Your original pick:
Dm1-4210AU, AMD E1-1200 + AMD HD7310M@RM1399, 2GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W7HP

What kind of "office" you plan to use it for? Words - ok, but make sure your doc is not too big. Excel - again make sure your spreadsheet is not too big.
Otherwise, it is very passable for your usage.

How long a machine will last depends on how you take care of it, and also a lot on luck

If you are not doing a lot of typing on it, you can consider those cheaper hybrid:
Acer
Iconia W510, Intel Z2760 + Intel GMA + 64GB SSD + (1366x768 IPS; touch)@RM1499, 2GB, W8; with keyboard dock@RM2199
Iconia W700, i3-2375M + Intel HD3000 + 64GB SSD + (1920x1080; touch)@RM1999, 4GB, W8; BT keyboard
P3-131-21292G06, Pentium 2129Y + Intel HD + 60GB SSD + (1366x768 IPS;touch)@RM1799, 2GB, W8

Asus
Vivotab Smart WiFi ME400C, Z2760 + 64GB + (1366x768; touch)@RM1799[580g], 2GB, 1 year
Vivotab Smart WiFi + LTE ME400CL, Z2760 + 64GB + (1366x768; touch)@RM1799[580g], 2GB, LTE, 1 year

If you prefer more traditional form factor:
Acer
Aspire V5-122P, A6-1450 + AMD HD8450G + (1366x768;touch)@RM1499, 6GB, 500GB
Aspire V5-171-53312G50s, i5-3317U + Intel HD4000@RM1799, 2GB, 500GB, W8

Asus
VivoBook S200E, i3-3217U + Intel HD4000 + (1366x768; touch)@RM1799[1.38kg], 4GB, 500GB, W8; colors: Grey/Pink/White, 2-cell, 1 year
VivoBook S200E, B847 + Intel UMA + (1366x768; touch)@RM1499[1.38kg], 2GB, 500GB, W8; colors: Grey/Pink/White, 2-cell, 1 year

Lenovo
ThinkPad Edge E120, i3-2357UM + Intel HD3000@RM1999[1.5kg],W7HP, water resistant keyboard, Colors: Red/Black

If you are looking to use MS Office software (but not other windows desktop software), then you may consider those that come with WinRT. WinRT has a fully functional Office RT (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, OneNote), but can't install normal desktop apps (but can use those apps that support Modern UI).

Lenovo
Ideapad Yoga 11, Nvidia Tegra 3 + 64GB SSD@RM1599, 2GB, W RT, 2 years; colors: grey/orange

MS
Surface RT, Nvidia Tegra 3 + 32GB SSD + (1366x768; touch)@RM1549[680g]; WRT, 2GB
Surface RT, Nvidia Tegra 3 + 64GB SSD + (1366x768; touch)@RM1849[680g]; WRT, 2GB

If you really want netbook, then can also consider:
Vaio SVE11135CV, AMD E2-2000 + AMD HD7340M@RM1499[1.5kg], 2GB, 320GB(5400rpm), W8

Prices are RSP, negotiable.

Hello, I'll be starting college soon and I need recommendations for a laptop.

1. Preferred Brand
Any brand that is suitable.

2. Budget
RM1200-RM1500

3. Usage
- Assignments; I will be using Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint.
- Surfing the Internet.
- I download songs, movies and TV shows occasionally. Not that often.
- No gaming.

4. Preferred laptop/screen size
14 inch.

I would be great if it's light so that it will be easy to carry around. But that is not high on the priority list.
I'd be great too if the battery lasts long and it doesn't heat up easily. But I'll make do with anything as long as it fits my budget and usage.

best to fit in your budget range :

Dell Inspiron 14-3421, i3-3217U + Intel HD4000@RM1399[1.99kg], Win8SL, 2GB, 500GB(5400rpm), 4-cell
Dell Vostro 5460, i3-3120M + HD 4000@RM1,549[1.54kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), Ubuntu 12.04, 3 cell; W8SL@RM1,749

prices are RSP and negotiable.

