Favorite laptop?

[fatbuckRTO]

Have a low-end Dell Vostro from 2008 that's still going strong. It had some sort of weird problem with a pinstripe screen of death for a couple years, where if I left it on for 24 hours or more it would sometimes lock up and put pinstripes on my screen, but during those years I had the NMCI smartcard software loaded on it. Once I took that off and reformatted, I have had zero problems with the laptop.

NMCI destroys every computer component it touches.

I also have a Dell Inspiron that I got as a hand-me-down, it's from the 2008 / 2009 time-frame. I use it as my primary now because it's a little more powerful and a little more up-to-date (runs Vista, so I've caught up with the last decade). My wife recently sat on it accidentally during a road trip, for about 30 minutes. It was in a cheap Targus case. That laptop is still running fine.

We used Dell Latitudes in Kuwait and Iraq, where we worked in not-dust-tight-at-all-and-air-conditioned-sometimes tents. We cleaned them off at least once a week, and they ran fine for a year in the desert. They were at least two years old at the time, and they were still running fine at the end of the deployment.

Long story short, I recommend Dell.

[Bluestreak]

If I were purchasing one for myself for personal use, I'd buy a Dell Latitude E6430S. It's a 14" screen with good resolution installed in a 13" chassis. It's very light weight and has excellent performance.

I'll be getting a batch of E6530's and E6430's next month. One of the E6530's (15" screen with 1080 resolution) will be for myself.

I'm on an older D830 right now and it's been working great for the last 5 years.

I also recommend Dell.

One thing about notebook computers... you get what you pay for every time.

[LeeNetworX]

My latest personal/work laptop is light, has great battery life, and I find to be more than adequate in terms of performance. I placed an SSD Hybrid drive in it when I bought it which helps alot without the pure SSD pricetag/small size. I use it for typical items - MS Office, web/e-mail, testing products at work, etc. No complaints at all - I love it. It's also one of the few 13" ultras I've found to have a built-in DVD (necessity for me as it makes my work life much easier). Has 3 USB (one doubles as eSATA), HDMI out, VGA out, and SD reader.

Toshiba Portege R835
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o02_s00_i00

Hybrid Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148591

[pauldun170]

Homeslice,
Tells us what you need to do with it and we'll tell you exactly what to get.
We will even build in some free play so that you can fuss over "design and aesthetic" stuff.

[pauldun170]

Originally Posted by LeeNetworX

My latest personal/work laptop is light, has great battery life, and I find to be more than adequate in terms of performance. I placed an SSD Hybrid drive in it when I bought it which helps alot without the pure SSD pricetag/small size. I use it for typical items - MS Office, web/e-mail, testing products at work, etc. No complaints at all - I love it. It's also one of the few 13" ultras I've found to have a built-in DVD (necessity for me as it makes my work life much easier). Has 3 USB (one doubles as eSATA), HDMI out, VGA out, and SD reader.

Toshiba Portege R835
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o02_s00_i00

Hybrid Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148591

I haven't trusted Seagate drives since a seagate drive knocked up my cat and broke my dishes back in 1947.

That being said

SSD's in laptops rock. If our HP wasn't so old...
That's not true. Even on our old Pavillion, a SSD would turn it into a superstar.
The issue is that my wife uses that laptop 24x7 nowadays.
I'm not spending my side cash marked "Computer stuff" on her laptop just so she can do lady things on it. I'm saving MY side cash for the supercomputer I'm building next year.


Anyway, back on topic.
SSD in any laptop is the BALLZ. Battery life, responsiveness and thermals are greatly improved.
Just avoid anything with "Sandforce" on the label.

Lee,
What kind of drive came with the laptop? Does it have additional bays?

[LeeNetworX]

Originally Posted by pauldun170

Lee,
What kind of drive came with the laptop? Does it have additional bays?

Honestly don't remember - I yanked it and put it in an external enclosure. Just one bay - it's a 13" ultra, remember.

[Homeslice]

Originally Posted by pauldun170

What will you be using the laptop for? Will it be your only computer or will it be strictly for traveling and working on the toilet?

Only.

Browsing, movies, Outlook, mild database work, nothing really memory-sucking.

No more than $700-800

14"

Considered a tablet instead, but most of those are Android, I want Win7 & Office Pro

Prefer low-noise. The fan constantly being on is OK, as long as it's quiet. I have a Dell at work with a loud-ass fan that goes on and off every 30 seconds and I can't stand it.

Need it to sleep or hibernate when I ask it to, unlike HP crap which fail to do so.

[pauldun170]

Damnit
You caught me off guard with the quiet requirement.

[LeeNetworX]

Originally Posted by Homeslice

No more than $700-800

14"

Prefer low-noise. The fan constantly being on is OK, as long as it's quiet.

My Toshiba is very quiet. Perhaps they make 14" versions of these.

[EpyonXero]

Originally Posted by fatbuckRTO

Have a low-end Dell Vostro from 2008 that's still going strong. It had some sort of weird problem with a pinstripe screen of death for a couple years, where if I left it on for 24 hours or more it would sometimes lock up and put pinstripes on my screen, but during those years I had the NMCI smartcard software loaded on it. Once I took that off and reformatted, I have had zero problems with the laptop.

NMCI destroys every computer component it touches.

I also have a Dell Inspiron that I got as a hand-me-down, it's from the 2008 / 2009 time-frame. I use it as my primary now because it's a little more powerful and a little more up-to-date (runs Vista, so I've caught up with the last decade). My wife recently sat on it accidentally during a road trip, for about 30 minutes. It was in a cheap Targus case. That laptop is still running fine.

We used Dell Latitudes in Kuwait and Iraq, where we worked in not-dust-tight-at-all-and-air-conditioned-sometimes tents. We cleaned them off at least once a week, and they ran fine for a year in the desert. They were at least two years old at the time, and they were still running fine at the end of the deployment.

Long story short, I recommend Dell.

NMCI is a virus.