Laptop specs

[Dino]

I need a new laptop for school and I narrowed it down to a few. Figured I'd check here to see if there's any specialists around.   

I've been out of the loop for too long.

The minimum requirements for school are not too bad: 2.0GHz processor and 2GB of ram so that's pretty much everything on the market these days.

I do need HDMI or a way to hook up to HDMI with a cable or adapter.

This laptop will be at my fingertips all day long, and they will be very long days without a doubt. So I think the best way to go here is to get an ultrabook. They're more expensive but they're light and have excellent battery life. My old 15"+ laptop was once a powerhouse but it also has dismal battery life and it's damn heavy to lug around all day long. 

I don't care for Apple so I'm looking at two Windows 10 based machines: The Asus Zenbook UX305UA with Intel Core i5 6200U 2.3GHz processor, 8GB ram and 256GB PCIe SSD. I'm not sure which version of Windows 10 it's running. I's around $750.

The other is the Dell XPS 13, non-touch screen version. It's very similar to the Asus but supposedly the keyboard is a little better. For the same price you only get 4GB ram and a 128GB SSD non PCIe drive. To get 8GB ram it's about $1000 while adding a 256GB drive gets it up to around $1200.

So would 4GB and 128GB SSD do it or should I go for the higher end stuff? The Asus is definitely more affordable and I just don't know if the Dell is all that much better.

Is anyone using either of these machines?

[DeltaV]

I've used Dell laptops at work (at least 3), my wife has had two, and my daughter one. All of these Dell laptops were unreliable (mine crashed very often. Two fatally.) My wife's and daughter's Dell laptops sometimes crash/lock-up; and the keyboards fall apart.

[funknut]

I don't know what kind of program you're entering, but unless you're doing some kind of math-heavy stuff, most laptops will have plenty of CPU to do what you need.  Most applications today assume you have a fair bit of RAM, and especially if you plan to have several things going at once (multiple office apps, browser windows, etc.), system memory is one thing you can never have too much of.  If there is one thing I would splurge on, it would be RAM.

Disk space really depends on how much stuff you want to keep on the laptop.  If it's strictly for school stuff and assignments, documents and things like that, you'll probably be fine with 128GB.  If you want to sync your phone and put your music library, photos, a few movies and things like that on there, then 128GB may quickly seem small.

One other thing to consider is disk space is something you can fairly easily add with an external USB drive later if you run out of space.  RAM can sometimes be upgraded depending on the model, but (especially with laptops) it may not be a straightforward deal.

I'm a Mac guy, so I don't have any recent experience with Dell or Asus laptops, but for windows machines my company exclusively uses Lenovo units and they seem to keep people happy and hold up well.

[myk]

I would opt for as much storage space and RAM as you can buy up front.  You can always swap out the HD later and add RAM but why bother if you don't have to.  No gaming or graphics intensive stuff, right?

[Dino]

It's a physician assistant program. No heavy math.

I won't be running anything unrelated to the program I self so no games, videos, or music. I have another laptop for all that stuff.

Also nothing heavy graphics wise. Typically I'll simultaneously have a browser running multiple tabs, lots of office stuff, pdf e-books. I'll also have powerpoints running through HDMI to a wide screen TV but when I do probably won't have much else running if anything.

I guess 128GB would suffice but I probably wat to go for 8GB of ram right?

The Dell XPS has been getting raving reviews and they seem to be made a whole lot better than their regular laptops. The Dell and Asus seem to be the ones with the highest ratings with the Dell being slightly better but more expensive.

I'll look into the Lenovo as well and see what they have.

[Troy]

You don't need an SSD - use any money you save and bump the RAM. (although looking at those 2 you listed they're so small you probably can't get a "normal" drive).

Remember that 128 GB Hard drive is not really 128 GB of actual storage and that Windows will likely take at least 30 GB of that. Windows will also try to use about 2 GB of your RAM.

Little things to pay attention to:
Keyboard - some setups are odd. Keys get moved (Delete, Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down). Sometimes they disappear and you have to use the function keys to follow some stupid map. I like a full number pad but you won't likely find it on a small laptop.

Input/Output - while you may not think you need HDMI, you'll probably get it (it's built in to most boards) and it you need to do any presentations it will be handy. If you want to use an external keyboard and mouse make sure you have enough USB ports (or use a wireless setup that's either blue tooth or has a shared USB dongle). I back up everything! An external USB 3+ hard drive is nice. Anything slower and you're better off backing up across the network.

