Looking for New Laptop- Great Battery Life and Portability are the Main Goal...

[CaptMorgan]

Of course don' we all want the perfectly sized laptop that fits in our back pocket and then fold's out into the right size. This is for the wife to be and she currently has an older model dual-core Asus F3 Series; to say the least size of that is OK but build quality and battery life were far from quality. It is slightly bulky and the hinge had to be repaired where we cannot close it now so basically it is far from mobile at this point

I have looked myself but wanted a bit of input from the community- should/can I get the best reasonably priced laptop next week or is there a release in a month's time I should wait for? Yes that is correct one should always wait for better when it comes to tech but I am not talking about waiting till Sept/Oct for something as I want to have something soon.

Without sounding like a cheapskate money is not an issue but let's all get on the same boat here when I say she probably will not use it more than surfing the net, looking at office type files and watching one of her occasional "shows"- So the portability and weight of any apple book/air are not necessary for what ultimately are the uses of this device.

There is also the option of a tablet but at this point, considering OS and actual use, too much for too little but it's nice to have toy's. I know the future is in the cloud but that doesn't mean I should have my head in one when I am buying something for all around use!

So like noting in the thread title 1st is battery life and 2nd being the actual size and weight. I would hope with a quality product a few of the other important factors would fall into place after those first 2 are taken care of right?

For example I was taking a look at the AMD N970 model
is this the direction I should go? Or is Quad core not needed? I also thought of looking toward any i5 models- that list is immense itself. I would assume the newest mobile chip to be the coolest and most energy efficient and tried to match that newest model GFX card rather than get stuck with something older.

Thank you all for any advice

[CaptMorgan]

No Love from the Xtreme Mobile Section huh. How about a question of particular combo's- which particular mobile processor should I look toward; i3, i5, or AMD? What have people's experiences been with the current model's now and are there any I should stay away from-whether it be for lack of battery life (which I seek) or ease of use?

Thank you all for any help or wise words

[Panther_Seraphi]

From my experience intel will probably be the best for battery life and portability as there are a lot of models in the <15.6 range that carry i3s or i5s.

If all its gonna be is for office work and web then i dont see why an i3 wouldnt be a good buy as they are cheap with plenty of power for everyday activities while being cool and frugal with power.

Mentioning tablets something like an asus eee pad transformer would be a good idea as its a tablet with the ability to turn it into a ''laptop'' with the keyboard dock.

[Bolas]

Maybe a Lenovo x220?

[CaptMorgan]

Maybe a Lenovo x220?

Thanks, that does get some good reviews when it comes to battery life

[[XC] 4X4N]

Not sure what your budget is, but this Asus is a great little lappy. link

[trn]

I love my 13" macbook air. Perfect size, light weight, battery life is good, great build quality, pricing isn't cheap though but not a total rip off at the same time.

[CaptMorgan]

Thank you all for the suggestions- anyone else with experiences TIA

[shoota]

I know you said Apple isn't necessary but I find my my MBP 13" to be very portable and of great quality. They're not that expensive either, especially if you go with a used one.