Looking for a new mid - low end laptop

Tyrotoxicity

Distinguished
Dec 11, 2011
5
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18,510
Hey everyone,

I am in the market to get a new laptop as my old one just died. The circuitry in the area where the AC charger plugs in is shot. I guess I could repair it but it is about 5 years old (Acer Aspire 6920G) so I think I can justify getting a new laptop haha :na:

It'll mainly be a portable media device/player.

1. What is your budget? $500 - $700

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? 14" screen would be the max that I would consider

3. What screen resolution do you want? I don't really know the technical aspects of it but something that I could watch HD (ideally Blu-ray quality but I'd settle for 720p) movies with. I don't know if this is an impossible request since my budget is not that big and the screen is pretty small

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? Definitely a portable laptop. I already have a desktop. I just need something that I can carry around

5. How much battery life do you need? As large as possible without breaking the bank (ok, maybe a little breaking is allowed). Battery life is very important to me.

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)? I would want to game on my laptop but basic things like Minecraft, Terraria, Dota 2, LoL. Again, just something that I can carry around and kill time with.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.) Not much else other than light gaming, internet browsing, music, other low end tasks etc.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? Somewhere above 500Gb. I don't need an SSD in it.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links. I have shopped around a little bit

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? With all of the parts that it comes with, maybe 1 year or so. I will mostly be upgrading my desktop so I would only need to replace my laptop if there would be a significant improvement in performance.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? Blu-ray ROM would be ideal.

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons. I'd like to avoid Acer. My old laptop was Acer and it was just a terribly built laptop. I do like Asus as a brand but I also know that they are quite expensive.

13. What country do you live in? Canada

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed. I have a set of Jawbone Jambox that would accompany it everywhere it goes so speakers aren't an issue

Thanks in advance for your help! I am quite new to building laptops so if I have to ask stupid questions in the future, I'm sorry :(