Ultrabook suggestion

Hello SDs,

My woman needs a new computer to use for nursing school. She likes the style and sleekness to Macbook Pros, but wants a Windows computer.

She prefers:
Ultrabook (Light weight)
Long battery time
~14' screen

I will pay for:
Quality hardware
Beautiful screen
Nice keyboard

I want to buy a laptop that has a CPU that will not be instantly outdated if I buy it preferably Intel.

I am looking to spend around ~500. Now my price range may be a little low for an Ultrabook, but hopefully someone can offer my a good solution. I will rep all good ideas.

Thank yuo.

dell was having 25% off at the outlet for the xps 14z which is pretty nice but 500 is too low
check the hot deals page

Quote from gocubs418 : Hello SDs, My woman needs a new computer to use for nursing school. She likes the style and sleekness to Macbook Pros, but wants a Windows computer. She prefers: Ultrabook (Light weight) Long battery time ~14' screen I will pay for: Quality hardware Beautiful screen Nice keyboard I want to buy a laptop that has a CPU that will not be instantly outdated if I buy it preferably Intel. I am looking to spend around ~500. Now my price range may be a little low for an Ultrabook, but hopefully someone can offer my a good solution. I will rep all good ideas. Thank yuo.

When is your lady starting school?

What you really looking for is an ultraportable with a 35 watt cpu for under 499.99.

Fry,s had a acer timeline x for 349.99 with decent looks, 8 hours charge, and powerful i3. Avoid the 499.99 2012 hp ultraportable since quailty is spotty.

Computers Deals and Coupons

Quote from gocubs418 : I will pay for: Quality hardware Beautiful screen Nice keyboard

$500 is unfortunately a bit too low to have all of those in one package. Even in the $800 range, for those who are demanding - they will not find all three in one package.

The hard truth is that you're going to have to compromise at that price range. Which of those do you prioritize the most?

If you didn't care for "sleek" looks and don't mind the 12" form factor, I'd say your best bet is buying a used X220 with the IPS screen option.

The x220 has incredible build quality, a fantastic IPS screen and of course, the legendary thinkpad keyboard. The battery life (with a 6 or 9 cell) can outlast most ultrabooks AND it has a full mobile CPU vs the ultra low voltage CPUs found in ultrabooks.

X220 is a very nice machine but it doesn't have 14" screen.

Macbook pros are not ultrabooks. If an ultrabook with 14" screen is around $500 then the screen won't be beautiful (what does "beautiful screen" mean anyway? high lumens? high resolution? Matt/Reflective? TN/IPS/others?)

Find out what she wants and what the current market can offer for the budget is the first step.

Quote from gocubs418 : Hello SDs, My woman needs a new computer to use for nursing school. She likes the style and sleekness to Macbook Pros, but wants a Windows computer. She prefers: Ultrabook (Light weight) Long battery time ~14' screen I will pay for: Quality hardware Beautiful screen Nice keyboard I want to buy a laptop that has a CPU that will not be instantly outdated if I buy it preferably Intel. I am looking to spend around ~500. Now my price range may be a little low for an Ultrabook, but hopefully someone can offer my a good solution. I will rep all good ideas. Thank yuo.

You're describing a $1,000 plus machine.
For $500 you can get the power you want, with an ordinary screen and an ordinary keyboard, ordinary size (no ultrabook slimness) and ordinary weight, but possibly some decent battery life

Quote from teetee1 : X220 is a very nice machine but it doesn't have 14" screen. Macbook pros are not ultrabooks. If an ultrabook with 14" screen is around $500 then the screen won't be beautiful (what does "beautiful screen" mean anyway? high lumens? high resolution? Matt/Reflective? TN/IPS/others?) Find out what she wants and what the current market can offer for the budget is the first step.

I think he meant Macbook Air....

OP, I would look for sales on the Asus Zenbook series, you might be able to get close to $600 on a low end model. Also look at the Samsung Series 9, you might be able to squeek in around your price range on a good day.

I suspect by Xmas we might have a little more choice in this market since it's getting so popular nowadays. I would at least wait for BF to see if you can find any slickdeals on these suckers.

Quote from RockySosua : You're describing a $1,000 plus machine. For $500 you can get the power you want, with an ordinary screen and an ordinary keyboard, ordinary size (no ultrabook slimness) and ordinary weight, but possibly some decent battery life

I agree with Rocky, even with deals your budget for your requirements are unrealistic. Figure out if you have more in the budget or what you are willing to cut back on a bit.

BTW the MBP is not an ultrabook its more of a full size laptop that is thin. The apple equivelent to an ultrabook would be a MacBook Air.

