Hi Ian,
Thanks a lot!

I think I found the laptop that follows my requirements, and would appreciate your option:

http://www.toshiba.eu/laptops/satellite/satellite-s50-b/satellite-s50-b-15f/

I like its following spec:
- 1080p FHD
- SSD
- Core i7 (though I'd be much satisfied with Core i5, just didn't find its i5 parallel)
- low cost (IMO) 700EU

What I'm not sure about it, is:
1. How could I tell if it's noisy or if it tends to get hot?

2. Isn't it suspicious that a core-i7 1080p SSD would cost 700EU? What am I missing here?


I'm also inspecting the ACER Chromebook:

Acer Chromebook NX.EF3AA.011 15.6-Inch Netbook
http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/model/NX.EF3AA.011

What do you think please of the Chrome Os Vs Windows?

Thank you very much, I appreciate your kind support.

 

If you can get that from a reputable place for €700, then that seems like a very good deal! I don't really know how you could find out about the volume/temperature, but modern laptops can throttle their CPU effectively when you're not using it to the full potential (reducing heat/fan noise) and you're using an SSD rather than a mechanical drive, which will reduce the noise/temperature even more.

I'd pass on the Chromebook, mainly due to you mentioning you want to run IDEs on the laptop - you'll have a much better choice on Windows, plus 32GB of storage is minimal. It is great for portability though. I think the processor specs are just out of whack on the Amazon page, it's definitely a Intel Core i5-5200U .

 

Hi Ian,

Thanks a lot!

Could you please recommend on a trusty seller?

I'll be in Munich this August and thought of buying it there, but any trusty seller would do. (but if you know someone who resides in Munich it'd be better )

 

Unfortunately, I don't know much about German stores - but I'm sure any of the main highstreet shops or Amazon will be just fine .