Laptop: advice

[Roach-Rampino]

I know that there are other threads on this topic but my needs are slightly different to others and therefore I am creating my own thread.

I need a laptop, predominantly for work. I need one that will suit travelling around a lot as I am on the road and visiting customers much more nowadays. I would want internet access so that I can log on remotely to my office pc.

I want something with good battery life and a reasonable sized screen as I would like to have the option of using it for small presentations ("small" as in to a few people at a time). I would want something with a good sized memory and fast too.

Both my parents have VAIO's and are very happy with them but they only use them for internet and email and not much else. I guess my budget would be about £750 but can go to more if necessary.

Any suggestions for laptop and internet options greatly appreciated.

[gunner]

If you can afford them, Vaio's are excellent. Something like the VPCS12C7E/B would fit the bill. Fast, light, quite powerful and well built.

[Roach-Rampino]

If you can afford them, Vaio's are excellent. Something like the VPCS12C7E/B would fit the bill. Fast, light, quite powerful and well built.

This looks like a good price: http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Sony_...EB_988696.html

Also I would get the VAT back.

What about connecting it to the internet?

[XBOX4LIFE]

It comes with 3G wifi and LAN mate, just whack a 3G sim in it and you can use it while out of the office when you can't connect to a customers network, looks like a nice bit of kit but is 13.3 a big enough screen ?

[liveseytowers]

I'd be tempted to use a mifi for your internet connection. Cheap enough on PAYG and has an internal battery so no need to plug it in for a few hours. You could get one on contract if you used it alot. £71 on PAYG.

http://threestore.three.co.uk/payg/d...rcode=DSLPP527

edit just seen it has a 3G dongle. You only need the sim. 3 are doing truly unlimited data at the moment and are encouraging people to rape it.

[cyprus]

Roach, my experience of Vaios is quite contradictory to what I've read here. In my experience they're slow, bloated with useless Sony software and will drive you up the wall with little niggles like CD drives taking an age to eject, slow boot times, etc.

I've sold a couple in the past and had the buyers calling me almost every month with problems. I personally would avoid Sony Vaios like the plague.

If you want a solid workhorse go for a Dell Lattitude series or Toshiba Tekra series. These are the workstation derivatives for the respective companies.

Obviously everyone will have their own opinion about various makes and models so I'd say go for a laptop that's within your budget but also look in to the quality and availability of after sales support and a good warranty.

Be aware also that buying a new laptop will mean the need to buy an antivirus and Office as the versions pre-installed will be trial versions.

[ant3b]

You could always go for a Lenovo (ibm) T410.. maybe slightly over your budget but they are spill proof etc and pretty robust.

[Northernbloke]

Another vote for Dell here - I've used Latitudes for the last 8 years (C610, D600, D630 etc) they have been thrashed physically and technically and stood up to everything thrown up at them - all our field engineers (~200 in the UK alone) have them issued and they take more abuse than anything else our IT guys have tried.

[evilsatan]

I would avoid Sony like the plague myself, over priced, bloated, and not the build quality you would expect. I used to work in the same workshop as the Sony warranty repair engineers so saw how much they charged for stuff, e.g. a cracked LCD would cost you £600+.

ant3b has suggested what I was going to, I have a T410 myself and it is superb as long as it is portable enough for you. Lenovo/IBM thinkpads are business orientated, some have a WWAN card built in. It is the best laptop I have ever owned!

Alternatives would be Toshiba Tecra/Portege but these cost more or Dell business laptops above the Vostro which also cost more than the T410.

[purpleanimal23]

Another vote for Dell Latitudes here, for business use absolutely spot on. Vaio's are the "Apple" of PC's as in they look great. More of a consumer, home use they aren't built brilliantly and are chock full full of Sony shite bloatware.
Latitude will stand up a bit more, better support warranty, parts are cheap as chips on ebay for DIY and the new e-series don't look too shabby.

[CzarJunkie]

Another vote for Dell here, the Vostros or Latitudes are well up to the job. I recently got a Vostro 3500 for work with an i3 chip and 3Gb of ram and it's plenty enough for me. At just over £400, the price was ok too.

[funkyg]

Another vote for Dell here. We have the Latitudes at work and are solid machines. The E4310 and E6510 can both be specced with built in 3G, and the E4310 is really portable and smart. We were paying just undet a grand from Dell Direct but a new supplier has quoted £200 quid off that so would just about scrape into your budget.


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[Roach-Rampino]

The E4310 and E6510 can both be specced with built in 3G, and the E4310 is really portable and smart.

Cheers to all for some great advice.

I am considering the Dell Latitude E6510 (increased my budget) but cannot see the 3G option?

[Over Carl]

It may be called WWAN.

[MsDG]

Hmmmm, not exactly sure what great advice you have been given other than "we use Dells at work and they seem ok"?

Lets go through the brands...

