Suggest a laptop for my wife*

[Old Yeller]

My wife needs a laptop for work. Her boss will pay for it, and it'll be be mostly used for MS Office, Outlook, planning/scheduling, and maybe the odd multimedia presentation. It will be her work/home computer so she'll want a docking station at work and probably one at home as well.

Her broad requirements are: lightweight, fast, and she seems to prefer a screen size of somewhere between 13.5 and 15 inches.

*My requirement is that it can handle 720/1080p movies, includes the fastest wireless capability (is that wireless N?) and will play Civilization 5 flawlessly when it comes out.

My problem is that I've never owned a laptop or even really looked at them so I'm not even sure what companies to look at and which ones to avoid. Also my desktop computer is 5 years old now so I just don't know what new technology is out there and what's just a gimmick.

Price limit, probably somewhere around $1500, but like I said, she'll want at least 1 docking station and probably a nice protective laptop bag in that total as well.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks guys!

[Two Fivenagame]

she can use MY lap...top...

heh

[bluck]

I have been through 3 laptops in the past year. Toshiba, Toshiba again and an HP. Windows Sucks. I then decided to pay the premium and invest in a mac. Im still in BLISS. Best machine I have ever owned in my life. You can get a macbook pro ranging from 1100-1500 dollars. Check out the apple site.

http://store.apple.com/us/configure/...co=MTc0Njg1ODA

[silentsim]

Mac!

(Insert obligatory flaming mac comments here)

[Devils'Advocate]

*sigh* He wanted something he can run Outlook on and there is no guarantee that Civilization 5 is coming to OS X.

I can't help... I went cheap, cheap, cheap and bought a Dell. But it looks like you have the budget to go big. In terms of beautiful graphics, I've heard good things about the Vaio:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1529277/

[Azure]

Do not go with Acer.

Unless you want to send it back in about 6 months for repair work.

[sclitheroe]

I recently was comparing 13” laptops amongst HP, Toshiba, and Dell. Toshiba to me seems to have become by far the least innovative manufacturer going. There is really nothing to tip any kind of purchasing decision over to Toshiba that I could see, which surprised me quite a bit. I guess they are just coasting on their good reputation of old.

The Dell Vostro line seems a little flimsy. Great for office or home use, but if you’re going to be lugging it to and from work daily, I don’t know how well they would hold up.

[silentsim]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

*sigh* He wanted something he can run Outlook on and there is no guarantee that Civilization 5 is coming to OS X.

I can't help... I went cheap, cheap, cheap and bought a Dell. But it looks like you have the budget to go big. In terms of beautiful graphics, I've heard good things about the Vaio:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1529277/

Office 2011 Mac has Outlook, and that is coming out soon.

Boot camp for games, but Civ might even get a native port. (4 was quite popular on OS X, and with Steam moving to Mac it is supposedly easier for dev's too now?)

[FlamingStuffedTiger]

I'm generally a big fan of Lenovo Thinkpads and I think something like the T Series would fit the bill here. It's pretty light, perfect for office work, and can handle the odd game or two. They also have some pretty sweet native docking options for their laptops as well. It's a pretty solid laptop imo.

[MickMcGeough]

If her boss is paying for it I'd get a 13" Macbook Pro.

Sony makes some sweet Vaio's too. Pretty much anything you buy in that price range is going to do what you need of it and more.

[schteve_d]

I second the Acer comment. Never, ever will I give Acer one more penny of my money. I hated that laptop. After that I had a Toshiba Satellite, and now I have a Dell. The Toshiba was far and away my favourite and I'd highly recommend them to anyone. The Dell is ok once you clean up some of the pre-installed Dell crap. I have no real issues with it and would likely like it more if it didn't replace the Toshiba.

[Old Yeller]

Thanks for the input so far guys. I'll avoid ACER, and sorry Mac fans, I should have specified, but her office environment is strictly windows/pc based so it's not an option.

