athletics

I need to get a new laptop for MBA school in January. I have not purchased a laptop in 5 years, use a Dell for work and have my trusty Sony at home, neither of these particular ones will be good solutions for the rigors of b-school, but the brands may have other options that will fit. I am finding it hard to determine which laptops might be the best for my situation, but an leaning towards the Lenovo.

A few thoughts:
No Mac's - so says the school
I love the Sony's, but hate that new raised keyboard
I really like the Lenovo's I see, but I would like to see them in person before buying
I won't be using it for gaming and the shiny plastically ones look cheap

Does anyone have some good/bad laptop experiences? Or recommendations of brands and models?

Bear Cub

IMO, Lenovo isn't necessarily the best value out there, but is up there on the list of best laptops. I was impressed with the ones I had a chance to use.

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Silverbrain

I'd go with a Dell. 10 + years in the business and never had issues with Dell laptops, my wife is on her second one now (bought her a new one for Christmas just for performance purposes) and I think they are a great value! All the bells and whistles, not a lot of cost. Unless you are doing digital video editing, or gaming, you don't need a lot to get you bye. The only consideration is weight, are you going to be carrying this around, if so you would want a 15" screen to reduce weight..if it's going to be a portable unit most the time, then get a larger screen! NO Celeron Processors..ever.

Start here..
The Dell Online Store: Build Your System

I opted out of glossy screens for my wife as if you are in decent lit areas, makes your screen hard to read. 2GB+ memory and then anything else you want is up to you!

Open Office 3 just came out (free competitor to Microsoft Office) could always check that out before spending bucko bucks on MS products.

Hope this helps, ask any further questions if you need!

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PonyPotato

Almost everyone at the small high-end consulting business I work for has either a Toshiba or an Acer. Best bang for your buck.

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athletics

Thanks for the great input. Are you saying for a lighter laptop, get a bigger screen? Since I will be toting this from work to class and back home several times a week, I would prefer a lighter weight option.

Radio Monk33

If its just for business apps you might be able to get away with an ultra portable.

I know you said no macs, but what about BootCamp to run XP or Vista natively, it is literally a PC afterall, just with another operating system also installed. I was thinking the Macbook Air would give you a big screen for a light weight.

Dell's are always a solid choice, great customer care and it's easy to strip them down and rebuild them should something fail/break.

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Lasereth

I would buy a Dell without hesitating. You can get a great Dell laptop with 2 GB of ram for $450ish and that is a steal.

Vigilante

Dell vostro, small business models. I have one and so do many people that I know. Never disappointed.

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Silverbrain

I mistyped. If you are going to be lugging it around, go smaller screen to reduce weight, sorry about that!

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dlish

i had an Acer for work. uh-uh. dont go there. gets very sluggish, and slow. cicrosoft offices packages took a lifetime to open up. granted i was using them with huge word and excel files.

im using the same files with a HP and getting 10% of the problems.

id go HP or Dell. but i do know that the HP after service care centre is based in india. so many choose not to buy HP for that reason. may be a consideration for you. im not sure about dell. you may want to check that out.

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Bear Cub

Am I literally the only person with nightmarish Dell laptop experiences?

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Vigilante

No. Dell used to be very bad. Once they bought alienware a few years ago they picked back up with XPS and lesser lines. It wasn't ever really bad for me because I can take them apart and do damn near anything I want, but that's not the case for the average consumer.

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spindles

I think, more likely he is saying 15" is a smaller screen. Mine is 2 years old and has a 14" screen and was definitely on the smaller end of the scale. I've got 19" screens both at home and the office so, I rarely use the screen on the machine anyway - definitely a good way to go.

Personally, I think the brand is not really that important - most of the internal bits are the same anyway.

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MikeSty

Smaller screens are generally less weight (better battery life), and I'd definitely say you really need to consider how portable it is. It seems like you already own two computers and have set purposes for them, you really want another one? I'd say go for something light and functional.

Vigilante

Nope, there is one key component that changes by manufacturer/OEM, and it is key to longevity - capacitors. Cheapo brands will have cheapo (ironically, one brand is teapo) capacitors, and as you move up the chain, often but not always of course, the caps get better. I buy business line just for that reason; it's usually beefier hardware.

Heatsinks can matter as well. One brand might ignore a hot PLL or volt reg in a dead spot, but another one will include a channel in the design to keep that chip, which can fail, within specs.

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spindles

Yep, I'll clarify my point - if you are buying from known computer manufacturers (i.e. the names being discussed in this thread), there really isn't a huge different. When you decide to buy a no-name brand machine, then you are on your own

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Vigilante

I still disagree a little. I've seen sonys go tits up all over the place, and the dells ran just fine. All purchased on the same project and in the same room. OEM brands do matter quite a bit at times. It's kinda nitpicking, but you get the idea.

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ColonelSpecial

I have to vote for Toshiba especially if you plan to have it for awhile. I have a six year old Toshiba and it is still fast and okay weight wise. My dad has a 14 year old Toshiba laptop that still runs. They are built to last for a long time!

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biznatch

Also, get it covered by the manufacturer. Fixing a desktop can be easy, but a hardware related problem on a laptop is not something you wanna tangle with, or pay for. I'd go with 2-3 years of service. You might not need technical assistance, but get your hardware covered.

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Vigilante

Definitely agree. If you do not feel comfortable taking the whole machine apart on your own, then get the added warranty.

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MikeSty

ALSO, check your warranty's policy on battery/charger. Fujitsu gave me a 3-year warranty, but batteries and chargers are only good under the first year :-/ It's not even been a year and a half and my charger is dead and the battery sucks - I took pretty good care of it too.

A friend of mine has a Dell notebook with the deluxe warranty that covers everything for four years. He has been through three or four chargers in the past year - he has more than made up for the cost of the warranty over the next four years and Dell is probably operating at a loss :-x