Suggestions for laptop around $500-700 bugdet

[Yorhc431]

1. What is your budget?
Around $500-700

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
Since I'll be carrying it around for college something that isn't too big is fine.

3. What screen resolution do you want?
Don't think it matters seems like most laptops are 1080p

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Portable

5. How much battery life do you need?
Around 5-10 hours would be nice.

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)?
Not planning on using it for games.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Mostly going to be used for class assignments which involve programming. Also might use for watching videos on YouTube or Netflix, and apart from that just the usual school related stuff.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
If possible a 128 SSD would be good enough or just a larger HDD.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
I prefer Amazon but any site is fine.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
A few years if possible.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc?
Don't think I'll need one but don't mind if it comes with a dvd or bluray rom.

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.
Open to all brands

13. What country do you live in?
US

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
Prefer windows but open to other suggestions.

Edit:Changed some answers

 

[notlim981]

What is your OS of preference? At this price point, there are a few Chromebooks you might want to check, unless you prefer Windows.

 

[Barty1884]

As an FYI, Q4 isn't a "yes/no" question. It's asking whether you want it to be portable (sounds like you do) or a desktop replacement (generally larger, poor battery life, and not very mobile-friendly).

As for your requirements, Youtube & Netflix are not very resource intensive, so not a big deal there. "Whatever those classes need me to do" is a bit vague though - it's tough to recommend without knowing exactly what you're going to be doing on it.

Honestly, $500 is a little thin, especially to last you a few years.

My best suggestion would be a refurb - your $500 will go a little further - in some cases you won't even need to hit $500.

Something like this will have decent performance for your needs, and comes in at $369
https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Latitude-E6420-Premium-Built-Refurbished/dp/B018QGATT6/ref=sr_1_5?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1472767893&sr=1-5&keywords=i5&refinements=p_36%3A2421886011%2Cp_n_feature_twelve_browse-bin%3A9521908011

A Lenovo flex is right at your budget, but respectable specs
https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Touchscreen-Notebook-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B01IFW23HW/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1472767979&sr=1-3&keywords=i5&refinements=p_36%3A2421886011%2Cp_n_feature_twelve_browse-bin%3A9521908011%2Cp_n_operating_system_browse-bin%3A12035945011

 

[Yorhc431]

Sorry guys made my answers a bit more specific and changed the budget a bit. Thanks for the suggestions so far though.

 

[notlim981]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA9SK4SN7916

 

[Yorhc431]

The lenovo looks pretty good for that price. I'm considering that or one of these so far

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DT4A2R4/ref=psdc_565108_t1_B01CGGOUJM Acer Aspire E 15

https://www.amazon.com/F556UA-AS54-15-6-inch-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows/dp/B01CGGOUJM ASUS F556UA-AS54

The lenovo is easier to carry around I'm guessing and specs look pretty similar but what do you guys think?