Where do the tech savy buy laptops?

Still rocking a Thinkpad X61s. Compact and portable without sacrificing NIC port and the ergonomics of trackpoint mouse. Hate track pads since you have to shift hand away from keyboard to use mouse. Would buy another X series updated with AMD APU and nicer display.
 
Still rocking a Thinkpad X61s. Compact and portable without sacrificing NIC port and the ergonomics of trackpoint mouse. Hate track pads since you have to shift hand away from keyboard to use mouse. Would buy another X series updated with AMD APU and nicer display.

Not many options left for Thinkpads. The last X series laptop to offer only a Trackpoint was the X201. You can still opt to disable the trackpad in BIOS in current Thinkpads, but the current clickpad that has replaced the traditional 3 button trackpoint mouse buttons leave something to be desired.
 
Not many options left for Thinkpads. The last X series laptop to offer only a Trackpoint was the X201. You can still opt to disable the trackpad in BIOS in current Thinkpads, but the current clickpad that has replaced the traditional 3 button trackpoint mouse buttons leave something to be desired.

i hate the erasers i use a mouse on my laptops
 
I go here, because I don't care to buy retail laptops because I can save so much getting used/perfect condition:


http://forum.notebookreview.com/notebooks-desktops-sale/


http://hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=17



this is coming from a guy who is on his 45th laptop......Built a few gaming rigs for myself over the years but once I traded for a laptop (Dell 700m) I was hooked on laptops from then on. I have owned pretty much every brand, budget price, and build type.....

70% of those laptops ive owned came from notebookreview buy/sell/trade area......most of those guys/gals over there are members here at [H]
 
I have been extremely happy with my Macbook Pro direct from Apple, using it since 2007. I really wish some other manufacturers would catch up in the trackpad department.
 
only read the 1st so far but, Ive never met an IT person who uses a mac. this tread is false flag.
 
only read the 1st so far but, Ive never met an IT person who uses a mac. this tread is false flag.

You may not have met one in person but I've met plenty. And I'm one of them. Is much as I love my custom built PC's, I leave my portable reliability machine to my retina Mac book pro. I like some new designs from Dell, but I'm enjoying the Mac OS (read: stable modified unix) and the retina display.
 
My gf bought a mac air in September and loves it. The problem is neither of us have every used a mac before. I still haven't figured out how to do everything on it yet. I had to install Microsoft office so she could do her school work as she was familiar with it. Haven't figured out how to share folders with the network yet.

Basically if she get's a mac you are going to have to learn how to use a mac to set things up and fix things for her.
 
My recommendation for laptop is basically for the purchaser to buy one with the performance they need that also fits their size/weight requirements. It's often a conflicting decision, as one facet is usually compromised buy seeking the other. It all depends on which one the end user finds most important. Also, I recommend to people (who have asked me for laptop advice) to look into something other than the entry level consumer-grade models. Business-class machines and/or models that are a step up (like the HP Envy line) are worth the extra $$$ IMHO.

MacBooks have been mentioned here and actually fit the bill for many people, although they are pricey. They are light weight (especially the Air models) and the Pros have decent performance, without being too heavy. I have a MacBook Pro Retina 15" and it's 4.46lb weight makes it a good balance of performance and weight. The main reason why I bought it, however, was the gorgeous screen, which is leaps and bounds better than any other. I'd prefer a stronger GPU, but the GT 650 is decent enough for most things. The machine has excellent overall quality as well.
 
My recommendation for laptop is basically for the purchaser to buy one with the performance they need that also fits their size/weight requirements. It's often a conflicting decision, as one facet is usually compromised buy seeking the other. It all depends on which one the end user finds most important. Also, I recommend to people (who have asked me for laptop advice) to look into something other than the entry level consumer-grade models. Business-class machines and/or models that are a step up (like the HP Envy line) are worth the extra $$$ IMHO.

