Laptop for University

[TeaLeaf]

I'm buying a laptop for my daughter as she is off to university this October and am looking for some suggestions please.

Requirements:

• 6 hours or more battery life
• Screen size ideally 15.6" (absolutely not smaller than 14")
• Must be light-ish in weight (ideally not more than circa 5lbs)
• Keyboard must be robust, no/negligible flexing!
• Budget variable, but I'd prefer closer to £500 than £1,000!

Any good recommendations?  There seems to be remarkably little to look at in the shops and it's difficult to search on battery life!

[Lameduck]

I can recommend the Novatech range. I use my nSpire ( n1592) laptop during the day and the battery gives me in excess of 6 hrs and recharges very quickly.
Keyboard is silent and no flexing and they have an excellent selection from about £270 to £1500. Family and friends own 6 of them, and reliability has been v good.
http://www.novatech.co.uk/laptop/

[BrotherTobious]

I am happy with the laptop I got from pc specialist might be worth a look

[TeaLeaf]

Thanks, I'll look at both of those.  I'd not considered a custom spec laptop and that might be the answer!

[JanuZ]

I just bought a Asus N56J since I needed a lighter laptop for school and I am pretty happy with it though haven't used it that much. My requirements were mostly similar to yours though I don't care that much about battery. Else I was looking for enough memory, 15.6" screen with 1920x1080 resolution. I got mine for 900$ but original price was 1200$.

Edit: Here are exact specs of what I got

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231705&ignorebbr=1

[TeaLeaf]

Thanks for the info Januz.  Been looking around more today and the pcspecialist looks an interesting route.  The followiung build seems to suit what I want almost perfectly and gives 7 hours battery life.   Total cost about £676 and that includes a second battery.

Chassis & Display
UltraNote: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Backlit Widescreen (1920x1080)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Coreâ,,¢i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-4210M (2.60GHz) 3MB
   
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
   
Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS MEDIA ACCELERATOR 4600
   
Memory - Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
   
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
UltraNote Series: 8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
   
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
   
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
   
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
   
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-7260 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) + BLUETOOTH
   
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
   
Battery
2 x UltraNote Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (£49)
   
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 65W AC Adaptor
   
Keyboard Language
ULTRANOTE SERIES UK KEYBOARD
   
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
   
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
   
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
   
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
   
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
   
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
   
Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (£19)
   
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
   
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
   
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days