Laptop for Uni - Specs Wanted Attached

blighst on 06/01/2017 - 21:30
Last edited 06/01/2017 - 21:31

Hi,

I'm sure this question pops up a heap here but I'll try to be a bit more specific than the others. Previously I've been lugging around a heavy laptop with a terrible battery (when needed) but decided that I want to finally stop skimping and get a new laptop for uni.

The lenovo deals that TA is posting seem reasonable but to be honest I have next to no idea what is good value with laptops atm.

All I really need are:

Decent Battery Life (what turned me off the T460s)
16GB Ram nice (or at least 8gb that could be upgraded later)
SSD storage would be nice (256gb should be fine but the more the merrier)
On the portable side as I will be putting it in my backpack
Sub $1000 if possible
Preferably a more solid build (but this is probably the least important thing)

Any features that could be of benefit in Uni (like the Surface's pen + touchscreen) are a huge plus too. I'll be doing a STEM degree so will need to run SolidWorks + other engineering software if possible (I do have a desktop at home)

I've been considering the base surface pro 4 model (because many of my friends rave about it) but it is on the more expensive side (esp. with keyboard) and I am unsure how long it will last before being too slow.

The lenovos look nice but I have no idea where to start with them.

Any advice at all would be a huge help

Thanks

Computing

Comments

  • Edsanwong on 06/01/2017 - 21:35

    Its quite challenging with sub $1000

    • blighst on 06/01/2017 - 21:37

      Even if I drop the ram to 8gb?

      What's the spec that's causing the price target to be hard to meet?

      • Edsanwong on 06/01/2017 - 21:53

        I am not expert on this matter. In my head I can only remember Dell Xps 13 during sale for $1234. You need to wait patiently.

        Build quality is good also on battery life and portability

        Someone here like scrimshaw woulr be the best person to give you opinion

  • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2017 - 21:57

    Dell Latitude 14 7000 E7470.

    Buy it refurbished from dell outlet. Put more RAM in yourself.

    Hard to be disappointed with this amazing laptop.

    Your laptop is irrelevant if you have a desktop at home. Use the uni computers.

    • Unknown1 on 11/01/2017 - 11:12

      Second, purchase a Dell Latitude 14 on Dell Outlet. Because, laptops that are larger than 15 inch are not suitable for university and dell offers good customer service.

      Else, MSY, Kong Computers, Myshopping and Static ice are good places to start searching for other laptops. OP may also benefit from taking advantage of student rewards offered by most Universities and the refunds from Cash rewards.

  • dimagiba on 06/01/2017 - 22:30

    The Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga 460 (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/285671) seems to fit your needs. Should be within your budget - $959 for the FHD/SSD128GB. Slightly above budget at $1059 for the WQHD/SSD256GB. Both models have the touch screen and pen but only the FHD has the 2GB Nvidia. I have the model without discrete graphics and it still runs Solidworks and Creo fine but, like you, I have a desktop at home so I'm not reliant on the laptop for solidmodeling. I did have to buy a single stick 16GB RAM, which was quite expensive >$200 (from memory). But you can do this later. Battery life is good. I get the advertised 8-hour life on mine. And the Thinkpad Yoga is one of the Thinkpads that still complies with MIL-SPEC 810, i.e. it will be very sturdy.

    • blighst on 06/01/2017 - 23:00

      I was interested by this unit - have a few questions regarding it:

      1) Is the pen any good or is it a gimmick?
      2) By how much does the WQHD decrease the battery life - I want the larger storage of the 256gb ssd but don't want the associated battery drain of the QHD

      • dimagiba on 07/01/2017 - 00:05

        I don't use the pen much but on the occasions I do, I've had no complaints. I won't use it for note taking because typing is faster. I've used it a couple of times giving a presentation when I had to jot something on a powerpoint slide. It was great for that. I don't sketch so I don't have first-hand experience on that but it's a Wacom so it should be good.

        I've heard about the high-res WQHD screen consuming more power but I only have the FHD/Integrated GPU (from here - https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/252274). If you don't need/want the WQHD, you can still use TA-YOGA-959 and change the SSD to 256GB (for $1059) or get the base 128GB then upgrade to an even higher capacity drive on your own.

  • p1 ama on 06/01/2017 - 22:31

    The Lenovo T460s ticks most of your boxes. The battery life isn't amazing, but it's not designed to be a road warrior - it's designed to be an enterprise notebook used by people who'll have the ability to dock into a power port every now and then. I used to have a Lenovo T440s and the battery life was still very good - around 5 hours or a little more, which I consider to be decent.

    Any features that could be of benefit in Uni (like the Surface's pen + touchscreen) are a huge plus too.

    They're all gimmicks - get a laptop and carry an exercise book with a pen for when you want to jot down equations or quick notes. Touchscreen can be useful to use - depends on the user. I find them quite useful on a notebook when I use things like Google Maps, but I've recently switched to a machine without a touchscreen and I can't say that it's something I miss terribly (every now and then I'll have a "I wish it had one" moment, but not too regularly).

  • Richardc on 07/01/2017 - 00:49
    +1

    you don't get all these for 1k, so think about which feature is a must for you.

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