laptop advice

[wiscodevil]

Hope y'all can help with some good recommendations...

We are looking into buying a laptop for our small business - mostly, for presentations at tradeshows and sales pitches at families' homes to show slideshows, videos, etc. We’re looking for a 17 in. screen, good sound, fast, and just overall solid and reliable.

Are there any laptops you would recommend fitting those qualifications? Any brands to focus on or stay away from? Here is what I was leaning towards:
http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-V3...dp_o_pC_nS_nC?

Is this more than I need to spend to meet the above requirements?

Thanks in advance

[moonpie23]

macbook pro....check out the REFURBS at the apple store....completely guaranteed and actually inspected twice!!

[BCGroup]

I have to agree on the MacBooks. You just can't beat the performance and the lack of problems.

[Reisen]

I love the Macbook Pros (I own a 15"), but man, they are expensive. Especially the 17" ones.

[davekay1971]

I've fallen so deeply in love with the reliability and easiness of my MacBook, that I feel it's worth just about any price to not have to deal with the last 3 iterations of Windows. The 17 inch screen is very expensive. If a 15 inch screen will do, you'll save good money.

[moonpie23]

on a 17" refurb, you can save about 250$....my refurb is 3 years old and has had no problems....

[chaosmage]

My wife got a Dell Inspiron 17R, and normally I don't advise those, but I have to say she's had next to no problems, it was 1500, and it's very high-end. Comparatively.

I personally am planning to replace my 13" MBAir with the next model of the 128GB iPad. I've been able to figure out or replace nearly every mainstream app (except for music composition). Thoughts?

[DukeHoo]

If you're looking for something other than an Apple (just because that has already been suggested and you might be reliant on Windows-based programs), I'd suggest the following:

-Lenovo: I would go for the ThinkPad line (such as the T300s). I have a ThinkPad T300 now and, while it's not the prettiest laptop, it is mechanically very sound and has the best laptop keyboard I've ever used. They are simply extraordinarily well engineered computers.

-Toshiba: I can't speak to their business line, but the Satellite line of laptops is pretty good and has an extremely low hardware failure rate (up there with Lenovo and Apple). My only complaint is that they tend to be very glossy (thus showing a ton of fingerprints) and their keyboards can feel a tad plastic-y. The actual laptop is pretty well constructed though.

-Dell: The consumer Inspiron models are only alright, but the business-oriented Latitude line is pretty good. We use those at my office (an engineering firm with a number of programmers), and everyone seems to be happy with them as business computers.

-Asus: These laptops are usually well made, but they predominantly target a certain audience (namely gamers and people who were familiar with Asus when they predominantly made motherboards) and their design sensibilities reflect that (they tend to be a tad garish as a result). Their computers are usually well-constructed though, though I've never been impressed with their keyboards.

-That Acer actually isn't bad, but I consider its hardware engineering to be a step down from Lenovo and Toshiba. Acer makes up for it by giving you good bang for your buck, but they are less reliable.

If you are going to primarily use this laptop for business, you may want to lose the GeForce GT 650M (which is a mobile graphics card) unless you intend to use graphics intensive programs. An Intel HD 4000 is probably sufficient for your needs unless you are a gamer. That's an integrated graphics chip capable of handling all but state of the art games or year old games on the highest settings, which makes it fine for everything else. Plus, mobile graphics cards are expensive and that money is probably better spent on a bigger battery. I'm guessing you travel a lot if you're making sales pitches and presentations for trade shows, which would make battery life an important consideration.

Also, I should note that (like some of the other posters suggested for Apples) you should look at the outlets for refurbished units. The Lenovo and Dell ones occasionally have deals (I got my T300 for about $650 from their outlet) but the Toshiba and Asus ones are not terribly useful. I can't speak to Acer's outlet.

Hope this was helpful.

[Reisen]

I use Lenovo laptops for work. I currently have an X230s I have been very happy with, and has taken quite a bit of abuse (including spilling a drink in the keyboard. Fried the keyboard, but the spill tray protected the rest of the computer).

I'm actually in the process of replacing it with a T430s (the s on both designates a lightweight model with magnesium chassis, etc.). That will be larger, but should have better battery life and power. I'll let everyone know how I like it (getting it next week).

I still prefer my Macbook Pro to the Lenovo Thinkpads, but there is a big price difference.

If you are interested in Lenovos, I may be able to get you a code for preferred pricing through another forum I frequent (a Lenovo employee posts there and is always throwing out codes). That goes for anyone interested.

[DukeHoo]

Oops, I meant the T430. I just have a regular T430 though. I actually almost got an X230 when I was laptop hunting. It seemed like a nice laptop.

[Jarhead]

DukeHoo -- Good post. My laptop is a Toshiba Satellite, and, for me, is the best computer I have ever owned. The keyboard is lacking, a little bit, and fingerprints go away easily with a little eye glass cleaner spray, and a quick wipe with a rag, or a kleenex, or a shirt sleeve. I can't handle a loptop pointer setup whatever the brand. All laptops are useless on a commercial airplane unless you're in first class. I'd rather sleep anyhow. Pads and tablets have not caught my attention, yet. Maybe to MS Surface, someday.

At home, I use it with a 20" Samsung monitor, an old HP keyboard to which I am very accustomed, and a Logitech wireless mouse. I remove the battery and prop it up with a couple of golf balls for ventilation. When traveling, I leave the monitor, golf balls and the keyboard in my desk, and put the laptop and the mouse in my carrying bag. I also put the battery back in the laptop. The USB connector for the mouse is about the size of cough drop.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I'm not going to suggest a laptop, but a couple of accessories you might consider regardless of what you buy, or if you don't NEED to buy a new computer other than for the presentation capabilities.

