That sounds like a really good price for the specs. Is that available online or is this a special local deal? How much time you'll get out of a battery depends almost entirely on how you use it. If you're watching a movie, the battery will drain much faster than if you're updating some documentation, reading emails, etc. I had a laptop that would shut down just before the end of a 1 hour show that I'd transfer from Tivo (and fast forward through commercials). But I could work (documentation, coding, etc) for a couple of hours on it with no problem. I think my current laptop will let me watch a full length movie on DVD. Battery life is not a big selling point for me right now. I've got an adapter that works with cigarette lighters (although I think they're now called accessory power plugs) and the airplane power supply and airports have outlets scattered around. They're sometimes in short supply, but I'm such a geek that I carry a plug with three outlets on it and a single outlet surge suppressor for recessed plugs. So I only need the battery if I get a plane without a power supply. I really use my laptop as a desktop replacement with the advantage that I can take it with me when I go someplace and use it as a desktop replacement there. I think the importance of the battery life depends largely on how you use the laptop.

Acer makes a good product, I love their monitors I have an Acer LCD monitor, my husband had an Acer laptop several years ago that he liked a lot, then Acer kinda went out of biz but has come back to life in a big way with pretty good products. The main thing to watch in that price range would be the type processor I would try not to get the lower end processors like the Intel celeron, I personally prefer AMD processors. RAM you can always add more easily and cheaply as long as it has expansion slots for it. I like HP and IBM/lenovo laptops, Compaq is also now by HP. Sony is good but generally pricey. You can at times find good prices on some of the lower end Dell laptops too. Battery life should be considered for laptops if they will be used as such. I would google each model number you consider and go to sites that have real reviews by real people that own that product. I have seen some very good prices at walmart and walmart.com and at sams. You can find some good prices at www.buy.com some of those are factory reconditioned though so be aware of that, however they will still generally have a manufacturer warranty.

fwiw I've run startup repair on win7 a few times. It needs to be run back to back without trying to boot into windows, or it looses count and runs the same first run repair process each time. With my laptop, when startup repair finishes and restarts the computer, then I have to push my boot from cd key quickly again or its lost that ability to count. It would tell you in the reports run once, 2x or 3x. First run is I dont remb, 30 or 40 minutes for win7. Second run is maybe just 2 minutes. Third run would be the same quick, or slighly quicker than 2nd run. And it aways says something about 'startup repair can not repair this computer automatically' I assume it says this because nothing was wrong. I just wanted my partition tables/names microsoft style after using a 3rd party tool to resize partitions.

Snidley gave good advice. I agree with just about all of it. You're not going to tax the performance of any modern machine you buy with the uses you specified. My one recommendation, and what I do every time I buy one or set one up for someone is to max out the RAM as much as possible. Fill open slots at least with highest possible. RAM will do you more good than CPU power in about 90% of all cases I've seen. If you buy from a computer shop they'll usually let you buy enough RAM to max it out and credit you for what's in it. Often there will be, for instance a 2gb when the slot will handle 4 so you have to remove it. Cheaper machines often only have 2 slots. For me, I quit using the tablet, partly because it died but partly because it's just not convenient. I bought a $20 smart phone to use as a mini tablet when I'm out and about. Works fine for me. I much prefer the keyboard and 17" monitor features on a notebook/laptop. It's my primary computer. I'm probably going to get another in the next month or two. I was looking at a refurb Toshiba for about $350. Everything I needed and more. Like I said I'd then add some RAM which I haven't priced but should be less than $100. Occasionally you'll see places that include office in their packages, however it's not "free". Technically, no extra charge, but they charge you a few hundred more for the package so, you still wind up paying for it. Most everything sold now should be compatible for Win10 unless you buy something old. Doubt you will. My needs aren't the same as yours although we do use them similarly! Brand, well other than HP/Compaq I wouldn't object to most any. Dell at the bottom of the barrel. Much depends on luck and how you treat them. Look for the features you want. Number of USB ports, etc. For me, a modem is required and few if any notebooks have them anymore so I have to dedicate a port to the modem. I always use a mouse so there goes a second one. I use an amplified speaker powered by USB so there goes another. Historically I too like Lenovo and I've had great luck with Toshiba but haven't dealt with them now for a long time, except my first one (13-14 y.o.) is still going strong. I had one that died. Still the overall quality of them were far above others. But YMWV. (Second to )Last comment: I do not hesitate to buy refurbs. They're often only slightly used if used and almost always a great value. OH, and DO NOT get misled by some of these places that include "$2000 worth of FREE software!!!" Most of it is available free anyway, such as firewall, anti-virus, anti-malware, etc. NOW, for last comment, check your software that you find absolutely essential and see if it's compatible with the OS you're getting. Probably should check to make sure it will work with Win10 since it will be force loaded on you unless you take action to stop it. I lost use of some essential programs going from Vista to 7 so I keep the XP unit around for when I do desktop publishing which isn't too often but still needed. Good luck in your search.