Looking for a 13" ultrabook for sister going away to college

[Nvidiaguy07]

Havent been keeping up with anything computer related. checked the wirecutter and didnt really see anything that looked good for her, so figured id ask here.

Shes moving across the country to go to school, so Id like to get her something that will be fast and good enough for her.

I originally considered a chromebook, but if her university uses microsoft office it wont be a very good choice for her.

Im looking for something around 13-14" and hopefully under 5-600 dollars.

things I value for her in order are:
durability - shes clumsy
form factor - nothing too bulky
good keyboard for typing
reliable - cant help her with any issues from across the country, so it cant have any crazy wifi issues or anyting like that.
battery life
light gaming - indie games and such

probably a few other things I cant think of. So lemme know what you recommend. Bonus points if its girly looking, pink, or has some dumbass design on it.

 

[s44]

I originally considered a chromebook, but if her university uses microsoft office it wont be a very good choice for her.

Office.com is pretty good, actually. Microsoft has a Chrome app that takes you there, though it doesn't work offline ATM.

Im looking for something around 13-14" and hopefully under 5-600 dollars.

<$600 for an Ultrabook? Ha. You're not going to get that until the end of the year, when the clearance/refurb models are Haswell and not crappy Ivy Bridge.

You'll either have to up the budget or settle for a smaller screen (or heavier chassis, but I'm sure you don't want that).

 

[tsupersonic]

<$600 for an Ultrabook? Ha. You're not going to get that until the end of the year, when the clearance/refurb models are Haswell and not crappy Ivy Bridge.

Nah, this is not true. It's totally doable - just browse a site like slickdeals or fatwallet. There will be laptop deals. I think Staples has a $100 off PC's (more than $499) coupon

 

[crashtestdummy]

Look at the Ivy Bridge Vizio Thin and Light. It's battery life won't be as good as the newer Haswell models, but otherwise it's not as "crappy" as s44 is intimating. The main issue that particular computer has is its keyboard, but otherwise it's mostly solid.

If you're willing to spend closer to a grand, then maybe the Yoga 2 Pro becomes a possibility, though they strangely seem to be phasing out the lower-end models of these.

 

[Sunburn74]

Asus UX32 should meet all the criteria. Can also consider a refurbed or used UX31

 

[s44]

Nah, this is not true. It's totally doable - just browse a site like slickdeals or fatwallet. There will be laptop deals. I think Staples has a $100 off PC's (more than $499) coupon

No. $800 is doable. $600 is Ivy Bridge.

 

[EarthwormJim]

Macbook Airs are close to that with a student discount.

Can always load Windows into it.

 

[alkemyst]

Macbook Airs are close to that with a student discount.

Can always load Windows into it.

QFT, IMHO Apple fanboy or not; the Air is probably the best ultrabook out.

 

[s44]

QFT, IMHO Apple fanboy or not; the Air is probably the best ultrabook out.

No it's not. Utter crap panels and no touch. Decent pricing and surprisingly good customizability though.

 

[alkemyst]

No it's not. Utter crap panels and no touch. Decent pricing and surprisingly good customizability though.

I spoke a bit incorrect. The MBP 13" retina in a nearly air shape I was meaning.

Their is major rumor of a true Air retina display within 2014 though.

I don't know many touching their laptops screens though.

I am sure it's going to happen, but not yet with phones and tablets in most savvy peoples arsenal.

 

[EarthwormJim]

No it's not. Utter crap panels and no touch. Decent pricing and surprisingly good customizability though.

Utter crap panels? They're not IPS displays, but they still have fairly good viewing angles, and good brightness levels. To call them crap is a gross overstatement. Crap is what ships on $300 laptops.

To get a better panel in that price-range, you have to make other compromises. Buying last years CPUs or getting a refurbished laptop.

 

[s44]

First sub-$800 Haswell ultrabook refurb I've seen... Asus UX302LA for $660

 

[QuantumPion]

The ivy bridge Acer S7 13" can be had ~$840, it is a true ultrabook (< 3 lb, SSD, 12mm).

It cost more than the Asus above but it has a 128gb SSD and is thinner.

 

[s44]

Ivy Bridge halves the battery life; I don't think it's recommendable at all for non-desktop use.

 

[Aikouka]

Asus UX32 should meet all the criteria. Can also consider a refurbed or used UX31

Given that I'm dealing with having to replace the SSD on my UX31A, I would warn anyone to ensure that the ASUS laptop isn't using proprietary connectors for some of the internal components. It's not much fun having to pay $200 on eBay to some dude in China for a 128GB SSD. :\

The worst part is that the extended warranty people refuse to fix it because their clipboard-style testing can't find anything wrong... even when it BSODs while they have it. Ugh, just thinking about that laptop pisses me off. It's a $1000 paperweight at this point!

