Laptop for a poor student?

<p>Alright, so not super-poor, but enough that it’s hard to scrounge up a few hundred dollars. My current laptop is a bit messed up, and I want to buy a new one for college. Although I drool after the Macbooks my friends are getting, there’s no way I can afford it. Could you recommend me some cheaper options?</p>

<p>Preferably:
-fairly lightweight
-runs fast
-doesn’t overheat easily
-can handle multiple pages and documents being open at once
-RELIABLE/durable (very important)</p>

<p>I’m not certain about my major, but I’m considering pre-med, major in either cognitive science or neuroscience, and minor (or double major) in English.</p>

<p>What’s “messed up”? Maybe reloading your OS would clear up the problems. I have a 6 year old laptop (dual core pentium) that works fine.</p>

<p>Sure the MacBooks may look nice, but you can get a PC for half the price that will outperform the MacBooks. I don’t understand the Retina Display scheme, it’s just a higher pixel density, and you can’t even see the difference unless you’re doing things with art. Anyway, we need a starting budget to help you make a choice.</p>

<p>Asus is a good low-priced computer maker.</p>