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OT: Laptops

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GuildenGuy

Sophomore
Feb 12, 2004
273
101
43
I'm thinking of getting a new laptop for the first time in years and I find that I'm struggling to find a happy medium in the machines I've checked out. Based on the wealth of information (or at least opinions) on this board I'm hoping somebody can open my eyes. Essentially every article/review I've looked at has felt like a paid advertisement so hopefully one of you has a real world recommendation.

We are already picking up a tablet, and all the software I may install is PC, so please refrain from PowerBook suggestions. I'd also ideally come in at $600-800. My primary needs are speed in running everyday programs (Office suite, etc) and enough RAM so it doesn't sputter. I occasionally retouch some photos, but not frequently enough that I need to run the newest editing programs. We don't really stream video to the laptop that much, but it would be a nice option. I know that this is a very basic set of requirements but I'm just hoping for the best bang for my buck. Thanks in advance for any leads!
 
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RU4Real

Heisman
Jul 25, 2001
50,955
30,733
0
Get the best ThinkPad you can afford. Do not waste your time with Dell or HP laptops.

You'll do better in the long run with an Intel Core processor, as well. AMD, etc., are typically okay for 99.99% of all things but most code is written on Intel platforms and there will be the occasional weirdness when using other processors.

If you can afford it, skip the traditional hard drive and get an SSD. They're way faster and have no moving parts.

Whatever you do, do NOT take your laptop budget and piss it away on a Honda Accord.
 
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rutgersal_rivals139582

Heisman
Jun 7, 2001
35,848
43,304
113
Toshiba or Dell have always been solid for me. I'd do a Dell Inspiron or Toshiba satellite which are in your price range. Check out Dell.com or toshibadirect.com
 
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Abro1975

Heisman
Nov 21, 2009
24,499
12,979
0
My company (large multi national) has thousands of us employees using Dell Elitebooks for a few years. I use mine about 12 hours /day almost every day, and it holds up very well. We do have an IT support desk for whatever problem comes up, so that helps. We also use IPads and IPhones when out in the field. I'm sometimes surprised we haven't switched over to Apple laptops as well.
 
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JPhoboken

Senior
Mar 15, 2005
11,963
585
0
Abro1975 said:
My company (large multi national) has thousands of us employees using Dell Elitebooks for a few years. I use mine about 12 hours /day almost every day, and it holds up very well. We do have an IT support desk for whatever problem comes up, so that helps. We also use IPads and IPhones when out in the field. I'm sometimes surprised we haven't switched over to Apple laptops as well.
Click to expand...

HP laptops have always been good to me. I have an HP Envy now, 17" screen, Beats audio, running windows 8.1 and have never had a problem with it. HD picture is fantastic, and it is built sturdy. THe only complaint I have is the mouse pad, but Laptop mouses suck on pretty much all laptops. A wireless mouse takes care of this problem. Use a good Virus/malware program, and run CCleaner often keep the performance from degrading,
 
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RC1978

Heisman
Feb 10, 2008
7,818
11,649
113
I have two , one for work one for travel while working.

Work one is a Think Pad. Very solid and love it. Most Lenovo's are very good

Traveling one is Surface Pro 3. Love it! Powerful, light and make it a tablet when needed.
 
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PeteGiam07

All-Conference
Aug 29, 2007
28,766
1,218
0
I never figure a laptop to last longer than 2 years. Something always happens to them, usually the internal fan dying or battery needs to be replaced. Went from Dell to HP and now onto Lenovo and I'm very happy with it. I will never spend over $600 for a home computer and work provides me ones that a well over 1K to run drafting programs etc...
 
iReC89

iReC89

All-Conference
Jul 2, 2014
2,435
1,863
78
Figure out what screen size you want - premiums on very small, very large. Touch screens add $100, and if you have a tablet, I wouldn't put money there.

The most important thing you can put money into in a laptop is the processor. There is no simple way to judge a processor on the name, series or brand alone. Some of the newer i3's are faster then older i7's. Use a website like https://www.cpubenchmark.net/ to compare the relative performance of the specific chips you are considering. The marketing literature isn't always up front about the chip specification so you may have to do some digging, but that is where the big money is in laptops

I wouldn't be overly concerned about brand, because they all have winners and losers. Try the laptop in the store and see if you like the feel of the keyboard and touchpad. I did like the last Thinkpad I rolled out. HP's aren't bad either. Dell has gone downhill but you can still get good values with them. Watch out for very cheap deals at Staples. There is usually a reason why they are so cheap - old and problematic lines get dumped.

One caution on SSD drives. Don't use them for long term storage unless the machine is expected to be used regularly. There have been some articles recently about powered off SSD's losing data over time. They are fast though.
 
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RUfinal4

All-Conference
Apr 24, 2006
15,759
1,931
0
2 1/2 years ago my laptop died. I was in career transition. I went to Staples and picked up an Toshiba on sale. Was actually going because of an ad for a HP. It was under $400 a very good. If you are just doing basic stuff like MS Office, email, web, watch videos sometimes, and maybe skype then just go for the best one that is on sale. Any machine you get will last 4-6 years. They all will be old tech in 2 years regardless of what you buy. If you are a gamer or do something that pushes the machine's limits then go for the better machines.

Whether you get a Toshiba, Dell, HP, Lennovo, or other shouldn't matter since they all are decent machines.
 
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Turn234

Sophomore
Mar 5, 2003
1,216
171
63
Because I'm now doing some iOS app work I had to go with a Macbook but before that I was really happy with my Asus PC. Found the Asus to be better quality than the bigger name brands I had previously...and get as much RAM as your budget will allow.
 
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anvilofstars

Senior
Aug 31, 2007
3,558
784
0
When buying your laptop make sure you look at things besides RAM and processor speed. Most people I know don't hate their laptop because of those things, it's usually because of screen resolution (low screen resolution means huge icons and very little work space). I always go for 1920x1080 but you might need to spend a bit extra on that.
 
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