Amateur to this world looking for laptop advice

[LamentingDream]

Hi there,

 

I'm looking for some guidance on a laptop to buy for uni. I'll list some of the things I would prefer and perhaps you can point me in the right direction. The one I'm using right now is like 5 years old so its time to buy a new one.

 

Looking to spend no more than $900 US (but less would be nice). 15.6 inch screen would be nice but no smaller than 14 inch. 6-8 hour battery life absolutely required for me.

Using it for school mostly, don't really game much, mostly running chemistry software, writing papers, and occasionally data analysis.

Don't want a laptop that is all plastic as I'm hoping to keep it for a few years.

 

Don't really care much about thunderbolt 3 or usb c but if the laptop has it I would be fine with it.

 

[5x5]

Don't judge build quality by material - plastic can be much stronger than aluminium if done correctly.

 

Anyhow, get a business-class laptop - vastly superior build quality, durability, reliability and much lower noise.

A Lenovo ThinkPad, Dell Latitude or HP EliteBook - any model from those business families will be good - personally, I'd get a ThinkPad E480 or E490 as  the ThinkPad keyboards are the best ones available on a laptop

[Squibbies18]

LTT actually put out a video recently that you might find useful  

 

[5x5]

Just now, Squibbies18 said:

LTT actually put out a video recently that you might find useful  

 

That video is full of bad advice - I like LTT but their laptop videos are by far the weakest ones - that is basically a guide how NOT to buy a laptop

[Squibbies18]

6 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

That video is full of bad advice - I like LTT but their laptop videos are by far the weakest ones - that is basically a guide how NOT to buy a laptop

Yeah some of the advice in it was a little shocking (like the surface having the best keyboard?) but it does have some relevant parts to it as well but yeah after watching it again it seems that most of the more relevant/better advice was geared towards the lower end laptops  

[5x5]

1 minute ago, Squibbies18 said:

Yeah some of the advice in it was a little shocking (like the surface having the best keyboard?) but it does have some relevant parts to it as well but yeah after watching it again it seems that most of the more relevant/better advice was geared towards the lower end laptops  

Actually, that part is the worst offender - they're recommending one of the worst laptops on the market (even their B-roll shows their Aspire is broken)

[Squibbies18]

6 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

Actually, that part is the worst offender - they're recommending one of the worst laptops on the market (even their B-roll shows their Aspire is broken)

I meant stuff like looking for used thinkpads and looking out for laptops like the HP stream because of emmc

[SenKa]

32 minutes ago, Squibbies18 said:

Yeah some of the advice in it was a little shocking (like the surface having the best keyboard?) 

Their fault was not saying the Surface having the best keyboard, the fault was pushing an opinion as fact without prefacing it with an "eye-emm-oh".

 

I personally quite like Microsofts keyboards, but I am also part of the minority who like Apple's Butterfly switch so shrug.

[genexis_x]

Are you from US? Mind low sRGB display and non-upgradeable RAM?

[LamentingDream]

11 hours ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Are you from US? Mind low sRGB display and non-upgradeable RAM?

I am from the US. Don't mind sRGB and don't mind about upgrading RAM.

[genexis_x]

From Lenovo special discount website:

Lenovo Thinkpad P43s 20RHS00100

Lenovo Thinkpad T495 20NJ0001US

Lenovo Thinkpad T495s 20QJ0005US / customize

Cheaper options: Thinkpad L490, L590

Also take a look: P53s/T590, T580

 

From Dell Outlet:

Dell Latitude 5490, 5400 (with FHD display)