Bare minimum laptop

College Life
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<p>Hey guys, I’ve always owned a desktop but I’m getting a laptop soon because I need the portability. What would be the most practical choice for my needs?</p>

<p>1) Portable and not klunky or heavy. Can fit into a regular backpack or bag. </p>

<p>2) Good battery life. 5+</p>

<p>3) Durable and reliable </p>

<p>Err… that’s about it for my absolute necessities. All I need is just need something with Internet connection and a keyboard. </p>

<p>Other things that would be nice to have:</p>

<p>4) Aesthetically pleasing (a Mac comes to mind)</p>

<p>5) Can’t think of anything else. Can you tell I’m not very techy? :)</p>

<p>I originally wanted a MacBook Air because it’s thin/portable, but I heard that its battery life isn’t what Apple touts and I’m worried about compatibility with software and documents.</p>

<p>The articles I’ve read on PCmag and other websites are recommending these high-tech laptops with cool features that I would never take advantage of. So in short, what’s a very thin/portable laptop that is very durable/reliable? </p>

<p>I need to go through 4 years of college without it causing major problems (software incompatibility, breaking, etc). Thanks!</p>

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<p>If you love your Windows desktop, consider the Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook or the Lenovo IdeaPad U300s. If you love your Mac desktop, consider the Mac Air or small MacBook Pro. If you don’t love your Windows desktop, go to an Apple store and check out the Macs. If you ever need a Win app, Mac can boot into Windows (Boot Camp) or run Win apps (Parallels). Don’t pay much attention to what you “hear” (even here!) but read on-line reviews instead.</p>

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<p>Then you shouldn’t get a Macbook - it’s just not worth the expense.</p>