Hey there guys,
I am looking for a good deal on a general purpose ultrabook/tablet for a family friend that needs to have the following characteristics:
Budget is up to $700.
Any help will be very much appreciated!
Jason.
SSDs are more reliable in the short term.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9242367/SSDs_i_do_i_d…
For long term use they are not.
I've been using the ASUS TF7007T for over a year now. It doesn't have a LAN port inbuilt but you can get a USB to LAN adapter.
I paid a little over $800 when it was first released. It should be in your budget range now.
What do they need to do on this thing? Is it just typing up documents/surfing the web/skyping etc?
Seems like it can't be too intensive if an android tablet would have been ok, is this replacing a desktop computer? (or just like a secondary thing).
Windows Surface RT doesn't run your traditional Windows OS (so it won't run all the programs Windows 7 or 8 can), but it can do most stuff - it's got a full office suite so it's great for documents (especially with the additional keyboard), nice for surfing the web cause it's a tablet and has got long battery life. The tablet will set you back about $389 for the 32GB version + the keyboard ($99 or $149 depending on which one you choose).
If she doesn't need much storage (though you can expand it by 64GB with a microSD card) then this is great cause it's really light (essentially a tablet with a keyboard dock) and can last quite a while (probably 8+ hours). Build quality is great as well.
Only problem is that i noticed it doesn't have LAN port heh… but the person's solution above might work
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msaus/en_AU/pdp/Surface-…
Otherwise here are some other options
http://www.jbhifi.com.au/computers/samsung/13-inch-thin-ligh…
http://shopap.lenovo.com/au/en/laptops/thinkpad/?redir=y&red…
http://www.harveynorman.com.au/asus-vivobook-s500ca-cj016h-n…
Couldn't find anything with an SSD though at that price point, there might be if you have a look around. Keeping in mind Intel's 4th Generation Processor "Haswell" is being released right around the corner (which allows for better battery life and mild performance improvement), so if you're on the lookout you might be able to find some good deals on the older 3rd Generation ones (which are the ones I've linked)
Just FYI, SSD's are for increasing speed, not really for increasing reliability. 2.5" hard drives are capable of withstanding forces that the rest of the machine can't.