Reddit mentions of Acer Swift 5 15.6" Laptop Computer - Silver, Intel Core i5-8250U Processor 1.6GHz, 8GB DDR4 Onboard RAM, 256GB Solid State Drive, Microsoft Windows 10

Hey,

How about the Acer Swift 3 SF314-52-517Z? It has:

• i5-8250U 4-core processor
  
  
• 8 GB of RAM
  
  
• 256 GB SSD storage
  
  
• 1080p 14" display
  
  
• Weight of 3.5lbs and battery life up to 10 hours
  
  The laptop runs Windows 10 Home. It has an aluminum chassis. It is a decently light device that is 14" and has a 1080p display.

If you are ok with a portable 14" display, id recommend you get this Acer Swift 3. It comes with the latest 8th gen i5cpu, 8gb of ram, 256gb ssd storage, battery life is remarkable and it has a great 1080p display.

If you rather a bigger display with identical specs, theASUS VivoBook S would be a great option but it is at the top end of your budget.
if you would like something with a dedicated gpu then this Acer Aspire E 15 would be the laptop for you.

• 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8250U
  
• GeForce MX150
  
• 8GB RAM Memory
  
• 256GB SSD
  
• windows 10

Great screen/keyboard is usually in a more premium laptop which is not close to the 600 range, this acer swift is a great choice in general, but its main con is a very dim screen to the point of being unuseable in direct sunlight, but it is IPS and Full HD which is as good as it gets for this price range, and another close compitor would be The Acer Aspire E 15

I would recommend Acer Swift 3 SF314-52-517Z as it comes with: -

CPU: i5-8250U

GPU: Integrated

RAM: 8 GB

Display: FHD 14 IPS screen

Storage: 256 SSD,- HDD

Long battery life

It is a great choice because of its high build quality, it's slightly heavier than you want but its specifications makes it the best option for your usage and it is within your budget. if you can raise your budget this i think will be a perfect matchASUS ZenBook UX330UA-AH55 as it comes with: -

CPU: i5-8250U

GPU: Integrated

RAM: 8GB

Display: FHD 13.3 IPS screen

Storage: 256 GB SSD,- HDD

Long battery life

weight ~ 1.2 KG

It is a great choice because of its high build quality, along with its specifications makes it the best option for your usage and it is within your budget.

Oh I was more aiming at the 700 range
ASUS UX330UA

Acer Swift 3

I would go with this version of Acer Nitro 5

It has:

• 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8300H quad-core processor
  
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Graphics Card
  
• 15.6inch Full HD IPS Display
  
• 8GB DDR4 RAM / 256GB Solid State Drive
  
• Backlit Keyboard
  
  More details
  
  If you need something more portable, and not "gaming" desing, you can also check this Acer Swift 3
  
  It has:
  
  
• 8th Generation Intel Core i5-8250U Processor (Up to 3.4GHz)
  
• NVIDIA GeForce MX150 with 2 GB of dedicated GDDR5 VRAM
  
• 14″ Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS Widescreen LED-backlit Display
  
• 8GB LPDDR3 Onboard Memory
  
• 256GB SSD
  
• 1 – USB 3.1 Type C Gen 1 port, 2 – USB 3.0 Ports & 1 – USB 2.0 port
  
• 1 – HDMI port
  
• 802.11ac WiFi featuring 2×2 MIMO technology (Dual-Band 2.4GHz and 5GHz)
  
• Acer Fingerprint Reader supporting Windows Hello
  
• Back-lit Keyboard
  
• Windows 10 Home
  
• Up to 10 Hours Battery Life
  
  More Details

It depends on the version of the swift 3 you are looking at. But generally its a good value for money laptop for students. There are even some versions that cost less than $600

Here is the link

It's not my style but you're talking about this one, right?
https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Swift-SF314-52-517Z-Laptop-Computer/dp/B076KZ5JZV/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1536112773&sr=1-3&keywords=acer+swift+3