Looking for a new laptop for school/business

Cryora

Baseband Member
Messages
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My current laptop is a really old (2007) HP Pavilion, which heats up and crashes if I have too many browser tabs open, or if I play videos. Not to mention the battery doesn't hold charge.

I'm looking for something to replace it with, preferably something with Windows 7, an SSD drive, and a good battery life. I also code in Mathematica for school, so any hardware that can speed up the calculations would be good. My budget is around $1000.

I've looked at the ThinkPad T and L series. The T series with built in Smart Card readers are what I'm looking for, however, the Lenovo website currently don't allow you to pick the 6-cell battery packs. The L series on the other hand, allows the 9 cell battery option, and comes with an Express Card slot, but without a Smart Card reader, so I would have to get the reader separately.

An optical drive would be nice, so that everything is in one neat package, but if I must, I can settle with an external optical drive for the few times I may need to use a CD.

I was wondering if anyone had any other suggestions. Also, how much SSD storage and RAM should I get? Would the minimum (128GB SSD, 4GB RAM) suffice, or would it be better for something more (256GB SSD, 8GB RAM)? Also, is the FHD IPS display worth the extra cost over the HD+ with no IPS if the display size is 14'?
 
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