Sony - lets be honest, they are not a busness laptop. They are shiny "Brand" names for home use. When you crack one open, it looks as if it was designed on the planet Zog

HP / PB - very fragile units. Their business models have a very long production life and they can be very reliable. However you do have to be gentle with them or they physically break

Dell ( as being as everyone is recommending them, i shall highlight the pit falls). For a start the Dells are tougher than a HP but they are still easyish to break, mark. As mentioned above... Parts are cheap because they are cheap. Dell change their models more often than twoplanks posts about tyres. Corporate purchasers get a very well paded bag as standard and pro support... Cause you need both (standard support is shocking)

IBM - for my mind there is only one business laptop out there and that is IBM. They are tuff little fuckers and to be honest the tuffest laptop you will get without buying military spec tuff books. However they are not popular because of the plain blackness and the inital price. The price reflects the quality. For my mind you would be far better buying a used IBM then a brand new Dell!

General advice....

Processor... Unless you are presentating real time weather calculations, processor power is not that relevant. Forget the i3, i5, i7 bollocks. Virtually any processor on a modern laptop will do the job. Super processors on a laptop is not only pointless but uses more power and more heat. Putting a volcano heat laptop into a laptop bag because you are moving on is not a great move... What else do you do, wait for it to cool?

Hard drive... SSD is critcal for a laptop. By its very nature a laptop is a start/stop product so your most speed will come from a SSD not a fancy processor. Also as you bounce around a laptop with a normal hd you increase disk errors, which slows things down even more. SSD's run cooler and use less power. In my opinion they are critical for a business laptop. And i don't mean one of these slow cheap kingston SSD's .... Get something with some real mofo speed.

Screen size V Battery. You are in conflict my son. Either you want a mofo screen or you want good battery life. There is no laptop that runs on better physics than another so its all relative... Big screen, not so good battery. Small screen, better battery. What means the most to you? Also wieght gets thrown into this make as obviously the smaller the screen usually equates to a lighter laptop. So are you gonna be doing much carrying or will it be mostly be banging around in the back of your Mondeo?

3G..... Last time i checked, the Dell integral 3G option was Double the price of a retail Mifi unit. Personally i would spend the money on the mifi so then you could get 3G on any wireless device. Add this to the flakey 3G support around the country, you have to ask your self if the money of an integral 3G card is worth the amount of time you will use it! I generally find it is quicker to text Raptor in the USA and ask him to jot down all the threads on a peice of A4 paper and then post it to me 2nd class than try to get onto 3G in a shocking amount of places in this country!

Cd/dvd drive.... You don't need one! I know you will say that you need one... Every body says that. But in reality they are rarely used and it saves so much space not having one. If you really need one an external usb powered dvd write is £25. It will gather dust in your laptop bag.

[Roach-Rampino]

So are you gonna be doing much carrying or will it be mostly be banging around in the back of your Mondeo?

A timely post MsDG as was about to order £1300 worth of Dell Latitude. I will have a butchers at IBM ( I presume that you mean Lenovo for UK?)

I drive everywhere and so will only be carrying for short amounts of time. Actually it's been a good year so "new Range Rover TDV8 Vogue" is how I roll

[liveseytowers]

If you are upping your budget then i'd take a look at the Lenovo T410 (although the T420 has just been announced). Mine's got a i5 processor and 4GB of RAM and it runs everything I need to including a XP virtual machine for all the legacy applications. A 6 cell battery is a must. I get over 3 hours battery life with mine. I'd still say get a mifi as it'll do what you want and also you can use it easily with a few devices. They seem much better built than the old HP's we had at work however I do find the mouse track pad is a little annoying. It'll still come with loads of crap Lenovo software but you can (if you can be arsed) re-install Windows and use the Lenovo system update to sort out all the drivers for you. I've just rebuilt my work Lenovo desktop in around an hour from scratch which is pretty good going IMO.

[MsDG]

A timely post MsDG as was about to order £1300 worth of Dell Latitude. I will have a butchers at IBM ( I presume that you mean Lenovo for UK?)

I drive everywhere and so will only be carrying for short amounts of time. Actually it's been a good year so "new Range Rover TDV8 Vogue" is how I roll

Yeah, Lenovo / IBM laptops are the same thing... I keep forgetting about the branding because us blue noses get IBM branding which ever country you are in (eh Cronus?)

Don't get me wrong, Dell's are ok Laptops (especially when the company is paying for it) but spending £1300 on a Dell is like spending £60,000 on a Tata!

Oh, you have! Oh dear!

[B B Leo]

what about a macbook pro. if u wait till thursday they are gonne release new models!!!!!

[Roach-Rampino]

like spending £60,000 on a Tata!

Oh, you have! Oh dear!

Lol, such blatant jealousy! Tata are an investment company who provide capital funding to companies. Whilst they control the commercials they normally keep the production teams and manufacturing processes in place. I chose the RR as I didn't want 2 X5's and they are rated time and time again as the world's best car. For me Northampton and back in my armchair on wheels or your upholstered roller skate is a bit of no-brainer.

Anyway back on topic, I genuinely appreciate your advice and hope that you will repsond to my pm in a less hostile manner