Fri, 03 May 2013
Laptop Upgrade?
I've got my laptop, ASUS F3E, in September 2008. So maybe it's time for a new laptop. Last year I have briefly considered buying a new one, but I have found that after upgrading F3E to 4 GB of RAM, 9-cell battery, and a fast solid-state disk (OCZ Vertex 2), then-current models provided no significant improvement compared to my F3E. Is this year's offer better?
There are several problems with my F3E:
- Glossy display (no explanation needed, I think)
- Plastic chassis, which is already broken in two corners
- Slightly slower CPU than needed (I had problems playing full-HD video without frame dropping once or twice, but I am not sure whether mplayer can use both CPU cores)
- The WiFi interface supports 2.4 GHz band, not 5 GHz one
What parameters should my hypothetical new laptop have? Of course, it would need to be better than my upgraded F3E in every aspect, and meet the following criteria:
- Size: less than 16", preferably not smaller than 14"
- OS: sold without Windows (I don't want to pay the Microsoft tax)
- Display: matte, at least 1280x800, possibly with touch input
- RAM: at least 4 GB
- Graphics: supported in Linux using open source drivers, including 3D acceleration (so most probably I don't want nVidia)
- HDD: preferably SSD, but I can reuse the SSD from F3E
- CD/DVD/...: preferably none
- Battery: at least 4 hours with moderate usage
- Keyboard: with long backspace, double-height enter, inverse-T arrow keys, and preferably without separate numeric keypad; backlit if possible
- Chassis: aluminium or similar, definitely not plastic
Does such a laptop exist, my dear lazyweb? Or shall I stay with my upgraded ASUS F3E for another year?