Screen - pay attention to "native resolution" and try your best to use it. Your eyes will thank you.

I've had Dell, Lenovo, HP, and Toshiba. All mine have been business class so they're built to handle a lot of abuse. The last Lenovo I had was a tank. I heard that their quality and support has gone downhill since though. They aren't even an option for me through work (everyone has a laptop and our Admin guys won't let us have Lenovo). My current one is an HP but the specs/price are about 3x your budget. I ran across the XPS series several times while doing my research and I remember them getting good reviews. I like the specs on the Asus better though.

Troy

[draftingmonkey]

The missus and I have both have Dell Inspirons and have no issues. You might check out something like the Dell Inspiron 15 i5558-5718SLV. Runs just over $500 (on Amazon with free shipping). 2.20 GHz, 8GB of Ram, 1TB HDD and has the HDMI connectors you mentioned.

[myk]

I'm surprised that there are laptops that are shipping with anything less than 6G's of RAM these days.  I guess you COULD skip the SSD too; again we're not looking to buy a high performer,  just a workhorse and a regular 7200 RPM hard drive will spin just fine for most...

[Dino]

The choices become limited though because I really want something lightweight with long battery life. I really don't want another laptop that ways over 4 pounds and last 4 hours. I also don't want a touch screen or a glossy screen for that matter.

I set my max budget to $800 so among the ultrabooks the Asus and Dell XPS are the best options I think. The former has 8gb ram and 256gb storage, the latter same ram and 128gb storage. Battery life is up to 10 hours for either.

If there's a conventional laptop that can get close to that weight and battery life then I'm all for it.

[Dino]

I can't find anything better than the ultrabooks. I have to lug around a ton of books so having a small and light laptop is really a plus.

I've decided on the Asus Zenbook, but there's two models and I'm not sure which one to pick.

The UX305UA is the newer model with a 6th gen i5 6200U core, and it has a fan that according to some reviewers can get noisy. Noise is relative though so who knows how loud it really is.

The UX305CA is the same laptop but with a 6th gen M3-6Y30 core. So it's not as much a performer as the newer one, but it also has no fan so it's completely silent. I like that part, but I'm wondering if the processor is strong enough.

I'm thinking I should probably take the risk of having it a bit more noisy and go with the i5 core. Battery life should be a little bit better with this one as well since it doesn't have to work as hard as the core M, but I'm not sure that's how it works.

[myk]

Yeah I was going to say Asus also.  Post up pics after you get it!

[Dino]

Will do!   

[Dino]

I just ordered the Asus UX305UA; pics and review to follow!

[Dino]

Alright, I've been playing with this thing since Monday so here's a short review. I didn't snap any pics of it but you can see it here: http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/ASUS-ZenBook-UX305UA/overview/

I have the i5 6200u core, 256GB ram and 8GB ssd version with Windows 10.

First thing I did was update all the drivers and remove the stuff I didn't want. I have so far set up the programs I need for school and used the interactive anatomy and physiology software. I've also hooked it up to my TV and regardless of what I do this thing flies!

The matte full HD screen is amazing; it is way more clear outside on a sunny day than my tablet or phone which have glossy screens. I saw a movie on it last night and it's perfect. Granted it's not why I bought this but I had to try.   

I haven't found any bugs or flaws anywhere so I don't think I need to send it back. Still, Ill leave the stickers on it for a while just in case.

The keyboard is a chiclet style, full size, and it works amazingly well. Much better than I expected. Same with the touch pad.
All the reviews online will tell you that the only drawback is that the keyboard is not back lit, but I don't really see a problem with that. I'm not one to sit in the dark typing a paper, but I did type a bit on it last night and I find that the light emanating from the screen is more than enough to see the keys. The other ultra book I considered was the Dell XPS and I tried it out in the store but I didn't see the point to spend several hundred dollars more for the same specs. The back lit keyboard by the way was so bright even on the low setting that I would have left it turned off anyway.   

I paid $750 for this one and that's hard to beat. Oh and I spent another $10 for a nice protective sleeve as well, because I tend to screw things up that are not protected.   

The screen is 13" which is just perfect for my needs. The really amazing thing about this is that it's very light and very thin. It feels like a tablet. Battery life is also pretty stunning. I had it on for two days, leaving it in sleep mode when not in use, and still it had juice to spare! With constant use I can get at least 7 hours out of it so I couldn't ask for more.

[myk]

Sounds like a slick machine, and thanks for the link.  I've been thinking about supplementing my 12 pound gaming laptop with something not so monstrous lol...