Looking for First Laptop

Hamurabi

So I'm going from my community college to a university in the fall, and would like to have a laptop handy for use at school or on the go. I don't know much about mobile computing, so I'd love suggestions. I need the laptop pretty much just for:

• Working on Office documents.
• Having lots of tabs open in Firefox for research, etc.
• Watching 720p video and listening to music.
• Webcamming.

Specific things I would like:

• High build quality, preferably a brushed aluminum or similar "high-quality" enclosure.
• An HDMI out (which, iirc, can be converted to a DVI-D for use with a PC monitor).
• Relatively high resolution -- 1680x1050 or close to it, though never having used a laptop long-term, I don't know if I'd actually be better off with a slightly lower res.
• SD card slot.
• SSD drive. Would love to have an instant-on operating environment.
• 5+ hour battery life.
• Screen size range of 10-15".
• Full version of Windows 7 (assuming it's a Windows machine) is a must.

I've had my sights set on a 15" Macbook Pro for a while now (I'm saving up for one, in fact), but at $2149 (before the possible tax they're talking about applying on the website) it's a very pricey option for a laptop that forces me to switch to OSX (or face a drastically reduced battery life if I run Windows 7 instead). What are some good Windows-based alternatives?

ben0207

Have you looked at the 13" Macbook Air? Fits all of those things to a tee.

Hamurabi

ben0207 wrote: »

Have you looked at the 13" Macbook Air? Fits all of those things to a tee.

That does look pretty appealing.

Does it rock back and forth when typing? Do the keys light up like on the MBP's?

ShimSham

A few weeks ago I was deciding on Macbooks (made a thread here at H/A about it too) and I ended up going with the 13" baseline Macbook Pro for $1200. (bit cheaper at Best Buy too) It's been easily the best laptop I've ever had, and I've had a lot of PC laptops and desktops over the years. Thicker than the MBairs yeah, but still a very, very portable device with a lot of power packed into it. Battery life is really awesome, even if I'm watching videos and especially if I'm just browsing the Internet.

As for the switch to OSX, I wouldn't worry too much, especially if you're halfway tech-savvy (and most people here on the forums are far beyond that) I had never touched OSX in my life before buying the MBp a few weeks ago and it was a very easy transition for me. Few little basic differences to learn but it's all very similar to what you're used to.