Laptop - Cheap and portable

barefoot on 12/11/2013 - 16:46

I don't ask for much in a computer.

My current laptop is an Aldi Medion 17.3" i3, to which I added a 64GB SSD to run the OS off alongside the modest spindle HDD for data. It's a sensational machine, for use as a desktop replacement that is easy to chuck on a shelf when not in use.

But I'm planning on going back to study next year, and hauling a big 17"er around is not going to happen. So I'm starting to think about passing the big Medion on to the Mrs and getting something smaller. School will be all about word processing… nothing computational, no serious graphics, nothing at all taxing on a modern PC.

So… something no bigger than 14". Maybe smaller. When at home I'll probably plug in a monitor and keyboard, so the display is just for use when mobile.
Don't want a touch screen.
Don't need an optical drive but don't care if it has one.
Good battery - I'll be using my 1.5hour train trip each way as hardcore study time.
On-board graphics is more than adequate.
i3 is more than adequate… not opposed to stepping down to a B960 or similar. Haven't had an AMD processor for years… would take some convincing to go non-Intel.
Don't need much disk - I've got 2TB of NAS in a cupboard at home, so I only need to carry work I'm actually working on. And externals are cheap. That being the case, I'd be very interested in something running off a SSD… even if it was only 120GB or so.

Cheaper is better. Lighter is better.

Suggestions or thoughts?

Computing

Comments

  • barefoot on 12/11/2013 - 16:49

    Oh yeah, WiFi goes without saying these days (I hope).
    Can run the phone as a portable hotspot if need be, so no mobile data required.

  • cpho on 12/11/2013 - 17:18

    Well, MSY has a few laptops on clearance.
    There's the 14in Toshiba
    or the 13.3in Samsung if you're not violently opposed to AMD.

    Both units are $600. The only drawback about a lighter laptop is that these are both 4-cell batteries. I'm not sure how heavy your usage will be, but it might be a little short…

    • barefoot on 13/11/2013 - 10:31

      $600? That much?

      The last few lappies I've bought - a basic 15.6" i5 (first gen) MSI and this 17.3" i3 Medion have been in the $400-500 price range - from exotic specialist stores such as Officeworks and Aldi ;-)

      Now I'm looking potentially even lower relative spec, with less LCD real estate, so I'm figuring on getting something for a similar price. Maybe even less if I get my good bargain hunting pants on, which might leave me a spare hunnerd bucks to swap in a little SSD if need be.

      I know small high-res ultra-portable machines tend to command a price premium, but I would have thought that 14" is still in the cheap-mainstream-mass-market bracket.

      I'm not sure how heavy my usage will be either… nor whether I'll have re-charging opportunities during the day. But I'm figuring on wanting ~5 hours useful battery life. More would be nice, of course. My current work-issue laptop (a corporate-spec 14" Dell i5) does that (most likely a 6-cell battery to justify the corporate-spec pricetag). my Medion falls a bit short, but it's lighting up that lovely big screen so can be forgiven. The MSI was a POS in every way, and struggled to make 2 hours from new.

      • scrimshaw on 13/11/2013 - 12:25

        Laptop prices have risen in the past few years. I bought my Lenovo E320 Core i5 (4GB, 6 cell) with a 320GB portable drive for $520 in 2011.. Now you don't see that kind of deal anymore, because a) prices of DRAM has gone up considerably and b) operating costs in China have gone up because of increased labor costs.

        I'd probably wait and see if there are any special deals in December.

      • cpho on 13/11/2013 - 13:20

        All the cheaper ones tend to be 15.6 inches. I dont know why the smaller size makes it more expensive.
        If you're just looking to get some work done, and not much else, why dont you get a Surface?
        By the sounds of it, you have more than enough laptops. The surface might be a lightweight addition. The battery life will be there, and there's the type keyboard if you need it. It runs Microsoft office (albeit RT), but should be enough for your needs.

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