Does this exist?

Khannie

I'm looking for a laptop with a spec like this:

very small SSD (say 16G like some of the chromebooks have, even 8 would be fine)
reasonable, intel or AMD processor (edit: my version of reasonable is probably very lightweight, tbh)
2G ram
13 or 14 inch screen
4+ hour battery life
~300 quid

I know the price is a big ask, but the samsung 550 chromebook is available for near that. I just want a slightly larger screen. I'll be sticking a lightweight version of linux on it and I aim to do some dev work on it.

Khannie

Hmmm. A bit of googling around and I see the HP pavilion chromebook seems to come in more or less exactly at the spec. Information on it is *very* light though. Does anyone on here have one?

If anyone is aware of similarly spec'd products, please shout.

Black Swan

Personally, I don't trust HPs, but here is one that may meet your specs:

HP Pavilion 14-c010us Chromebook; Chrome OS; Intel Celeron 847 (1.1 GHz ); 14" diagonal HD BrightView LED-backlit (1366 x 768); 2 GB DDR3; 16 GB SATA SSD.

Torqay

ASUS X401A, 14" screen, dual core Celeron B815, 4 GB RAM, 269 at LD

The performance of the Sandy Bridge Celery isn't too shabby (CPUMark 1343), battery life 4-5 hours according to reviews. But you'll have to fit a SSD yourself.

bonzodog2

You're thinking new ? If you don't need top-of-range blistering performance, why not get something used and add RAM and SSD yourself? I recently bought a Dell E6400 used, cost about 220; 2.5GHz dual core,4GB RAM.

Overheal

Black Swan wrote: »

Personally, I don't trust HPs, but here is one that may meet your specs:

Having even had an HP that failed, and understanding why the unit failed, I still have plenty of trust for HP. Even though they Dell and Apple all got hit by defective Nvidia GPUs, it's HP's reputation that suffered the most. Not Dell, Not Apple, not Nvidia. Kinda sad really.

Torqay

It's not just the Nvidia GPUs. HP Compaq is the brand coming up most in connection with overheating issues. HP is trailing Acer in the laptop failure statistic for a reason.

I just had a HP laptop here the other day, which conveniently died 2 months after the warranty ran out.

danger_mouse_tm

Torqay wrote: »

ASUS X401A, 14" screen, dual core Celeron B815, 4 GB RAM, 269 at LD

The performance of the Sandy Bridge Celery isn't too shabby (CPUMark 1343), battery life 4-5 hours according to reviews. But you'll have to fit a SSD yourself.

IT'S PINK!:o

Torqay

danger_mouse_tm wrote: »

IT'S PINK!:o

How cool is that?

Other than that, it ticks all the boxes (except the SSD), 270 yoyos is pretty good value and it's not HP!

Khannie

Torqay wrote: »

ASUS X401A, 14" screen, dual core Celeron B815, 4 GB RAM, 269 at LD

The performance of the Sandy Bridge Celery isn't too shabby (CPUMark 1343), battery life 4-5 hours according to reviews. But you'll have to fit a SSD yourself.

Damn. That's pretty decent and is actually a better spec for the same money (less when you take VAT into consideration). Pity about the pinkness. I just couldn't take myself seriously coding on a pink lappy.

bonzodog2 wrote: »

You're thinking new ? If you don't need top-of-range blistering performance, why not get something used and add RAM and SSD yourself? I recently bought a Dell E6400 used, cost about 220; 2.5GHz dual core,4GB RAM.

My only concern with a 2nd hand laptop is that the battery would be shagged on it.

Torqay

Khannie wrote: »

I just couldn't take myself seriously coding on a pink lappy.

Don't be such a wuss!

SOL have the same model with a faster processor (B820, CPUMark 1505) for 240 Sterling... in BLACK.

Replacing the HDD involves a bit of wortk though, it can also take 8 GB RAM (single module), tutorial here:

Khannie

Torqay wrote: »

Don't be such a wuss!

Haha. I thought about it, but I intend using it on the train and to be honest you're just asking for a hiding with a pink laptop.

Torqay wrote: »

SOL have the same model with a faster processor (B820, CPUMark 1505) for 240 Sterling... in BLACK.

Lovely.

Is the Windows 7 (home premium 64bit) license on it worth anything / saleable? I will definitely never use it.

Torqay wrote: »

Replacing the HDD involves a bit of wortk though, it can also take 8 GB RAM (single module), tutorial here:

Sound. I could probably stick with the 320, at least initially. Perfectly happy with the 4G.

Torqay

Khannie wrote: »

Is the Windows 7 (home premium 64bit) license on it worth anything / saleable?

No siree, OEM licenses cannot be transferred or sold.

May be useful though if you want to sell the laptop later.

Even with the Windows Tax, this laptop seems to be pretty good value for less than 300 yoyos.

Khannie

Yeah, agreed. Seems like savage value.

Black Swan

Khannie wrote: »

My only concern with a 2nd hand laptop is that the battery would be shagged on it.

Batts tend to degrade beyond 18 mos. Plus, you have no idea how the lappy may have been abused by the prior owner. Unless you have the skill and time to rebuild 2nd handers, I would avoid them.

Khannie

Torqay wrote: »

SOL have the same model with a faster processor (B820, CPUMark 1505) for 240 Sterling... in BLACK.

They don't seem to deliver to Ireland. Is it a case of doing a parcel motel jobbie?

Torqay

Khannie wrote: »

They don't seem to deliver to Ireland. Is it a case of doing a parcel motel jobbie?

They do. £9.90 delivery to Ireland.

hearny

You have to select NON UK MAINLAND according to my past orders but they are very good to deal with.

Parcel motel may be a cheaper option though.

There is a 1.5% Credit Card Surcharge so use a debt card if you can.