Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

Best laptop for my specific requirements

by Jun 18, 2016 4:35AM PDT

Hi,
I have looked everywhere to find a laptop that best suits my needs but I feel like there is none that suits all of the requirements. It may just be that what I am looking for doesn't exist or maybe I'm just missing it, so I am hoping on some good pointers.

- My price range is €800-€1600 (ie. $900-$1 800)
- Battery duration should be average or better. No laptops with bad batteries.
- No High DPI display (I have some bad experiences with it before, it seems that software just isn't ready to deal with it yet).
- Minimum of 1920x1080 resolution.
- Minimum of 8GB ram. Preferably expandable.
- I am looking for a 500 GB SSD, however this seems to be the main bottleneck in my searching so if its not possible I need a good/fast alternative, but 256 GB is too few for me, I need at least 500gb.
- As for CPU: match performance of other components (i5 i7?)
- Screen sizes of 13, 14 or 15 inch.
- Lightweight/thin preferably. Doesn't need to be the lightest and thinnest in the market but I will carry it to work everyday.
- A usable webcam for remote work communication.
- Good viewing angles and good brightness.
- Should be relatively quiet.
- I don't care much about windows as I am going to run ubuntu or fedora on it, maybe just use windows for a bit of gaming.
- I don't want a macbook or another apple product.
- I am a developer and will be using it for that most of the time, some occasional gaming and video watching.

What I don't care about at all:
Touchscreens
Using it as a tablet
Cd/dvd drives
Speaker quality

I have looked at dell xps 13 but the cheapest one only has a 256gb ssd and the more expenseive one has a very high DPI screen and as I indicated I've had bad experiences with that.

Hope you can give me some tips Happy thanks!

Discussion is locked

5 Posts
- Collapse + Expand Details
- Collapse -
Answer
Re: laptop
by Forum moderator Jun 18, 2016 4:56AM PDT

I see Dell sells both the XPS 13 and the XPS 15 (their top models) with either Linux or Windows, and a choice of SSD up to 512 GB.
Add the longest warranty and a next day at home/work service contract and you're good to go.

- Collapse -
Answer
One of the CNET favs is the non-touch XPS models.
by Forum moderator Jun 18, 2016 9:12AM PDT

So check that out.

In parting, battery time is nice but you pay for that in a year or two with a worn out battery. Budget a new battery in 2 years or 1 if you run daily on battery for hours.

- Collapse -
Answer
I will say
by Jun 19, 2016 6:29PM PDT
- Collapse -
Many of your posts have MSI?
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Jun 19, 2016 6:34PM PDT

You should mix it up a little or folk will notice.

- Collapse -
Answer
14" light gaming laptops
by Jun 23, 2016 9:15PM PDT

I'd think about Alienware ALW14 and MSI GS40 for this case. Both are around USD1500, which is within your budget.

Back to Laptops forum

CNET Forums

Operating Systems
Software
Electronics & Gadgets
Hardware
Tablets & Mobile Devices
General Help
Brand Forums
Roadshow Autos
Off Topic

Other Forums

Forum Info