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Work is getting a notebook for use in making presentations in a conference room that has a standard HD TV as a display. I'm looking for a notebook in the $600 [or lower] price range that doesn't need to be an uber-performance system but that should boot up fast and preferably have good battery life if needed.

I have found this Acer at $599 (on Amazon here) that seems to fit the bill. In particular it's got an SSD, VGA and HDMI display outputs, a built-in optical drive just in case there's a need, good battery life, and relatively positive reviews (example here).

Does anybody else here have a recommendation on a presentation notebook in this price range?

Not sure I would be looking at a dGPU for the application described. Also, is Acer's support still poor like it was a few years ago?

OTOH, an FHD display is nice if connecting to an FHD TV or projector, since you can get display continuity regardless of whether you're mirroring or extending.

Since it's in a common location where it will get shoved around anyway, how about something from Dell Outlet, like this Inspiron 5570?

chuckula wrote:

I have found this Acer at $599 (on Amazon here) that seems to fit the bill. In particular it's got an SSD, VGA and HDMI display outputs, a built-in optical drive just in case there's a need, good battery life, and relatively positive reviews (example here).

I've owned the same Acer model since April. It does come with a lot of options for decent price and easy access to add parts. I like the optical drive (just in case) and nice back-lit keys. Added a second Samsung 850EVO SSD 2.5" and had to purchase the adapter brackets separately to install it. It came with a Hitachi M.2 SATA (not NVMe) drive so I cloned it and swapped over in the BIOS to the Samsung for the boot drive keeping the M.2 drive as a backup. The 8GB is on one SODIMM. It took awhile hunting around the Internet till I found a second SODIMM that was compatible. Aside from the minor inconvenience getting the extra parts it has been doing well so far. Battery life seems pretty good but I have not tested it completely.

ludi wrote:

Not sure I would be looking at a dGPU for the application described. Also, is Acer's support still poor like it was a few years ago?

OTOH, an FHD display is nice if connecting to an FHD TV or projector, since you can get display continuity regardless of whether you're mirroring or extending.

Since it's in a common location where it will get shoved around anyway, how about something from Dell Outlet, like this Inspiron 5570?

While I don't need a dGPU for performance, having one in a less expensive notebook sure doesn't hurt. If there's an equivalent model that's the same thing with the same output options for less money (I'm having trouble finding one) then I'd definitely look at it.

I'd be happy to look into that Dell model you mentioned but the link you posted goes to an out of stock page on Dell's website, so I can't comment on that particular model.

I'd say Acer's [non-premium] laptops (up to and including the Aspire 5 line) have the worst screens in the business.

Since this is a business, what hardware requirements are there from security standpoint? Perhaps something like the Intel Compute stick for $330 would fit the bill? Then you can get a wireless mouse and keyboard so you don't have to run an HDMI cable from the laptop to the TV. And battery life is a non-issue.

There is a $120 Atom-based Compute Stick also.

Also Intel NUC J5005 for $170 plus 8GB RAM for $73 and 240GB NVMe SSD for $72 = $315

DPete27 wrote:

I'd say Acer's [non-premium] laptops (up to and including the Aspire 5 line) have the worst screens in the business.

Since this is a business, what hardware requirements are there from security standpoint? Perhaps something like the Intel Compute stick for $330 would fit the bill? Then you can get a wireless mouse and keyboard so you don't have to run an HDMI cable from the laptop to the TV. And battery life is a non-issue.

There is a $120 Atom-based Compute Stick also.

Also Intel NUC J5005 for $170 plus RAM and HDD.

Security requirements: Minimal since this system is isolated from the rest of the network and is only really being used for presentations that might even be given by third parties. Of course we'll keep it patched with software updates but this device will intentionally not be accessing more sensitive systems.

As for using a NUC, I proposed that idea but the consensus was that a full notebook would be a more flexible solution.

As for the screen on the notebook itself, that's secondary as long as the presenter can see the screen in an indoor environment. The main display that counts it the HD TV that is driven by the notebook.