Quote from brbubba : I think he meant Macbook Air.... .

Quote from LiquidRetro : BTW the MBP is not an ultrabook its more of a full size laptop that is thin. The apple equivelent to an ultrabook would be a MacBook Air.

That's my favorite laptop.
Of course, I'd put Windows on right away, not that there's anything really wrong with the Mac OS, but I'm a Windows guy.
That being said, the Mac Air is exactly what the OP describes, apart from the price.
It's the slickest of the slickest. Once you touch one, you know that it's a masterpiece.
My Dell V13 (was $700 at the time) is a joke next to the Air.
About the only thing that might sway me away is if the new Win 8 laptops come out with touch features and some serious Ultrabook styling.

Quote from RockySosua : That's my favorite laptop. Of course, I'd put Windows on right away, not that there's anything really wrong with the Mac OS, but I'm a Windows guy. That being said, the Mac Air is exactly what the OP describes, apart from the price. It's the slickest of the slickest. Once you touch one, you know that it's a masterpiece. My Dell V13 (was $700 at the time) is a joke next to the Air. About the only thing that might sway me away is if the new Win 8 laptops come out with touch features and some serious Ultrabook styling.

I have the 11" MBA and I'd put windows on it if I had more than 128GB of SSD and they fixed battery life under windows. In the past I've thrown windows on a macbook and the battery life just blew donkey you know what. If I needed it that badly I'd probably have jumped on that parallels deal instead.

Quote from brbubba : I have the 11" MBA and I'd put windows on it if I had more than 128GB of SSD and they fixed battery life under windows. In the past I've thrown windows on a macbook and the battery life just blew donkey you know what. If I needed it that badly I'd probably have jumped on that parallels deal instead.

What's the parallel deal?

PS: I just looked it up.
I figure that Windows wouldn't be as fast or as powerful, running in virtualization.
I'd probably play around with the Mac OS for awhile, just for fun, but it wouldn't be too long before I'd wipe it clean and install Windows, unless I had a giant SSD in there, for a dual boot.

PPS: Any idea why Windows bleeds the battery so badly?
Is it just that much heavier a system?

You should be able to get a used 13.3" Macbook Air 2010 for around $800-ish. Just be sure to find one with 4GB of RAM (custom configuration or Ultimate version with the bigger SSD).

I still have my 2010 MBA Ultimate, running Mountain Lion now and Windows 7 in Bootcamp. Holding out/waiting/hoping for a 13" retina Macbook Pro with Haswell graphics which means next year's version. Still looks almost new too (only noticeable on the Magsafe adapter and the usual shiny keys syndrome but even the keys are not noticeable unless you look for it at the right angles).

Quote from RockySosua : What's the parallel deal? PS: I just looked it up. I figure that Windows wouldn't be as fast or as powerful, running in virtualization. I'd probably play around with the Mac OS for awhile, just for fun, but it wouldn't be too long before I'd wipe it clean and install Windows, unless I had a giant SSD in there, for a dual boot. PPS: Any idea why Windows bleeds the battery so badly? Is it just that much heavier a system?

Apparently it runs very nicely as long as you have enough RAM and was on sale for $30 twice in the past month.

Pretty sure the issue is drivers for battery management. I haven't looked at the issue recently, but in the past the hit has been significant.

Quote from neteng101 : You should be able to get a used 13.3" Macbook Air 2010 for around $800-ish. Just be sure to find one with 4GB of RAM (custom configuration or Ultimate version with the bigger SSD). I still have my 2010 MBA Ultimate, running Mountain Lion now and Windows 7 in Bootcamp. Holding out/waiting/hoping for a 13" retina Macbook Pro with Haswell graphics which means next year's version. Still looks almost new too (only noticeable on the Magsafe adapter and the usual shiny keys syndrome but even the keys are not noticeable unless you look for it at the right angles).

A month ago you could have gotten a brand new 2011 MBA at that price. Paying $800 for a used two year old computer, when I just got my 2012 11" one (4GB RAM/128GB SSD) for $1012 ($1100 for the 13"), is just bonkers.

Quote from brbubba : A month ago you could have gotten a brand new 2011 MBA at that price. Paying $800 for a used two year old computer, when I just got my 2012 11" one (4GB RAM/128GB SSD) for $1012 ($1100 for the 13"), is just bonkers.

Well that's just the way it goes with Macs - they actually have some value left and aren't dirt in 3 years! But buying a last year's model new when a new one is out often brings the best bargains. I'm only on my 2nd one, my first was a new previous-year model 15" Pro. The 13" MBA was bought at launch, did use a corporate discount (similar to student discounts) but it wasn't quite the bargain.