HP Laptop help...pavillion 360??

Today's laptops are a lot faster than they used to be. Generally speaking they will boot up in under a minute if new. I don't see the need for ssd cards, but then i've never had one. Up to you.

Thanks for such a detailed answer!
I have looked at the websites you sent and the main problem for me is the size...I don't know if I can carry a 15.6 everyday for 4 years...

I totally get what you mean when you say to spend more and buy a better laptop but I genuinely cannot afford anything above about £340

I though ssd was better than hdd and it didnt matter if i got intel core or intel pentium?

The chromebooks usually have lower storage and ram..which I thought was bad,,.

Would you recommend an 8gb ram and 1tb hdd over a 4gb ram and 500b sshd?

Thanks
Right now I do not have a laptop at all...therefore I takes notes by pen and paper however there is sooo much content on each slide such as body structures that I simply am falling behind in taking notes...

I thought that I would be able to view the powerpoint on my laptop as well as copy paste any necessary information as I do tend to lose focus as well after a while since I fall behind too.

I would also only need the laptop to write up word documents and use spreadsheets on excel and most likely search up key information

I have also purchased E Books that my university recommended me to get and I would want to look at these while I am writing up any notes.

I have a desktop at home however my whole family uses it and if I wanted to refer back to the online book I would have to wait until they finished and by that time I get fed up...I also have a lot of free time between my lectures that I think if I take my laptop with me then I could use it to view the powerpoints and the Ebooks while I am writing up my notes at university rather than waiting to come home

I just want a suitable laptop for all these reasons

You're looking for a portable device, so you probably need to pay less attention to 'performance factors' (i3 versus i5 or SSD versus HDD) and look at what the device weighs and what the battery life is like, which will have much more impact on how much you enjoy using it! Remember, with the HP Pavillion, you are paying extra (in terms of money and weight) for gimmicks like the touchscreen which don't sound particularly relevant.

I'm a big fan of using 'pain points' to help identify your best laptop: rather than trying to figure out the things that you want most, try to figure out what annoys you most or would be absolute dealbreakers:

- Laptop too expensive (very important to you)
- Laptop too heavy (sounds very important)
- Laptop runs out of battery (you haven't mentioned this, but it's crucial on a high-portability device that you use in lectures a lot)
- Screen too small (doesn't seem to bother you too much so discount this)
- Laptop runs too slowly/crashes all the time
- Laptop runs out of storage quickly
- Nice speakers, screen performance, video cards, etc
- Can't use the full range of Windows
- Can't use the laptop without internet access

If the last two don't bother you, get a Chromebook. If the last two would cause problems, buy a Windows machine instead - if you could at all manage to squeeze another £130 into your budget, a Dell 13 XPS would be perfect, if not then an Asus Eeebook or Lenovo IdeaPad might work. The issue of storage/speed is really something where you get as much as you pay for, after everything else is taken care of - there's no point in getting a lightning-quick 1000 GB SSD device even if you could afford it if it has a battery life of 30 minutes and weighs 10 kg.

- Laptop too expensive (very important to you)
- Laptop too heavy (sounds very important)
- Laptop runs out of battery (you haven't mentioned this, but it's crucial on a high-portability device that you use in lectures a lot)
- Screen too small (doesn't seem to bother you too much so discount this)
- Laptop runs too slowly/crashes all the time
- Laptop runs out of storage quickly
- Nice speakers, screen performance, video cards, etc
- Can't use the full range of Windows
- Can't use the laptop without internet access

I wouldn't buy a chromebook. The "everything online" thing might sound good in theory but in practice it's a pain. If you're looking to spend a small amount get a 2nd hand thinkpad. I've come around to this in the last few weeks but a thinkpad X220/X230 are very cheap off Ebay for what you get. If you're looking to spend more there are options right now.

If you want a limited laptop buy something like an Acer R11 windows laptop ( http://www.argos.co.uk/product/5535295 ) you can stick linux on it if that's what you wish. You can on a chromebook but you can't use windows, and that can limit you.


What are the main points the laptop has to cover?



This list is a very good quicklist to look against.

I would just like to say thank you to you all (especially acsel for all the informative replies) in helping me decide what laptop to buy!
I would've genuinely bought the hp pavilionx360 but thanks to you all I was able to realise that a more traditional laptop would be more sturdy, durable and better for value
In the end I bought this laptop (£322.15):
http://store.hp.com/UKStore/Merch/Product.aspx?id=Z5A31EA&opt=ABU&sel=NTB


Thanks all again!