Now this depends on the size of your audience, but the sound volume of the laptop probably isn't enough for more than one to three people sitting close to the laptop at a table. I use my 8.9" netbook for presentations, and I can hardly hear the sound sitting next to it. I bought a pair of micro-sized speakers at Costco for $40. They are battery powered, recharged by a USB connection to your laptop, and connect to the earphone output jack on the computer. They will put out enough volume for a normal sized conference room! For $40, and they are small enough to fit into my netbook case, you can't beat them!

Something else I've done is purchase a 19" LCD TV with a video input. I use the video out port on the netbook and connect it to the TV, which gives me a much larger display for ~$175 without buying a new computer. You can also port the sound over to the TV if it has a sound input connection, and my Vizio does, so I don't even need to use the portable speakers.

Granted, carrying the TV isn't super convenient, but it works really well, and you could get a 21+" screen if you want an even larger display. Note that I bought the TV rather than just an LCD video display because I use the TV in my office. Two birds, one stone... If I didn't want/need the TV function, you could just buy a 22" LCD display for $120 plus the speakers and have a really nice set up.

[DukeHoo]

Thanks. I loved my old Satellite. I got it for just under $400 when I was still in school, and never had so much as a hiccup. The only reason I replaced it was that it began to be underpowered for my needs...$400 doesn't buy a whole lot of processing power.

[devil84]

I'll chime in on the Toshiba laptops. I got a new one last year with a modicum of bells and whistles, and I couldn't be happier. I can't live without my backlit keyboard (great in dimly lit rooms) and dedicated volume buttons just above the keyboard.

As far as fingerprints on the shiny surfaces, I use a laptop skin. You can even customize them with your company logo if you can't find a suitable graphic. They're quite durable and if you avoid a mostly solid color, your finger prints won't show. The top of my laptop is slick, though my keyboard rest has a texture and the skin sticks quite nicely to it and looks great.

This Toshiba has been very sturdy. I usually find power cords and power jacks taking a lot of abuse; that hasn't happened yet. I've only had it a little over a year, so it's not quite time for the laptop hinges to fail, but they seem very, very solid. I'm very happy.

I'll also recommend looking for a factory refurb or a closeout sale at a big box store. I'll stop short of taking a floor model, because of one we bought for our grad-student daughter. It was a nicely loaded HP a year ago that had an intermittent screen problem that took almost year to argue with tech support over (probably would have been less if she didn't keep relying on her old machine to get her through school and dealing with tech support only on the breaks), but they finally replaced it with a very nice, upgraded model that has been great. There were also some issues with the warranty because it was a floor model and had already been initialized months prior; we were able to finally clear that up, but not without extra hassle.

[Reisen]

I can't live without my backlit keyboard (great in dimly lit rooms) and dedicated volume buttons just above the keyboard.

Just curious, but do you touch-type? Because I never look at my keyboard anyway, so don't need a backlight. Maybe if I was trying to find a really weird key or something...

[devil84]

Just curious, but do you touch-type? Because I never look at my keyboard anyway, so don't need a backlight. Maybe if I was trying to find a really weird key or something...

Oh yes, I definitely touch type! But, if I'm demoing in a dimly lit room, surfing the Internet while the rest of the family is watching a movie I'm not terribly interested in (room is darkened), or anything that doesn't require standard typing is *wonderful.* Especially, uh, once you "hit a certain age."

When I was looking at the computer, I thought it was a ridiculous feature, one of those silly "look what we have" features. But wow, it's nice.

[Indoor66]

Oh yes, I definitely touch type! But, if I'm demoing in a dimly lit room, surfing the Internet while the rest of the family is watching a movie I'm not terribly interested in (room is darkened), or anything that doesn't require standard typing is *wonderful.* Especially, uh, once you "hit a certain age."

When I was looking at the computer, I thought it was a ridiculous feature, one of those silly "look what we have" features. But wow, it's nice.

I resemble that "certain age".

[-jk]

Oh yes, I definitely touch type! But, if I'm demoing in a dimly lit room, surfing the Internet while the rest of the family is watching a movie I'm not terribly interested in (room is darkened), or anything that doesn't require standard typing is *wonderful.* Especially, uh, once you "hit a certain age."

When I was looking at the computer, I thought it was a ridiculous feature, one of those silly "look what we have" features. But wow, it's nice.

Thinkpads have a similar feature that enables an LED that lights the keyboard. Don't use it often, but it's great when I need it.

-jk

[Jim3k]

Thinkpads have a similar feature that enables an LED that lights the keyboard. Don't use it often, but it's great when I need it.

-jk

macbooks have the backlit keyboard, too. I love mine in the dark. I never was much of a touch typist. Besides, I learned on a real typewriter which didn'dt have so many keys--plus laptop keyboards require special skills for numerals. And I am always hitting the d key inadvertently (as you can plainly see). So I touch dthe d key when I don't want to. I need to see what I'm doing.

[alteran]

One more vote for Toshiba. I've had three Satellites over the years, never had a problem, and I'm pretty hard on PCs. For a long time, they've had an actual volume knob, rather than some arbitrary combination of keyboard keys which the computer may or may not acknowledge immediately. This feature has saved me from spousal-related injury many times when I surf in bed and some random ad pops up at max volume.

Toshiba is one of a very small group of laptop manufacturers that make their own laptops, pretty much everyone else outsources these days. Asus is another. I think this is a big factor why those two companies have the lowest defect numbers in the business.