MacBooks have been mentioned here and actually fit the bill for many people, although they are pricey. They are light weight (especially the Air models) and the Pros have decent performance, without being too heavy. I have a MacBook Pro Retina 15" and it's 4.46lb weight makes it a good balance of performance and weight. The main reason why I bought it, however, was the gorgeous screen, which is leaps and bounds better than any other. I'd prefer a stronger GPU, but the GT 650 is decent enough for most things. The machine has excellent overall quality as well.

+1 to all of this. I just tell people not to buy the inexpensive (read: $300) machines and they should be okay for the most part. That being said, I love my retina MacBook Pro 15" (2013)
 
My girlfriend has a Surface Pro 2. She really loves it, and it's quite a capable machine with a long battery life given the form factor. If you don't need a traditional laptop for whatever reason, it really is quite versatile, especially if you need to take notes regularly.
 
My girlfriend has a Surface Pro 2. She really loves it, and it's quite a capable machine with a long battery life given the form factor. If you don't need a traditional laptop for whatever reason, it really is quite versatile, especially if you need to take notes regularly.

Taking notes without a real keyboard?
 
Taking notes without a real keyboard?

I went through most of my college writing my notes on an x60t tablet.

It had a keyboard, but I never used it for notes. I inked everything, and I found it much more enjoyable and efficient than typing.
 
When you buy used, do you have a procedure for checking the system (including the BIOS) for malware? This is the one issue keeping me from buying used.

Not really because most of the people I buy from are techy like me....so a factory reset and such.

They do a complete wipe of the drive because just as easily as they can infect me, I could browse their HDD for private stuffs they left....its a double edged sword.

I have yet to re-wipe anything I have bought....maybe I am not paranoid enough.
 
only read the 1st so far but, Ive never met an IT person who uses a mac. this tread is false flag.

Mainly because most IT personal are highly under paid and cannot afford the premium price of a brand new Mac.....so its cheap stuff and throw a linux distro or windows on it and use it till it blows...
 
My gf bought a mac air in September and loves it. The problem is neither of us have every used a mac before. I still haven't figured out how to do everything on it yet. I had to install Microsoft office so she could do her school work as she was familiar with it. Haven't figured out how to share folders with the network yet.

Basically if she get's a mac you are going to have to learn how to use a mac to set things up and fix things for her.

You cant be serious dude the mac reads your mind its easy to use, that's what the commercials said and people keep repeating over and over. It just works. How can it be that you cannot figure it out.
 
I like my macbook pro a ton. Very well built and OSX was easy to pick up. The Carbon Thinkpad X1 looks nice too.
 
I just tell people not to buy the inexpensive (read: $300) machines and they should be okay for the most part.
I am about to buy an Asus 10-inch laptop with a weak AMD chip for $249 plux tax. Can you persuade me that it's a bad choice?
 
I am about to buy an Asus 10-inch laptop with a weak AMD chip for $249 plux tax. Can you persuade me that it's a bad choice?

Depends on what you want to do with it, honestly.


I just got my GF an 11.6" Asus touchscreen laptap for her birthday (IIRC, it was around $350) and it's been great. For what she uses it for (facebook, shopping, email and web based games) it works excellent. The battery life is good, it doesn't get hot like her old 15" Toshiba and it weighs next to nothing so it's a lot more portable too.

Long as you don't plan on gaming with it, it's a great machine (and even then, if you used Steam's in home streaming feature, you could technically game on it just fine). The materials leave a lot to be desired though (plastic)
 
it doesn't get hot like her old 15" Toshiba

There's something attractive about a processor that runs under five watts. Does the cooling fan even have to run all the time?

The only truly fanless laptop I remember reading about is an HP unit that costs four times as much.
 
It has a fan but can barely ever hear it. I doubt it shuts down completely but it can't be running too fast
 
only read the 1st so far but, Ive never met an IT person who uses a mac. this tread is false flag.

Software developer here. Do have to wear an IT hat from time to time though. Use Linux workstations at work, Windows PC at home (Gamer) and MacBook Pro

Simply put MacBook Pro gives me everything I want in a laptop. A UI as good as Windows while being able to drop in to a bash shell whenever I want to and basically have a normal Unix-like command-line user land. The battery life is good, the weight is good. The track pad is probably the deal maker though.

