Everyday use solid laptop for under $1500

Pbm33 on 05/09/2018 - 16:57

Hi guys,

Looking to upgrade on my Dell Inspiron 15" which I bought ~5 years ago. Main reason is because its battery life is useless, and it weighs a tonne (ok not quite, but its still a heavy piece). Otherwise, it has a i7-3632QM processor and 8GB (4GB x 2) RAM. The body also feels cheapish, although I guess you get what you pay – bought it for just over $1000 at the time.

Predominantly use my laptop for just all round use i.e. web browsing, watching movies, transferring files using USB, working on MS Excel and Word, iTunes, transferring and viewing photos from my DSLR, grown-up admin (bills etc), etc. I don't game.

In terms of what I had in mind for the new laptop:
1) Reliable brand
2) 14" screen
3) Solid battery life, I would say at least 8 hours
4) Does not weigh a lot, ideally <1.5kgs
5) At least a 1920x1080 resolution screen
6) Would like min 500GB hard drive, ideally SSD (currently have 1TB 5400RPM SATA).
7) Backlit keyboard
8) Memory card reader, to transfer photos from my DSLR
9) At least 1 x USB-C
10) I also don't necessarily need a disk drive, it would be a nice to have

Not sure on what processor I need, and whether going to an i5 I'll be able to tell the difference given I'm currently on an i7 (although 3rd Gen). I would think min 8GB RAM is pretty standard now also.

Not looking to buy refurbed, and ideally from a physical store.

Looking forward to receiving some recommendations.

Cheers

Computing Computer Laptop

Comments

  • dcep on 05/09/2018 - 17:28
    +2

    https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Dell-XPS-13-Laptop-8th-Gen-Intel…

    $1,439 w/ code PIXEL

    • Pbm33 on 05/09/2018 - 22:32

      This has 256GB SSD. Getting 512GB gets the price to >$1500.

      Also 13" is a bit too small for my liking.

  • carlJack on 05/09/2018 - 17:34

    XPS 13

  • pingualien on 05/09/2018 - 21:35

    Macbook

    • Pbm33 on 05/09/2018 - 22:32

      Sorry, want to avoid Macs.

  • thaiiy on 07/09/2018 - 15:24

    Hey, I'm selling a couple of Dell 7480 Latitudes, business class ultrabooks on eBay. They have all your required specs and comes with 2—3 year Dell Warranty remaining. High specs 7th gen CPU, USBC, one of them has QHD touchscreen with 16gb ram 512gb ssd for $1090.

    PM me if interested.

  • Pixel on 07/09/2018 - 15:40

    Hi generally, you can only have 2 of Cheap, Light, Power. I would say that ultrabooks probably fit your description the best. I would say if you're not gaming and you're not doing video editing/processing then a current gen i5 is going to be perfectly fine to do all that you need. The following laptops are ones that you can look into

    • Dell's XPS series: these are probably the best windows laptops in terms of being light weight and powerful with decent battery life but as mentioned it does mean that it is going to be more expensive (may mean compromising on storage for an external hard drive or investing in cloud storage)

    • Surface Pro - benefit of being able to use it in tablet mode which could be advantage depending on your use. Build quality is good and battery life is decent

    • Asus Zenbook - this probably meets the budget component the best but you do sacrifice a little bit of build quality compared to the aforementioned laptops (i.e. trackpad is smaller etc) but a good option none the less.

    If you're prepared to take on a little bit more bulk then consider the Dell latitude series and the Lenovo Laptops - these are designed for business use and so they sacrifice some of the sleekness of ultrabooks to improve the typing experience.

    Personally i've been using a Dell XPS 15 for the past 5 years and would have to say i've been very happy with it (it does show signs of wear and tear now). It's an i7, 16gb RAM, 500gb HDD and still lasts about 4-5 hours when on battery. I have also used a Macbook Pro, Zenbook and Surface Pro. I still prefer the Dell XPS over them but it does mean that I pay a little more (it was about 2k when i bought it).

    Hope that's helpful

    • Pbm33 on 07/09/2018 - 21:18

      Thanks for your reply Pixel. The thing with XPS is its either 13" (probably too small for me with watching movies etc) or then 15" which seems to weigh ~2kg (or more). I would prefer something lighter and portable.

      I'm currently thinking going for 1 of the following brands: Lenovo, Dell, or Asus.

      I find with Lenovo and Dell, hard to get what I want with my budget. MSY on the other hand are selling couple of Asus laptops (Zenbook/Vivobook) which seem to fit the bill. But I don't have any experience with Asus laptops.

      I am a little bit put off buying from Dell given I had multiple issues with Dell support when I bought my current Dell, and where I was left out of pocket.

      But it appears Dell and Lenovo are really the 2 most talked about brands.

      • Pixel on 07/09/2018 - 21:23

        Yeah okay that's fair enough, there's not many laptop companies that make 14inch screens. If what you want is portability but then also able to watch movies on something bigger is, I use my laptop in clam-shell mode attached to external screen, keyboard and mouse and that gives me a 27 inch screen at home, and when i'm out and about I make do with what I have (which I guess in your case warrants the portability).

        I personally haven't had to deal with Dell Support extensively, so I can't comment on that front, but can understand your frustration. The other laptop I hadn't mentioned is the LG gram (though i'm unsure how easy/difficult it is to get here) It is about $2,000 though for the 15inch model (only weighs 1.1kg)

      • Dogsrule on 10/09/2018 - 20:45
        +1

        I posted this deal last week (now expired): https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/400830
        Configured with 512GB SSD, this machine is currently $1099, but you can also increase the RAM/HDD/ processor as desired. Fits all of your stated requirements, I reckon you should check it out: https://www.lenovo.com/au/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-edge/…

  • N1NJ4W4RR10R on 11/09/2018 - 20:51

    The Lenovo ThinkPad e480 would fit your description pretty well. Change the SSD (or buy your own, upgrading is apparently pretty simple) and make sure to select backlit keyboard (in the keyboard eng setting bit).

    Retails around 1.2k. Right now on sale for around $800 I believe from Lenovo's site. Pretty great deal.

    Not sure on battery life though.

    Alternatively, the e485. That one has a ryzen 5/7 gpu.

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