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Question

Choosing a cheap, light 13-14'' Windows laptop

Aug 7, 2016 9:13PM PDT

Hi all, I'm a college student looking to get a laptop (my previous one was lost to an unfortunate spillage incident that need not be discussed). I'll probably just use it for schoolwork, going on the internet, writing, listening to music, some basic photo editing - nothing too esoteric. I shouldn't spend too much money on it, so I'm looking at ones in the $600 or less range. I'm hoping for one that:

-Has Windows 10
-Has a 13.3'' or 14'' screen
-Has at least 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage
-Has at least 7 hours of battery life
-Is light enough to carry around - ideally 4 pounds or less

I looked around a bit. Specifically I looked at Acer, Asus, and HP laptops, because I read that they are the more ethical companies (and narrowing it down makes this process a lot easier). I found four that seem good:

-Acer Aspire V 13 V3-372T: http://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/model/NX.G7CAA.001

-Acer Aspire S 13 S5-371: http://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/model/NX.GCHAA.002

-Asus VivoBook E403SA: http://store.asus.com/us/item/201602AM020000623/A44590

-HP Pavilion x360 Convertible Laptop (13.3’&rsquoWink T5M66AV_1: http://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/Laptops/hp-pavilion-x360--13t-laptop-t5m66av-1

I'm not sure which of these would be best, though. Does anyone have a recommendation for which out of these four I should get? Or, does anyone suggest something different? Much appreciated!

Discussion is locked

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Answer
HP? Sorry but my experience made it my last HP.
Aug 7, 2016 9:51PM PDT
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Thanks for the input!
Aug 8, 2016 5:32PM PDT

Just to clarify - you mean you had a bad experience with HP, and you think Acer and Asus are fine but nothing special?

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It was beyond bad.
Aug 8, 2016 5:38PM PDT

I never had any issues with a major company until this. I was frankly shocked at how they would walk on the warranty and drag resolving it out to 9 months. Imagine a student or a person without the means to replace it.

I'm not the only one that had such issues, you can find HP service issues on the web.

Asus and Acer seem OK. I have ordered parts out of warranty without any troubles.