For most things the Track pad on a mac is simply good enough I don't need get a mouse out. It is a frustrating experience when I have to use another laptop's track pad.
 
i feel as though im tech savy, but more money savy, i bought my self a brand-new looking refurbished lenovo y500 on ebay for a great price.
 
I have been working in tech support for Windows PCs for over 14 years. I used to build all of the desktop computers I use. When I went from desktop to laptop, I was happy at first, but not so much around a year later. I had an HP (consumer) laptop, and it stopped working consistently around a year later, just after the warranty was up. After that I went and got a Toshiba Laptop.

That was in 2011. In 2012 I decided that I wanted to get back into school and pursue Web Development. At that point I decided to try using a MacBook. My wife already got an iMac and was very happy with that. I have been using my MacBook Pro for two years, no problems. This is my main computer, and I don't have to be concerned with it not working. If I were to get another laptop, it would be another MacBook Pro. I have recently started doing some reading about the Lenovos, and if I needed to get a Windows laptop, it wold probably be the Lenovo Y510p. Those would be my two choices.

Now, if you game, since most games run on Windows, and not on Mac, then the best option would be to build a gaming desktop. I am working on building mine, and hopefully I will have it together in a couple weeks.
 
Software developer here. Do have to wear an IT hat from time to time though. Use Linux workstations at work, Windows PC at home (Gamer) and MacBook Pro

Simply put MacBook Pro gives me everything I want in a laptop. A UI as good as Windows while being able to drop in to a bash shell whenever I want to and basically have a normal Unix-like command-line user land. The battery life is good, the weight is good. The track pad is probably the deal maker though.

For most things the Track pad on a mac is simply good enough I don't need get a mouse out. It is a frustrating experience when I have to use another laptop's track pad.

Same for.

I have a Macbook Air because of the trackpad, weight, and battery life... but mostly the trackpad.
 
Take her to the big shops and then price out the one she likes online. I'm not sure if Costco still does this but at one point they double the manufacture warranty. I know they're fairly competitive on TV pricing but no idea on laptops. Have her try the macbook as well. I'm not sure I'd go the macbook air though since it just seems way to overpriced. You can pick up a 13" macbook and its still small and light enough and save 1K.

www.delloutlet.com also has some nice deals at times. They're referb laptops but usually they come with a 3 year warranty included. We've picked up several here at work and 97% of them have been fine. The others came with next day onsite service and got repaired fairly quick.

Www.delloutlet.com I've used them twice, one in high school and again back in college. Customer support and warranty was included.
 
I bought mine from Microcenter. MC still has like 30+ different models that come with Windows 7 Pro.
 
Software developer here. Do have to wear an IT hat from time to time though. Use Linux workstations at work, Windows PC at home (Gamer) and MacBook Pro

Simply put MacBook Pro gives me everything I want in a laptop. A UI as good as Windows while being able to drop in to a bash shell whenever I want to and basically have a normal Unix-like command-line user land. The battery life is good, the weight is good. The track pad is probably the deal maker though.

For most things the Track pad on a mac is simply good enough I don't need get a mouse out. It is a frustrating experience when I have to use another laptop's track pad.

I work for an IT company and we have several technicians that use Macs.... They just seem to have better quality hardware, and there isn't much you lose by using it. I personally LOVE the track pad on a Mac, but Windows is my preference so I choose the closet I could get to it with the Razer Blade series.
 
I work for an IT company and we have several technicians that use Macs.... They just seem to have better quality hardware, and there isn't much you lose by using it. I personally LOVE the track pad on a Mac, but Windows is my preference so I choose the closet I could get to it with the Razer Blade series.

Wow that laptop is expensive! More expensive than my MBPr, too. It actually kind of looks like a black MBPr that you can actually play games on. Just wish one had the option to configure it with 16GB of RAM.


Question, can you change the keyboard color to something other than green? I doubt it, just not a huge fan of the color green. Thanks.
 
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