Hi long time never buy laptop, need some recommendations

Brand: Any as long as warranty is not a pain
Price: 2.5k max (preferably around 2k)
Usage: Adobe CS6 photoshop, illustrator etc. + light gaming
Screen size: Not important but i guess since display card is necessary usually 14in+ right?

Thanks in advanced

This post has been edited by frenccw: Jun 20 2013, 03:25 PM

if you dont warranty to cause you pain in the ass, you can look at these options :

Dell
Inspiron 14R, i5-3337U + Nvidia GT730M@RM2099[2.33kg], 4GB, 750GB(5400rpm), Linux; W8SL@RM2299
Inspiron 15, i5-3337U + AMD HD7670M@RM1799[2.25kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), 6-cell, Linux; W8SL@RM1949

Lenovo
Z400, i5-3230M + Nvidia GT740M@RM2099, 4GB, 1TB, W8; 2 years warranty; colors: chocolate
Z500, i5-3230M + Nvidia GT740M@RM2299[2.2kg], 4GB, 1TB, backlit, W8; 2 years warranty

prices are RSP and negotiable. display card is necessary in 14" plus? not necessary, as the integrated graphics nowadays are pretty good to support normal usage like watching videos and normal web surfing but graphics card is necessary for gaming performance and graphical processing works.

Alright, thank you for your recommendations.

Thanks, i think the Dell ones look good. If I buy from retail the warranty is same as online right?

I never tried Lenovo products, i had the impression that they are usually more expensive for better build quality am i right?

Hi experts,

1. Preferred Brand : Any brand
2. Budget : +-2k
3. Usage : Very heavy data crunching using MS Excel and MS Access.
4. Preferred size: 14 inch lightweight.

thank you!

no, lenovo is cheaper, better build quality and better specifications than other brands.

Dell
Inspiron 14-3421, i3-3217U + Intel HD4000@RM1399[1.99kg], Win8SL, 2GB, 500GB(5400rpm), 4-cell
Vostro 5460, i3-3120M + HD 4000@RM1,549[1.54kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), Ubuntu 12.04, 3 cell; W8SL@RM1,749

the laptops above are enough for your 'data crunching' usage. spending too much on something that you dont use a lot is a waste. and use the remaining budget to upgrade RAM to 8GB and extend warranty to 3 years for piece of mind. prices are RSP and negotiable.

Thanks i will keep that in consideration when i go to shop too then. How's lenovo warranty process compared to Dell? I used Dell before and the customer support is very straightforward and good.

it is rated good for me, not like ASUS, it is worst.

guys my budget is 2k..

it's dell inspiron 15r 5521 a good choice?

prefer i5 and 15"

http://www.dell.com/my/p/inspiron-15r-5521/pd

can consider Hp g6 or m6

thinking of buying any one of the Lenovo T series. Prices pls! thanks..

u mean T430?

Just found out an additional requirement: the Ethernet port needs to be full-duplex to be able to support the line testing for which the notebook will be used.

I'm not really familiar with this; can you advise me on 15.6" models with full-duplex Ethernet? Thanks!

toshiba satellite l850 will be a good choice

Hi guys I know this is off topic but I didn't want to open a new thread for such a trivial question.

Getting my Y500 very soon and i'm planning to install my OS into the mSATA SSD in which the OS is preloaded in the 1TB HDD.
I searched for several methods online and they seemed to be really complicated and does not even guarantee clean installations.
Some of the methods were using usb recovery flash drives, cloning/image and using a Wins 8 ISO.

Have you guys got any links to a clean Wins 8 Regular 64-bit ISO? Or is there any y500 who did a clean wins 8 installation on the mSATA SSD, do enlighten me with a clean/simple method!

Yeap T430s and T430u to be specific. Wanna know the pricing before i decide... any ideas on which is better..?

Don't think there is one?
Sometimes it better not to try too much, later end up with more problems
Just upgrade to a SSD later on if performance is what you want