Looking for a laptop, specs inside, comparable to P500
 

My girlfriend just went back for her MBA and we're in the market for a new laptop. We found one that was perfect for her, but doesn't exist anywhere, in the Lenovo IdeaPad P500 (i7). I think it's a Best Buy exclusive. Called every one in a 100 mile radius and all are out, and it's not online anymore, either. The Z series seems to be compatible, but I can't talk a girl into getting a brown laptop haha.

Here's my checklist, hoping to keep it around $800.

-i7 processor
-number pad
-8 GB Ram
-750GB + HDD (I'd prefer 1 TB split up)
-backlit keyboard
-relatively thin
-around 15.6"
-I'd like an optical drive, but I have an external so it's not a huge deal

Literally the stinkin' P500 was perfect, but I can't find it for the life of me with these specs.

I don't want to deal with HP. Thanks!

Hope this helps - http://dealnews.com/c49/Computers...re-i7/?r=3

Dunno if you're going to find a deal with 2 HDDs that give you over 1tb, but a lot of the laptops in your price range have a regular hdd + ssd, which doesn't add a lot of storage but will definitely give you more speed, and potentially slightly better battery life. 2 hard drives is going to add weight, and probably make the laptop thicker as well.

Thank you for that. HDD space is an afterthought honestly, just my preference. I'd be ok with a small SSD for the operating system and something like 500 GB HDD. That's a good point about the weight, too, which I'd like to keep down. She's feeble hahaha.

I appreciate further input from everyone! Would also like suggestions on brands, as I'm a little out of the loop.

You're looking at a pretty high end machine for an MBA student. You can get by just fine with an i5, 320GB HDD and 4GB RAM - point being, don't bypass other machines by holding out for those high specs.

I'd recommend that you take a look at a Lenovo T430 from the outlet [lenovo.com]. Grab an i5 (or i7) with 4GB & whatever HDD. Replace the primary drive with an SSD, pop the HD into the optical bay using one of these [lenovo.com], and keep an eye on the RAM (but I doubt you'll need more).

That setup will give you the exact same experience in an MBA classroom as the machine you're looking for, but it will be a heckuva lot sturdier & will last longer. Price range will be the same.

Why do you need an i7 and 8GB for MBA coursework? I would say that's overkill.

I want the higher specs for two reasons: She's really big into photography and editing, and does a lot of it, so I want it to be zippy. Photoshop can really crawl on 4 GB if you have a lot of images open.

Plus I might steal it on occasion for some light gaming at her place if I get bored haha.

I'm paying, so my rational is to get the better specs because it'll hold up longer as CPU demands continue to increase. It's waste to me to get something that'll be obsolete in two years. And yea obviously it's overkill for some light coursework...her going back for her MBA dictates needing a new machine, not necessarily the specs, I'm just considering everything outside, too.

Thanks so far!

BestBuy already put these on clearance, I got one for $532 after tax

Unfortunately that does me no good.

I don't know where you are located but I'm going to return my P500 with the i7 configuration. If you are anywhere near 60177 that's where I'm going to return it.

PMd ya man, might be able to help eachother ad unfortunately I'm no where near there.