Laptop recommendations...

[Nufy]

I'm pondering getting a laptop for my consulting business.

My newer clients are asking for this instead of supplying me with one.

I do Electrical design (no cad work though) and PLC/RTU programming.

Something kinda robust as I will be taking it on site.

I have worked with HP's and dells before.

Would prefer to stay with XP as an OS as well.

Any thoughts ???


For $$$ I'm thinking 1000 - 1500....(Its a business write off anyway)

[Nufy]

Bueller ??? Bueller ????

[Traditional_Ale]

Dell or LG. Have them build it how you like then have it shipped to your door.

[McG]

i guess it all depends where you want to spend the balance over the entry price.

any new computers should work just fine in the existing environment, but the premium that a person will pay covers the future.

right now, i use a number of different manufacturers and specs for a variety of different purposes.

i use a lenovo tablet as my primary work computer - its mobile and light and i love the tablet functionality for meetings and stuff like that. i do find it underpowered though...i notice it but not sure that others would and it is tricked out with 4gb ram.

my secondary work machine is a lenovo t500 with 4 gb ram and it is a great machine...i really like it. what i don't like is the weight...for most people this is either a big deal or no deal at all...but the lenovo is a good machine.

i have a cheap acer that cost $500 and i really like it as well...its small and light and it does everything that a person could want. its more powerful than a netbook but it has much of the same functionality.

i had an hp hdx laptop with a 20.1" screen...it was more like a movable desktop and it weighed a ton. i loved the graphics and everything else about it but it weighed so much that no one wanted to use it because they were worried about dropping it.

i have an hp 16" hdx machine and i have intentionally saved this one to the end. it is the best balance of the ones listed above for graphics and processing power at a good price point.

i certainly couldn't find fault with any major manufacturer of laptops these days...they all make pretty good machines.

things to look for are screen size, separate graphics card if you need that power (and have a real look at this because these can really give the machine extra oomph), the fastest processor that you can get, 4 gb ram, draft n wireless, gigabit network card, and see about getting m$ office thrown in.

things for you to think about: weight of machine (including battery and power pack), size of screen, bluray rom, and operating system.

while i wouldn't want to disparage one processor over another, i think it is just too early for the quad core mobiles...if you are able to wait these will be more prevalent in the future.

if you can wait, i see that m$ is offering a free upgrade to windows 7 if you buy between certain dates...i think may or june to january next year. if you can wait...you should. free operating systems are usually worth it.

i also don't get the hate for vista; i run it on every computer that i have except for my 2 desktops (too old to run vista well) and i am rolling it out at the office. i find that people don't like the functionality of office 2007, for whatever reason (which btw i find completely crazy), and they blame vista.

i certainly would keep an eye out for windows 7 though as it is supposed to be a great operating system.

good luck!

[Nufy]

Its not so much a hate for Vista..just that I don't know some of the software I have to use for work is ok with Vista.

Plus I'm more comfortable with XP right now.

TXS for the info.

[T@T]

I have an LG E500 that doesn't stop. battery life is great, screen is great, dedicated graphics that plays most games. just an overall nice laptop for about $900.00. Blows away the old P-O-S Dell that I paid $2300.00 for 3 years ago that I got tired of repairing.

[MissKat]

Macbook - the new aluminum one for $1299.

[wooohooo]

I've been hearing some good solid things about LG and Samsung. I believe... correct me if I'm wrong but they're just starting to come over from Asia.

[Nufy]

On the hunt again..

Any new features I should be looking for, ??

[photon]

The right answer is still a Macbook Pro

[Nufy]

If it ran half of my required programming software I would look at them.

[Pastiche]

Asus eeePC 1000HE

[photon]

Originally Posted by Nufy

If it ran half of my required programming software I would look at them.

You can run Windows XP on a Macbook Pro.. you can either boot right into it using Bootcamp, or use Parallels or something to run it in a Window.

Heck you could even just remove OS X entirely if you had to, even without the OS, they're still the best laptops on the market hardware wise IMO.

[MickMcGeough]

I just picked up one of these: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...ku=S445-170012

Unbelievable price. Comes stock with a 9cell battery and a 7200rpm HDD which isn't standard on most. Killer graphics card too. Can't beat the bang for the buck at $899.

[Top Shelf]

Just get an IBM ThinkPad, those things are built like tanks.

You will generally pay a bit more for them as compared to a Dell or HP, but in my experience (2+ years ago) they were a very solid laptop.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by MickMcGeough

I just picked up one of these: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...ku=S445-170012

Unbelievable price. Comes stock with a 9cell battery and a 7200rpm HDD which isn't standard on most. Killer graphics card too. Can't beat the bang for the buck at $899.

Hehe me too, still don't have mine though, 4 more days!

[photon]

Wow, that is a good price for all that power.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by photon

You can run Windows XP on a Macbook Pro.. you can either boot right into it using Bootcamp, or use Parallels or something to run it in a Window.

Heck you could even just remove OS X entirely if you had to, even without the OS, they're still the best laptops on the market hardware wise IMO.

In fact, hardware tests have shown that that the best laptop on the market at running Windows is actually a MacBook Pro.

Fastest: Apple MacBook Pro
The fastest Windows Vista notebook we've tested this year (through 10/25/07) is a Mac. Try that again: The fastest Windows Vista notebook we've tested this year--or for that matter, ever--is a Mac. Not a Dell, not a Toshiba, not even an Alienware. The $2419 (plus the price of a copy of Windows Vista, of course) MacBook Pro's PC WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 88 beats Gateway's E-265M by a single point, but the MacBook's score is far more impressive simply because Apple couldn't care less whether you run Windows.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/13664...s_of_2007.html



Edit: Whoops. How can I forget about my favourite Mac/PC story of all... the one (with pictures) about Microsoft actually demoing Vista to a group of bloggers... using a MacBook Pro.

http://macdailynews.com/index.php/we...omments/10054/

[Nufy]

I will be using it for work so it will have to run AB and Modicon software.

The compatibility matrix for AB doesn't list macs at all and I am wary about trying something.

The latest accepted version is Win XP SP2 so thats what I wil be looking for.

[photon]

The hardware for a Macbook Pro and a Dell or anything else isn't any different, it's just the software. If you load Win XP SP2 on it there shouldn't be anything stopping the software from running.