So, ranting aside, be wary of ASUS's ultrabooks. I believe the UX32 does use standard ports, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

[Throckmorton]

Given that I'm dealing with having to replace the SSD on my UX31A, I would warn anyone to ensure that the ASUS laptop isn't using proprietary connectors for some of the internal components. It's not much fun having to pay $200 on eBay to some dude in China for a 128GB SSD. :\

The worst part is that the extended warranty people refuse to fix it because their clipboard-style testing can't find anything wrong... even when it BSODs while they have it. Ugh, just thinking about that laptop pisses me off. It's a $1000 paperweight at this point!

So, ranting aside, be wary of ASUS's ultrabooks. I believe the UX32 does use standard ports, but I'm not 100% sure.

I have an Asus laptop and I'll never buy another one.

 

[skankinstein]

Yoga 2 Pro refurb at the Outlet, ebay or elsewhere.

 

[Vesku]

Not as rugged as their Thinkpad series but in your price range the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 14 is pretty good.

$600 Newegg Daily Deal (so this price will probably pop up again), Haswell so better battery use than IB alternatives, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD new retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834313943

Also a bit heavier than some of the $800+ options.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

Not as rugged as their Thinkpad series but in your price range the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 14 is pretty good.

$600 Newegg Daily Deal (so this price will probably pop up again), Haswell so better battery use than IB alternatives, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD new retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834313943

Also a bit heavier than some of the $800+ options.

shit, didnt have a computer for a few days and missed this. I saw the wirecutter had this as one of their top picks at $600, but not for anymore.

Thats pretty much just a Yoga, but slightly thicker right?

I also was eyeing a macbook air 11", since BB had them on sale for 600 a few weeks ago, but before I could buy they were all sold out.

Well I have about a week left to order something!

 

[Vesku]

Shame you missed out on the Flex 14 deal, the one on Lenovo's site that is under $600 has a hybrid hard drive instead of the 128GB SSD of the daily deal model. I did notice this HP though if you need something "now":

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...=HQR-102120304

HP ProBook 430 G1 i3-4010U (Haswell) 4GB RAM 128GB SSD 13.3" $500 (+ possible $150 rebate through 05/31)

Notebookcheck gave it a decent rating as well: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-HP-ProBook-430-G1-Notebook.104999.0.html

Low price flaws: lack of 5GHz WLAN support - disappointing in a portable but can be mitigated; small battery (44WHr) no extended option so if you want more than ~4-5 hours of unplugged productivity you'd need to spring for a second battery for ~$80-100. If you do get the rebate you can perhaps use that to get a second battery and perhaps a new WLAN module or USB AC WiFi adapter. One nice thing about HP is they make available decent service manuals.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

So I decided to have her test out a Chromebook since they're so much cheaper and if she doesn't like it or needs something better, hopefully there will be a lot of better options considering the surface 3 is gonna start at 800.

The only thing I wish about if her possibly needing Office. If she gets an office 365 subscription, is the online version of word, excel, and PowerPoint the same as the desktop version? And will it work on a Chromebook?

 

[s44]

I'm not sure Office365 beefs up office.com at all yet (it does enable the office app on Android/iOS, but that's a different animal). The site is pretty robust even totally free, though, and actually got MS's official ChromeOS blessing with webapps on the Chrome store.

This link seems to indicate the current state of things:
http://winsupersite.com/office-365/office-online-improves-tons-new-features

Editing features aside, the one missing thing is offline support. I'd think a Chromebook user would want to do most work with the Google apps and use the MS tools only for formatting/savefile conversion at the end.

 

[hans007]

Shame you missed out on the Flex 14 deal, the one on Lenovo's site that is under $600 has a hybrid hard drive instead of the 128GB SSD of the daily deal model. I did notice this HP though if you need something "now":

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...=HQR-102120304

HP ProBook 430 G1 i3-4010U (Haswell) 4GB RAM 128GB SSD 13.3" $500 (+ possible $150 rebate through 05/31)

Notebookcheck gave it a decent rating as well: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-HP-ProBook-430-G1-Notebook.104999.0.html

Low price flaws: lack of 5GHz WLAN support - disappointing in a portable but can be mitigated; small battery (44WHr) no extended option so if you want more than ~4-5 hours of unplugged productivity you'd need to spring for a second battery for ~$80-100. If you do get the rebate you can perhaps use that to get a second battery and perhaps a new WLAN module or USB AC WiFi adapter. One nice thing about HP is they make available decent service manuals.

not all probook 430s are the same.

i have a 430 (a core i5 one) that i've had a while. it has a broadcom WLAN with 5ghz 2x2. I think most of them have that one. depends on which WLAN card is for that configuration and its only the one with the worst specs that doesnt have 5ghz WLAN.

you can buy a new WLAN card for like $15 on ebay too (just has to be HP branded so its on the whitelist)