help me finding laptops, please

Hi,

This is my very first post here.

I'm looking for a laptop with following specifications:

• light-weight, 2kg or less, portable design
• at least 2.0GHz, 2GB DDR; I'm multi tasker, open many tabs/windows simultanously
• 10-13" screen size, don't care much about screen resolution
• don't care much about HDD as I already have an external
• mostly research, writing papers, some web design, maybe light video editing, never play games
• office, email, firefox, messenger, dreamweaver, photoshop (sometimes)
• preferably around £700, must not more than £1000
• want to keep the laptop for 2 yrs or more
• I'm originally from Indonesia, but will do my masters in UK this october

List of possibilities:

• Apple MacBook 2.4GHz (around £700-800, Apple HE discount available)
• Dell Latitude E4200 (not yet released, don't know the price range)
• I love Vaio's design, but couldn't afford it. Any other suggestions?

Is it cheaper to buy a laptop from my country or buy it when I arrived in the UK?

Thanks in advance.

Personally, I would never buy a Mac. You can do everything a Mac can on a PC cheaper. I don't know why people get them.

Also, Vaio's are stylish, but they're built like crap with sub-par parts. I would never recommend a Vaio.

Your budget is bit high for what you're uses are. All you need is an entry-level laptop. Try a Dell Inspiron 13.
http://www.dell.com/content/produc [...] l=en&s=dhs

I recommend the $899 USD model.

I don't know where it's cheapest to buy the notebook, I don't live outside the US.

Thanks for your prompt reply, frozenlead, Maziar.

@frozenlead
What's wrong with Mac? I love the way they design the machine.
Been tested my friend's macbook, love the usability & performance.

@Maziar
I think what differentiate MB and MBP are their integrated graphics card and screen size. Probably I will not need MBP. I don't need high performing task. I don't like big screen size either. It drains the battery fast and not easy to bring.

The design is incredibly hard on the hardware itself and incredibly hard to service and upgrade - something apple is great at sticking a good price tag on.

As for the OS, I've never had a problem with windows, I don't have a reason to switch. My experiences with Mac OS X have never been positive. I always find the way it displays information counter-intuitive. I just hate the way everything is layed out. Especially the title bar split thing. It's just stupid, IMO.

For another $500, I don't think the Mac has enough pros to be worth it over a PC and a user with a head.

I also preferred my IBM A1 design over the design of the macbooks themselves. But that's opinion.

I never said OS X had bugs, I just said I found it really hard to figure out and navigate. All software has bugs - windows just has a lot more because there's a lot more to it.