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

The Dell Vostro line seems a little flimsy. Great for office or home use, but if you’re going to be lugging it to and from work daily, I don’t know how well they would hold up.

That's a good point that I didn't really think of. If she's transporting it back and forth something more durable might be worth looking into.

[silentsim]

Lenovo makes some great laptops, dunno about the video cards in them though.

[3 Justin 3]

Originally Posted by bluck

I have been through 3 laptops in the past year. Toshiba, Toshiba again and an HP. Windows Sucks. I then decided to pay the premium and invest in a mac. Im still in BLISS. Best machine I have ever owned in my life. You can get a macbook pro ranging from 1100-1500 dollars. Check out the apple site.

http://store.apple.com/us/configure/...co=MTc0Njg1ODA

I don't get why it is Microsoft's (windows) fault? I have had my Dell laptop for 5 years and it still works flawlessly. I've had to change out the hard-drive once (my fault how ever).

[edn88]

I second or third the Macbook comment. Best laptop I have ever owned or used.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Dell Latitude E Series. Durable, made for professionals who are on the move, and lots of docking stations available (often on ebay as corporate surplus since there are so many user).

Spiritual successor to the best notebook for professionals one the move, the old T-Series Thinkpads. Never been the same since Lenovo took over.

Is your wife going to have to VPN in? That might be of consideration in selecting what OS is available to you (or supported by the company's IT department)

[FanIn80]

While it's true that Macs come with full Exchange support out of the box, and Civ 4 is available for the Mac (meaning 5 is possible too), if her workplace requires a PC running Windows, then that's just the way it is. There's no point in recommending a Mac in this thread, and doing so just makes us look bad.

I'd look at the Dell Studio series. Maybe even the Studio XPS. Actually, even an Asus would be good. I'd probably recommend Dell or Asus over HP or Toshiba. I refuse to pay the Sony Tax, though. As much as people like to claim there's an Apple Tax, at least you get a pile of intangibles for it. All you get with Sony is a laptop with the same specs and intangibles as everything else, but for 50% more money.

Stay away from Acer, though. Far away.

[Hack&Lube]

I love my Acer netbook and it has never failed me, it think that Acer (and a lot of other laptop and computer makers) have put their problems behind them. Technology has caught up to the point where most make good products. There was a spate of really bad technology for a few years...especially with a lot of budget brands and budget computers coming out back then that have now been squeezed out of the marketplace.

My parents use an Acer netbook as well.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

I love my Acer netbook and it has never failed me, it think that Acer (and a lot of other laptop and computer makers) have put their problems behind them. Technology has caught up to the point where most make good products. There was a spate of really bad technology for a few years...especially with a lot of budget brands and budget computers coming out back then that have now been squeezed out of the marketplace.

My parents use an Acer netbook as well.

Not disagreeing, but I think it’s more an indication of the reality that most manufacturing has consolidated down to a few manufacturing companies, and so the variability in build quality across major brands has significantly decreased. Most laptops are actually branded products from Foxconn, Flextronics, Quanta, Asus or one of two or three other major white label manufacturers.

When you fire up your shiny Macbook, you are actually using an Asus or a Quanta. Many macheads have a hard time admitting it, but its the truth. Your Acer probably comes from the same factory, built by the same robots and people, as any given Dell, HP, Toshiba, etc.

Edit: check this quote out from wikipedia:

Quanta Computer Incorporated (TWSE: 2382) is a Taiwan-based manufacturer of notebook computers and other electronic hardware. It is the largest manufacturer of notebook computers in the world.[1] Its customers include ACER, Alienware, Apple Inc., Cisco, Compaq, Dell, Fujitsu, Gateway, Gericom, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Maxdata, MPC, Sharp Corporation, Siemens AG, Sony, Sun Microsystems, and Toshiba. It was founded by Barry Lam in 1988. Lam continues to head the company

[SebC]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

There's no point in recommending a Mac in this thread, and doing so just makes us look bad.

What about a Macbook with Windows on it? Serious question... I thought they had some hardware advantages.