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I'm also an academic. I've been using a lenovo thinkpad x230 for the past 5+ years:
- Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3320M CPU @ 2.60GHz
- 16GiB RAM
- 240G SSD
I bought it refurbished on ebay about 4 years ago for maybe 120 quid. I bought another, spare one about 6 months ago for £150 including post and packing from UK to overseas (I live in France) with exactly the same spec except perhaps a 500G regular hard drive instead of the solid state. It came with windows on it (although I'm a GNU/Linux user). However, I've not needed to use it yet as the old one is still going strong - despite all the times I've dropped it etc.
EDIT: I should add it's a 12" screen and weighs I think about 1-1.5kg - very portable yet still a decent size when I need to use it on its own, traveling or whatever. At home or work, I plug in an external monitor and keyboard, plus sometimes another drive (if I want music, films or other media).
- Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3320M CPU @ 2.60GHz
d0cA-
Similarly I have a couple of X220s at home, one running Windows, one running Linux. They're probably the best keyboard on any laptop I've used.
I also have a docking bay so can run them with dual monitors and keyboard/mouse at home.
Only issue is that the battery is pretty poor compared to modern day laptops, particularly on the i7.
aggi
My current laptop is heading towards the end of its life, and is frustratingly slow. I'm an academic and trainer, so it mainly gets used for web browsing, writing, Excel and PowerPoint.
What would people recommend? I'm assuming a refurb/outlet Dell or ThinkPad would be the usual suggestion, but have no idea of which models to go for. Am not fussed about touchscreens or particularly posh graphics; a good keyboard and durable build quality are most important, and reasonably portable would be nice, as it gets schlepped around a lot. Budget is £500-800 or so.