Whether these compromises are right for you depends on your priorities. Performance-wise, it's possible to do better in this price range, but you'll likely have to switch to a machine that will weigh down your backpack significantly more.
Aggressively priced; Sleek silver exterior; Thin and light; Crisp, bright 15-inch display; Full-size Ethernet and HDMI ports; Fingerprint reader; Excellent battery life; Decent power for everyday computing tasks
Abundant bloatware; Mediocre build quality; Lacks touchscreen option; Imprecise touchpad