Laptop recommendations

[Monoriu]

Looking to buy a new laptop with the following features:

- 13-14 inch monitor
- traditional clamshell design
- touchscreen not required
- 256 GB SSD minimum.  Would be nice if I can upgrade it to 512GB. 
- light weight, less than 1.5kg
- at least two USB connections, preferrably 3.0
- built-in LAN cable connection preferred but not essential
- headphone connectivity required
- wifi connectivity is required 
- optical drive or camera are not essential
- reasonably fast and powerful.  I am not playing The Elder Scrolls with it, but I want a smooth overall performance when I watch 1080p videos.  i7 CPU preferred.  At least 4GB of RAM, preferrably 8 GB.
- reasonably thin.  I am not really concerned if it is 20mm or 18mm thick.  Makes no real difference to me, but I do intend to travel with it all the time.
- a nice display would be, well, nice 
- battery life of at least 5 hours.
- budget: below US$2,500

Any recommendations? 

[Liep]

Wait 2 weeks and get the new Macbook Air.

[Monoriu]

Wait 2 weeks and get the new Macbook Air.

My bad.  Should have specified Windows only.

[viper37]

I hear there's a discount on Lenovo's laptops recently...

Seriously, I have had 2 Acer's so far and I liked them quite a lot.
http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/models/laptops
The Aspire R7-371T-78GX has what you are looking for, except it is not that thin.
The battery is expected to last 10hrs on this one.


Dell sometimes have very good deal, so they are affordable, when on special, but usually overpriced.
http://tinyurl.com/jvz28og
The XPS 12 Ultrabook is very thin, but only 256gb SSD.

Toshiba have reliable laptops too, but they are usually more expensive than the others, though price may varry in HK, so check it out.

Just avoid Lenovo and HP, imho, they are piece of crap, I've had bad experiences with them.

All laptops have built-in LAN nowadays, and built-in wireless too.  Just be sure to pick one that supports 802.11ac.

[Monoriu]

I hear there's a discount on Lenovo's laptops recently...

Seriously, I have had 2 Acer's so far and I liked them quite a lot.
http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/models/laptops
The Aspire R7-371T-78GX has what you are looking for, except it is not that thin.
The battery is expected to last 10hrs on this one.


Dell sometimes have very good deal, so they are affordable, when on special, but usually overpriced.
http://tinyurl.com/jvz28og
The XPS 12 Ultrabook is very thin, but only 256gb SSD.

Toshiba have reliable laptops too, but they are usually more expensive than the others, though price may varry in HK, so check it out.

Just avoid Lenovo and HP, imho, they are piece of crap, I've had bad experiences with them.

All laptops have built-in LAN nowadays, and built-in wireless too.  Just be sure to pick one that supports 802.11ac.

My current laptop is a Toshiba and I love it.  Best laptop I have ever bought.  I picked it primarily because it is basically the only laptop that has a LAN connection.  Odd that you say all laptops have built-in LAN, because I can't find any.  Not a single one.  I mean an actual "hole" where I can put an ethernet cable through, like this -



I can't find such a connection in any laptop anymore. 

[Barrister]

Wait 2 weeks and get the new Macbook Air.

My bad.  Should have specified Windows only.

Then get the Air and install Windows on it.

[viper37]

My current laptop is a Toshiba and I love it.  Best laptop I have ever bought.  I picked it primarily because it is basically the only laptop that has a LAN connection.  Odd that you say all laptops have built-in LAN, because I can't find any.  Not a single one.  I mean an actual "hole" where I can put an ethernet cable through, like this -



I can't find such a connection in any laptop anymore. 

I know what you mean Mono, but I haven't seen one laptop without it in many, many years.

Looking at Toshiba's laptop, it seems with the kind of CPU you want (i7), there's nothing below 15".
The Toshiba Tecra Z50-BT1501 seems to have what you want, but it's 15", 256gb SSD.  I can see the LAN port on the pictures, so it's there.  Not mentionned in the specs though, might be why you think it's not included?

If you love Toshiba, I'd consider this one, it is midly customizable and I recommend you take de video card upgrade in your choice.  I think the integrated graphics are sufficient to stream 1080p movies, but you might need the extra power for video games and it's only 120$.

LAN port:

[lustindarkness]

I am extremely happy with my Lenovo Yoga 2. But it does not have ethernet cable input, mini HDMI not full size, 2 USB inputs one is USB 3.0, no disc drive. It travels great, battery life is good, HD movies look good on it, Minecraft works good, touchscreen is a nice feature too. Oh yeah, I can do all the work stuff on it. LOL

[Grey Fox]

My current laptop is a Toshiba and I love it.  Best laptop I have ever bought.  I picked it primarily because it is basically the only laptop that has a LAN connection.  Odd that you say all laptops have built-in LAN, because I can't find any.  Not a single one.  I mean an actual "hole" where I can put an ethernet cable through, like this -



I can't find such a connection in any laptop anymore. 

I know what you mean Mono, but I haven't seen one laptop without it in many, many years.

Looking at Toshiba's laptop, it seems with the kind of CPU you want (i7), there's nothing below 15".
The Toshiba Tecra Z50-BT1501 seems to have what you want, but it's 15", 256gb SSD.  I can see the LAN port on the pictures, so it's there.  Not mentionned in the specs though, might be why you think it's not included?

If you love Toshiba, I'd consider this one, it is midly customizable and I recommend you take de video card upgrade in your choice.  I think the integrated graphics are sufficient to stream 1080p movies, but you might need the extra power for video games and it's only 120$.

LAN port:

It's in the spec here : http://www.toshiba.com/us/computers/laptops/tecra/Z50/Z50-A1503

LAN
10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN

[Syt]

http://www.pcgamer.com/the-best-gaming-laptops-1/

[Tonitrus]

I can't find such a connection in any laptop anymore.

I know Apple laptops make you use a USB/LAN adaptor.  Would not be surprised if Windows laptops have done so as well.

[mongers]

Mono, don't do it, think of the environmental costs.

[Monoriu]

Wait 2 weeks and get the new Macbook Air.

My bad.  Should have specified Windows only.

Then get the Air and install Windows on it.

I freely admit that I am a computer idiot, and have zero confidence about installing Windows and nuking Mac OS from the laptop.  Unless Applestore is willing to do it for me, and I know that won't happen. 

[Monoriu]

I can't find such a connection in any laptop anymore.

I know Apple laptops make you use a USB/LAN adaptor.  Would not be surprised if Windows laptops have done so as well.

Yeah, that's why I said the LAN connection isn't essential.  I really only need it when I go to Japan.  For some reason the Japanese love LAN cables.  I love them too, as I am a non-believer when it comes to anything that is wireless.  But somehow the rest of the world prefers wifi. 

[Monoriu]

Mono, don't do it, think of the environmental costs.

Environmental costs are not my concern; financial costs are    I am very happy with my current laptop, but it is only a matter of time.  The 128GB SSD is too small, as I also use it as a player for my stereo system.  So that means I really only have 5-6GB for anime files, and that number is decreasing as my music collection grows.  The battery life is also decreasing as the laptop gets old, and many short haul planes don't have electricity sockets.