Acer Aspire A515-51-596K = $500. As stated before, aside from the screen quality, I feel like this is a pretty well-made budget laptop.

Personally, I like business-class laptops because they're usually certified to be more durable. Lenovo and Dell business laptops are usually milspec (military specification) for durability.

For $549.00, you can get this 11 inch Dell Latitude 3180: https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/de ... ops?~ck=bt.

It's got a quad core Celeron that won't win any speed awards, but it ought to be fine for basic word processing and giving Powerpoint presentations. It has 8 GB of RAM and a 128 GB SATA SSD, plus Windows 10 Pro. A full-sized HDMI port and two USB 3.1 type-A ports. A decent sized battery (42 Whr), and with only an 11 inch screen, that battery ought to go far. (Screen size affects battery life a lot.) Enter "SAVE35" at checkout and the price comes down to $509. Plus, at checkout, for about another $100, you can buy a Dell-branded external battery pack ("Dell Power Companion") that is compatible with the laptop, so that could extend your battery even more. The description says it is designed to be durable, but I'm not sure if it is milspec.

Slightly more expensive, but similar: for $$577.80, this Lenovo Thinkpad 11e: https://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/t ... /customize?

Quad-core Celeron (for $42, upgrade to a quad-core Pentium with 300 MHz higher turbo, and slightly better integrated graphics), Windows 10 Pro, 8 GB of RAM (default is 4, but I upgraded it and included that in the price), 128 GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD, 11 inch screen, and 42 Whr battery. The description explicitly says it has milspec durability.

Those two laptops look pretty similar to me. The major difference is that the Dell is slightly cheaper, while the Lenovo is specifically milspec, has the option of a slightly faster processor, and has a PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD instead of SATA. Both have a low-power Celeron (about 6W, whereas a U-series Core processor, which is the next step up in performance, is 15W) and an 11 inch screen (smaller screen = less power consumption), but with very decently sized batteries, so they should get some pretty good battery life.

Also, your employer might have a discount with either Lenovo or Dell, especially if you buy a specifically business-oriented model (Dell Latitude or Lenovo Thinkpad).

If 11 inches is too small, take a look at this: for $539.25, this Lenovo Thinkpad E475: https://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/t ... 2TP2TEE475

It's only a Thinkpad E-class, which is Lenovo's budget line of Thinkpad. So it's not milspec, but it should still be durable. It does still specifically mention all the durability tests it passes. Dual-core AMD A6 (can be upgraded to a quad-core AMD A10 for $40), Windows 10 Pro (upgrade included in price), 8 GB of RAM (upgrade included in price), 256 GB SATA (upgrade included in price), 14 inch screen, 45 Whr battery.

And this Lenovo E575 is very similar to the aforementioned E475 except it has a 15 inch screen and is slightly more expensive (but just barely). However, the online configurator doesn't offer an SSD, so if interested, I'd call Lenovo sales on the phone. I'm sure they'd be willing to swap the hard drive for an SSD: https://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/t ... 2TP2TEE575

DPete27 wrote:

Acer Aspire A515-51-596K = $500. As stated before, aside from the screen quality, I feel like this is a pretty well-made budget laptop.

It loses the VGA and the optical drive, but otherwise it looks good and our primary display has HDMI so the VGA connector was more of a fall-back just in case there was an older display or projector that required it.

chuckula wrote:

I'd be happy to look into that Dell model you mentioned but the link you posted goes to an out of stock page on Dell's website, so I can't comment on that particular model.

That was fast.

In any case, some of the 15" Inspirons I was finding in Dell Outlet could match the specs of that Acer, minus the dGPU (which may reduce battery life) for about $50-100 less provided you don't mind either a Refurb or Scratch-&-Dent designation. I was specifically choosing either the 128GB or 256GB hard drive filter to ensure an SSD.

My Dell preference is based on our corporate experience, and some private experience refurbing our corporate discards for friends and family. Service, support, and replacement parts are much more available in the US market (either directly, or via eBay) compared to something like Acer.