[NA] Seeking suggestions for low-mid end laptop

[AggieMike88]

looking for suggestions for brand/model of laptop.

Budget: $400

Mission Parameters
Use during the meetings and conferences I attend (6-8 per year)
Must be Win10
Strong battery life 5+ hours
Weight under 5-6 lbs.
Be reasonably speedy
Wireless internet, WiFi only okay. Ethernet Jack desired
At least 2 USB ports, USB3.0
Bluetooth optional
Video connection for projectors
14-15 inch screen, touch screen not needed
Enough RAM to help the OS keep up with me
Enough disk storage that Win10 isn't leaving me any room for documents and photos. And handle future OS upgrades
Shipped with minimal bloat ware

And reliable enough to take care of my needs for 3-4 years.

Main use is note taking during meetings/conferences, using Office365, browsing, email, VPN'ing to my office system. And other tasks that are better suited on a PC than my iPad mini.

 

[kgruber]

SSD Drive

 

[Sac Arrow]

I (well company) bought a Lenovo Yoga model laptop for me to use overseas. Best laptop I ever used, light, thin, SSD drive, boots up in a couple seconds, plus it can be used as a touch screen if you want. Mine was $900 but I'm sure a sub-$500 unit meeting your specs can be had.

 

[GeorgeC]

Not sure it meets all of your requirements, but the thinkpad 11e looked like a pretty good deal last I checked.

 

[kgruber]

Cheap....fast.....good....except I'd buy a SSD drive for it:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Lenovo-...trkparms=5373:0|5374:Featured|5079:6000000877

 

[John221us]

Honestly, I am a Windows guy, but for that purpose, just use your iPad Mini. That's what I do. I use MS OneNote for the notes. With O365 it syncs to all my other computers automatically and I can easily email a PDF of the notes to anyone I want. You can check email and even do an SfB conference call on the iPad.

 

[weilke]

15.6 is ginormous for occasional conference use. Last month, I bought a little 12in version of that lenovo unit for my son to use. For what I spent on it, it's ok, but nothing to write home about for quality.

 

[Jim_CAK]

Honestly, I am a Windows guy, but for that purpose, just use your iPad Mini. That's what I do. I use MS OneNote for the notes. With O365 it syncs to all my other computers automatically and I can easily email a PDF of the notes to anyone I want. You can check email and even do an SfB conference call on the iPad.

+1. I always add that the Logitech keyboard cover transformed my iPad from a device for viewing content into a very useful device. I travel a lot for work and rarely fire up my laptop when I get to a hotel at night. The Ipad with the keyboard cover is great for email.