New laptop for work. Need suggestions.

[WRXtranceformed]

So I just got promoted to closer and am in need of a new laptop for presentation purposes. The company is footing the bill, ultimately I will have to pay them back though so I'm not looking for something outlandishly expensive. The co-owners / first closers bought pimped out Macintoshes that were like $2500, I don't know if I need that much computer.

Here's what I need.

1) Big, clear screen with a good graphics card / RAM to power the graphics.
2) Slim, professional looking with an OS that doesn't suck
3) Mac or PC?

You guys know how I feel about Macs, I really don't enjoy them. But EVERYONE thinks I should get one. I'd like to keep the cost under $2 grand and I'd like to be able to run the DJ software for my new turntable setup (which pretty much any new computer would probably be able to do). Questions are, are there any PCs worth getting out there? Is it not worth the hassles down the line? I'm still using John's old Inspiron 700m and it's hanging in there pretty well. Or should I just take the dive and go against my reasoning and get a Mac?

[REED]

what do you mean by an OS that doesn't suck, its not like there is a world of choices out there, just XP or OSX

[navin]

New Mac's are "reasonably" priced IMO, maybe pick up an older model macbook pro..? Personally I think the Apple software for presentations kicks ass, alot cleaner than PowerPoint if you take your time to learn it...

Plus find some buddies that work for big companies (SRA, BearingPoint , etc) they all have discount codes for Apple for some extra $$ off, or find someone with a valid college ID still.

[REED]

I believe if you order online you don't need any real proof that you are attending school - my brother and sister both just got macbook pros with some solid discounts and a free iPod touch - but im pretty sure already have one of those, so yo could sell it.

[BLINGMW]

I believe if you order online you don't need any real proof that you are attending school - my brother and sister both just got macbook pros with some solid discounts and a free iPod touch - but im pretty sure already have one of those, so yo could sell it.

You are correct, I got our last laptop that way. Savings is usually ~10%, plus an iPod sometimes. :thumbup:

If you prefer windows, apple laptops are some of the best made windows laptops for the $ IMHO.

*edit* after looking at apple's current crop, I think the prices are pretty good for the 15in models, but if you want a "big" laptop with big screen, the 17in only comes with everything else topped out and is rather expensive! I'm sure you could find a 17in PC laptop for significantly less.

[Evan]

Hold out for a month or so and you will get a free Windows 7 upgrade. Or wait until the fall and get one preloaded with Windows 7. Ive been using the release candidate. Its really good.

I think HP is making the best laptops on the market right now, a lot of people like Dells, nobody likes Gateways. Both Dell and HP have pretty crazy sales every few months. Probably best to do your own detailed shopping based on your needs, but youre probably looking at around $1k- $1.5k w/ pimpy shit like bluray and high end graphics card.

Or if you have twice as much money to burn you can join the Apple yuppie social movement. Cant really help you there, other than the multitouch pad is handy but I personally hate the chicklet keyboard. Also I think Logic only runs on mac, so if you fall in love with that over Ableton, Reason, Cubase, etc that would be your main reason for a mac.

[G.Irish]

Well you can run both Windows and OSX on a Macbook if you went that route. But it sounds like you don't have any compelling reasons to use a Mac. Maybe if you would get a decent amount of use out of iMovie and Garageband since I can't think of any reasonably priced Windows versions of that software that is of similar quality. Still, you can get more hardware for the money if you get a PC laptop so that's probably the way you should go. I wouldn't go for a mac just so you can use their slide software.

[John]

I haven't seen a Dell in 5 years that wasn't a steaming pile of shit. I've had decent luck with the past 3 IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads I've had... they may have a 1985ish chassis, but they are reliable...

[WRXtranceformed]

We have corporate discounts on Dell and Apple computers. Dells is pretty ridiculous I think, it's like 25-30%, Apple's is only I think 10 or 12%. I've only ever owned Dells and have never really had problems with them... er well other than the one that had the hard drive crash haha

I'll probably go to Best Buy this weekend just to check out what the newer models look like and then order something online. I'm not sure if there's an Apple store around here, but I'll stop in to at least say that I gave it a shot.

[Apoc]

High-end Dell, HP or IBM refrub for $1k.

[WRXtranceformed]

Ohh yeah that's a good call I didn't even think about refurbs. Do you think those qualify for corporate discounts?

[Apoc]

Ohh yeah that's a good call I didn't even think about refurbs. Do you think those qualify for corporate discounts?

Depends on the discount. If it's just a coupon code, most likely... but a lot of the "portals" that get linked from corporate discount sites won't offer refurbs.

[ScottyB]

our laptop isn't comparable in terms of the performance you want, but as for a refurb experience, we bought our IBM laptop for about $400 and it was flawless, and has been working without issue. it sees pretty regular use as well.

[WRXtranceformed]

If I go with Dell, is XPS pretty much the shit? I was browsing on their website this morning but they have like 1091309 options for laptops, kind of hard to decipher.

[Mike]

XPS = their high performance brand. I've witnessed two of those machines be absolute crap. Their business line (Latitude) has always treated me well.

[John]

Ohh yeah that's a good call I didn't even think about refurbs. Do you think those qualify for corporate discounts?

I can give you my info for corporate discounts since I work for big blue, although the "deals" are quite varied (ie, my wife's T400 is now 35% more now than it was 9 months ago). Sometimes they have steals, other times the offerings are mediocre.

[John]

XPS = their high performance brand. I've witnessed two of those machines be absolute crap. Their business line (Latitude) has always treated me well.

Latitudes were my nemesis of my tenure at all my previous employers. I can't lament enough of how many hours of frustration and rework I spent dealing with fried motherboards, fried hard-drives, failed screens, etc. My plight wasn't unique - pretty much every other Latitude user I knew had similar experiences...

[ViPER1313]

I just bought a Dell Vostro 1520. It's not built as well as the older D800 I sold, doesn't have HDMI out and the volume buttons don't repeat when you hold them down, but for the cash it was a steal. My only suggestion is to go with a matte screen instead of glossy. 9-cell batteries are worth the cash as well if you don't mind the extra weight and are away from outlets for extended periods of time. IMO Macs are overpriced. Look on SlickDeals if you are trying to get the most bang for the buck.

[REED]

XPS = their high performance brand. I've witnessed two of those machines be absolute crap. Their business line (Latitude) has always treated me well.

Latitudes were my nemesis of my tenure at all my previous employers. I can't lament enough of how many hours of frustration and rework I spent dealing with fried motherboards, fried hard-drives, failed screens, etc. My plight wasn't unique - pretty much every other Latitude user I knew had similar experiences...

my job gave me a latitude 610 about 4 years ago and it is still going strong, i mean it takes entirely too long to turn on and shut off, but it works everyday. The only work I've had done on it that time is a new battery.

[WRXtranceformed]

Haha sigh. I started pricing out an Alienware laptop. I didn't realize Dell owned them. Sick ass laptop, too bad it's getting up close to $3500+ to pimp it out. That would be so baller though.