Buying a < $1000 Laptop

Lmave on 12/11/2015 - 10:44

Greetings OzBargain.

I am looking to buy a sub-$1000 laptop, and just want to clarify a few things before I make my purchase (to make sure I'm getting a good deal):

  1. Laptop choice: my main needs are portability (lightweight), battery life, and reliability. I've been looking around and found the ASUS Zenbook UX305FA (13.3", 4 GB RAM, 128 GB SSD) to be perfect for my needs. Limited my search to laptops with SSD as AFAIK they are the bottleneck of the system (and also lighter than HDD). I don't need much performance since I own a PC which runs anything I throw at it with ease. I also avoided looking at 15" laptop due to the increased weight that comes with them. Link for laptop: https://www.jbhifi.com.au/computers-tablets/laptops/asus/asu…

  2. Where I'm buying it from: I've had a look around and surprisingly, JB Hi-Fi currently has the cheapest price for the laptop, at $848.30 AUD. I don't actually need the touchscreen, but it's the cheapest price I can find. I thought about buying it from the US, but then realised the tax and exchange rate may make it past the $1000 AUD budget. US Link: http://www.amazon.com/Zenbook-UX305FA-Laptop-Intel-Greyish/d… (8GB RAM, 256GB SSD).

  3. How I'm paying for it: $500 + $350 Woolworths eGift Cards through Cash Rewards (5% off -> $807.5), then buying 8 x $100 and 1 x $50 JB Hi-Fi gift cards from Woolworths in-store (using the eGift Card, as of https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/205084). I'm still not sure if I can purchase gift cards using an eGift Card, though.

There's a variety of specs for the UX305FA (4GB vs 8GB RAM, 128GB vs 256GB SSD, Windows 8 vs Windows 10, etc), but in Australian stores, the 8GB RAM/256GB SSD sits at ~$1300, which is outside my budget. Also looked at Macbook, but can't justify spending $300-$500 more for the same specs/lesser specs.

TL;DR - ASUS Zenbook UX305FA-DQ349T 13.3" Touchscreen Laptop for $807.5 AUD. Intel Core M 5Y10/5Y71 (not sure), 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, 1920x1080 Display, Windows 10, 1.2 kg. Good deal? Will there be a better deal in the near future?

Background: Uni student, owns a PC and a 4-year-old Dell Latitude E4310 (which will be replaced). Will be using laptop for word processing, web browsing, and a bit of coding.

Thanks for your help!

Poll Options

  • 0
    Good choice
  • 6
    Better laptop available
  • 0
    Better price available at other stores
  • 2
    Wait for a better price/sale
  • 2
    Other
Computing

Comments

  • plmko on 12/11/2015 - 11:16

    Wait for the Asus UX303LB at those Dick Smith sales for about $1150.

  • inherentchoice on 12/11/2015 - 12:38

    I bought one of those zenbooks three years ago (different specs of course and no SSD) for about the same price from JB HiFi. It's still going strong even after a few dings from being dropped a couple of times. I negotiated with the sales girl and she got the price down a little more for me. However, two weeks later JB HiFi had a big sale with 10-20% off laptops! I would hold out and wait for a such a deal to come along. Just be patient for a little longer and I think you will be rewarded, even if the deal doesn't come from JB.

  • abovethelimit on 12/11/2015 - 13:41

    mave, I am in a similar situation as yourself. Been looking for a lighter ultrabook for sub 1K price range and tell you what you have done good research on this like myself. The Asus laptop is the best and to quote that I was going to buy the same laptop from JB yesterday for 998$ (take 100$ off RRP) and to see this morning that the price is slashed again means that they are clearing this out to make way for a newer model. I still think this is best price on this laptop as compared to scorptec and few other places I enquired. I am going into the store today to see if they can do a better price on this laptop as JB was offering the laptop to me yesterday for 960$. Its a good choice and a mate of mine has this laptop and have nothing but good things to say about it including Asus after sales service. I will keep you posted after my trip to JB this evening. Cheers mate.

    Mind you this is a core M which sits below i3 and utilizes fanless technology with better battery life. There are 2 core M CPU's you can get in this model (5y10 & 5y71), you would want 5y71 processor which outperforms 5y10 in anandtech reviews. Just bear that in mind if you're indeed going for this laptop. Oh and No backlit keyboard on this laptop which is a deal breaker to some.

    • abovethelimit on 12/11/2015 - 17:09
      +1

      Just got back from JB and they said they can do it 25$ cheaper than the advertised price which is the final offer. I played with the laptop for > 30 mins where I put the laptop to all the extreme tests possible. I loaded many apps that was pre-installed on the laptop and watched it crumble under the load. The ram on task manager was constantly peaking at 100% which got me to the conclusion that 4gb of Ram ain't gonna cut it for this model if you're planning to have many programs running simultaneously. I also noticed that the laptop got incredibly hot whilst the Ram as peaking, disadvantages of fanless technology me thinks.

      I did the same test with power cable removed from laptop and noticed mediocre performance and battery charge depleting rapidly. Not that I would be running 15 odd programs on a laptop that is meant for portability but something to consider if you're to do uni work on this. Based on these findings, I am thinking of getting a better spec'd ultrabook and probably wait for DS, TGG, HN or JB come up with better deals then snap one up. Price diff maybe around 200-300$ from this laptop's price. It's worth having the performance at call when you need it than not have it in the first place. Good luck with your decision on this. Cheers.

  • abovethelimit on 27/11/2015 - 16:22

    @mave: Update on this thread, Bing Lee has the laptop for 844$ on their ebay store with 20% off Tech Frenzy sale. Be quick if you still in the market for one.

    I just bought the HP envy 13-d007tu with sixth gen i3 processor, slim line, magnesium construction 4GB, 128 GB SSD Win 10 64 bit with backlit keyboard from GoodGuys ebay store. GoodGuys have the item marked down to $1079 with 20% off on top of that with pickup in store. So, works out to $863.20 which is an awesome deal for this laptop. Cheapest is $1275 at HN who said that they won't price match ebay sales. Good luck.

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