Student looking for a travel/non-gaming laptop

[ultima_weaponx]

1. What is your budget?
-$700 max.
-If I justify any more money than this, I’ll end up buying a machine for games.
Cheaper the better.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
-17” would be too large for taking notes in lectures.
-13” are too small for me to get work done on.
-So something between there. 15” range?

3. What screen resolution do you want?
-As good as it gets? I want to be able to watch movies during travel @ good resolution.

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
-Portable laptop for university and travel.

5. How much battery life do you need?
-At least 4 hours?
-I should be able to plug in on the plane with most airlines.

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
-I WANT to play games but Warcraft already ruined 1 year of school. No gaming specs needed!

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
-Microsoft office
-Watching videos
-Internet browsing (I like having memory for a LOT of tabs though)
-Would be nice if photoshop CS5 worked on it for casual editing without lagging

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
-No requirements here. I’d like to put an SSD in it though.
-As for the SSD, I value reliability and performance over capacity.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
www.newegg.ca
www.memoryexpress.com

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
-Well… Maybe 4 years sounds realistic.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
-DVD ROM/writer

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
-I prefer Asus because I love the build quality.
-I also love the brushed metal finishes some of them have.
-I do not want some cheap glossy looking plastic shell. So that eliminates many brands.

13. What country do you live in?
-Canada

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed
This laptop caught my eye (P53E-XH51)
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX36443
It interests me because it:
*It is an Asus
*The body appears to be metal and not plastic
*It claims to be ‘drop proof’ (but I do not know if this will apply once I install an SSD)

What I don’t like about it is:
*It appears to be an old model and is being discontinued all over
* I’d like to have more than 4gb of ram. I really do like to have a lot of tabs and PDFs open


Thanks for your help guys!

 

[ultima_weaponx]

I notice tablets can make use of GPS which would be really helpful while traveling (I enjoy going to Japan)

Is there anyway for a laptop to use GPS? I suppose I would have to connect it to my cell phone somehow? (assuming I buy a cell phone that WORKS in Japan next time...)

 

[ultima_weaponx]

---erased for relevance.

 

[dudewitbow]

I notice tablets can make use of GPS which would be really helpful while traveling (I enjoy going to Japan)

Is there anyway for a laptop to use GPS? I suppose I would have to connect it to my cell phone somehow? (assuming I buy a cell phone that WORKS in Japan next time...)

the only way i could imagine a laptop having gps is if the laptop always has an internet reception.

 

[rocknrollz]

The laptop you provided is a great laptop, I personally would buy it. (As for your SSD question? Hard drives break easily when dropped, SSD's not so much. So an SSD would actually be BETTER!)

 

[ultima_weaponx]

The laptop you provided is a great laptop, I personally would buy it. (As for your SSD question? Hard drives break easily when dropped, SSD's not so much. So an SSD would actually be BETTER!)

I am happy to hear that an SSD would be an even more secure choice for a laptops durability! I suppose it makes sense dude to the absence of less moving parts?

I am also pleased to hear that the laptop I linked would be a good choice, however, as this laptop is being discontinued around now, would there be any way to see what its "successor" is? The Asus website doesnt exactly seem easy to navigate its models from old--> current.

and one more question. Would the Asus Transformer Prime be a good idea for my needs? I really do like how heavy it appears to be. I could make due with a USB optical drive to install things at home with.
I should have said that in my original post...