Looking to buy a new laptop
 

Recently I have been looking into buying a new laptop, to replace my old Pentium D HP Compaq. I was wondering if any people on here had any recommendations.
Here are some requirements:

• Under £500 (About $600-$700)
• Rather Stylish. Some of the laptops I have looked at seem as though they were sat on, and then mashed together.
• Able to run Ubuntu
• Screen resolution of 1360x768 or better (The higher the better)
• 14" screen (15.6" would be okay, but I would prefer 14")
• Upgradable. If it does not come with an SSD then I would want to be able to upgrade it.

And there are some things that I do not need:

• A DVD drive/CD drive. I normally use USB sticks, so this is not needed
• Very fast. I have survived solely on a netbook for the past 2 years, and I am okay with the speed, so speed is not most important. If it is fast, then okay, but if not, it doesn't matter.

So far I have looked at the Lenovo IdeaPad u300s/u310/u410, but these all seem too expensive. Maybe in the after Christmas sales.
I have also looked at the Asus X401a, which is the correct cost, however I cannot find many reviews.
Does anyone have any other recommendations?

or you can glue a monitor to an old tower and super glue the keyboard to the side of the tower, and finish it off with a APC backup batter for portable power :hattip:

Acer has a laptop that looks to be on sale on their UK website and has decent Linux compatibility rating...

See;
http://www.linlap.com/wiki/acer+aspire+s3

and;
http://www.acerdirect.co.uk/Acer_Asp...72/version.asp

Might be some issues with the wireless card on this version... but it appears to be somewhat easily remediable...

As you get close to Christmas time, there will be many deals that don't seem to be around normally. I'd think some of the more basic systems would do. I'd get an ssd now and save the hassle later.

Hmm... I did find an Acer Aspire v5 which has an i5 at 1.7GHz for £400, leaving enough to purchase a 64GB SSD, or the Asus X401a which is much cheaper. Due to the sales around Christmas I was planning on purchasing it in the weeks after Christmas, as the shops might be trying to get rid of their stock.

I find that way before Christmas is best prices unless it is a bad year. In some rare cases the prices after are better but I tend to avoid after Christmas sales.

Black Friday is sometimes that best day to make a purchase too.

Right after Christmas prices go down like Jefro mentioned.

There's an Asus on this page for $429.00:
http://www.newegg.com/Store/BrandSub...oogleAdwords&c
Here's one at Best Buy
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....ComputerSP&sp=

Also, in some Computer Repairs Shops you'll find Linux and Microsoft Certified guys that work on computers rebuild/repair them and in some cases they are like new again.

I know you said your looking to buy a New laptop but it's just a suggestion that maybe you would consider.

craigslist.org the week after Christmas is a great place to look.
NewEgg has some prices I'd be tempted by if I wanted another laptop.

Don't forget System76 and Zareason. The way to support Freedom.
p.s.
you might want to look into that ideapad before buying, i'm pretty sure there Linux compatibility is no where near as good as Thinkpads.

I did have a look into System76, as they had quite a nice system, however as I am in the UK it is rather expensive for shipping (Near $99), and then import duty is quite high.

I always thought that because shops are trying to sell off their Christmas items it is cheaper, but I am going to have a look into this.

Thanks for the links, I am going to consider purchasing them from a UK retailer (I believe Ebuyer is based in the UK, if not the shipping quote they gave me is very reasonable), as Newegg costs a lot for UK delivery.

Thanks for the tips!