Question:
Cheap laptop for student...
Recently, I had the screen crack on my ~14 month old Seanix Seanote SL 226. No exterior damage (at least on the screen section... I had cracks developing around the keyboard as well), and the thing wasn't abused... however, the backing on the machine's 15.4 inch widescreen was flimsy, so I think it broke from long term stress. I'm taking it in on the weekend, but I'm not holding out hope I'll be able to get a decent priced repair (it's still under warrenty but I'm not holding my breath at all given the nature of the problem).
In addition... the battery life on the thing is like 80-100 minutes despite a Celeron M and six cell, which makes it even less appealing to repair, so while I'm not certain I'm going to be replacing it , there's a pretty good chance I will be.
Now, while my parents have agreed to cover the replacement costs (it's a university expense to them, though it does come out of my uni funds... good thing I plan on doing co-op terms!), I have a pretty limited budget. I have to convince my dad to shell out for whatever I buy and he knows computers and tends to only buy what's needed, so I'm thinking around the $700 CAD range before warrenty options. Currently, I'm leaning towards the Lenovo C100 but I want some opinions.
Key considerations:
1) Build quality... I don't want another cracking nightmare, especially since I'm pretty gentle with my gear and am convinced at least part of the problem with the Seanote was the laptop itself. I'm especially concerned about the screen due to the repair costs it would entail.
2) Wi-fi reception: I go to SFU, which has wireless, but also a lot of concrete. I've noted at least two laptops owned by people I know (both Compaqs) failed to even pick up the wireless in the area I normally work in. Weirdly enough, I've also had one of those Compaqs pick up wi-fi in areas I couldn't with the Seanote, so I'm not sure that there's any real way to tell what's going to perform well in a specific spot, but I want generally good wi-fi.
3) Battery life: The Seanote's 90 minutes was a pain for 2 hour lectures (I'd switch between it and a pencil during breaks!). I'd like to get through such a lecture with some leeway for general e-mail checking and stuff around campus.
4) Ergonomics: THis is why I got the Seanote... thin case and slightly sloped keyboard. I doubt I'll find anything like that again, but decent ergonomics would be great.
THe one concern I've heard with the C100 so far is the small touchpad, which sounds pretty unappealing, but may be something I just end up dealing with.
I do game but have a decent desktop at home. Descrete graphics and dual core type stuff is not necessary, though if you know any wonder budget notebooks that have them drop me a line! I'm thinking even the GMA900 will probably run Neverwinter Nights and Raven Shield... neither of which ran on my Seanote.
I actually prefer widescreen notebooks but given my experience with the Seanote I'm leaning towards going non-wide because I feel they're less vulnerable to wear and tear.
Also, I'm interested in warrenty and casing options that will help save me this kind of headache in the future. Currently using a laptop backback, with the screen always facing towards my back... not my books!
Answer:
Re: Cheap laptop for student...
Consider this Acer Travelmate
http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/ca...affixedcode=WW
It has a 1.73 Centrino processor, 1GB RAM, 100 GB HD, and a DVD Burner. My sister has the 512 MB RAM and 60GB version, and she gets about 4 hours of battry life outta it.