Laptops and Deployments?

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BobTheBuilderr0x

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I was thinking of buying a new laptop for Guild Wars 2 and other games I play but will be deploying to the sandbox, I was gonna buy a 2 year warranty from newegg, but they said they do not cover products outside the US, and if dust got in there it would not be covered.

What have been your experiences with deployments and laptops, did your laptops have any major issues? I'd just hate to invest in a laptop and it get all messed up when I am overseas.
 
I haven't personally been deployed but I have a friend who was deployed with a Thinkpad x220 and raved about how well it stood up (and also something about how the screen was really great as a light once or twice, heh). The current version of that laptop is the x230.

The x230 would have integrated Intel HD 4000 graphics, which I think should be able to play GW2 on low/medium (I've seen vid of it playing Skyrim at any rate).

If you wanted something larger then I think the T-series from Thinkpad would be solid also, with added graphics capability, though the screen wouldn't be IPS (my friend mentioned that more than once as being nice).
 
BobTheBuilderr0x said:
I was thinking of buying a new laptop for Guild Wars 2 and other games I play but will be deploying to the sandbox, I was gonna buy a 2 year warranty from newegg, but they said they do not cover products outside the US, and if dust got in there it would not be covered.

What have been your experiences with deployments and laptops, did your laptops have any major issues? I'd just hate to invest in a laptop and it get all messed up when I am overseas.
Click to expand...

my brothers had so many products destroyed because of dirt and dust man, its where electronics go to die. honestly if its a necessity id get a decent sleeve to protect it and probably go cheap in case it gets messed up.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3891137&SID=rewrite


reasonably priced, decent specs for gaming and it isnt clunky as shit
 
Thinkpads. They're military tested, rugged as hell and don't mind the abuse. Anything higher than the Edge series comes with a magnesium roll cage and is as tough as nails. The issue with the Thinkpads is that they don't come with very good GPUs, though the T430 comes with a workstation GT540m which would be okay at 1366x768 res.

Whichever laptop you wind up getting make sure that it's got an SSD in there.
 
I'm currently deployed in 'Stan. Plenty dusty here with horrid environmental conditions. I brought some cheapie HP dm4 with me and have had a couple problems with it, including an Intel 510 SSD in it getting fried. I'd say that whatever you bring will have its lifespan seriously shortened. You'll probably be living in a B-Hut, Conex or Tent. All of which will be dusty and disgusting.

If you have an extended warranty and you have a problem when deployed, just bring it ome with you when you have leave. I'd recommend having a tablet or something as a backup incase your laptop dies, that way you have something to keep you occupied. Also keep a DVD or usb stick with essential apps, OS, drivers, etc.

Most military here who are issued laptops get business class Dells and they don't have too many problems, although if one breaks, there's always plenty of replacements... I haven't seem any military with Lenovos on my post, but my personal experience with Lenovos has been great in regards to durability.
 
Mid/High end business class in general seem to be solid laptops. Dell Latitude/Precision, Thinkpad X/T/W-series, etc.
 
Well buy a laptop from a vendor that will support the warranty when used overseas.
 
Keep in mind that if you do have to have your laptop repaired, you'll likely be limited to USPS with an APO, so you'll have to ship/receive that way. Can't ship batteries either, though that shouldn't be a problem with repairs. It does make getting a replacement laptop a pain though.
 
My brother bought an Asus gaming Laptop a little over 2 years ago and he just returned from his 3rd deployment, (1 to Iraq and 2 Afghanistan), he took it on all 3 deployments with him and never had a problem. I absolutely hate to deal with Asus RMA, but they do make good shit.
 
The few people I know with Asus laptops over here love them. They make pretty good stuff.

How rough stuff gets treated out here besides environmental conditions also depends on what job you have, where you are, your bosses, etc. For example, a driver who sits around for days waiting to drive a General around probably will have better luck keeping a laptop in good condition over someone fob hopping in a Blackhawk who is constantly in transient status. My stuff gets messed up the most when I'm traveling around the country.
 
Took a last gen Dv6 (i7/6770m) to iraq, took it like a champ.

I'd recommend light laptops for sure. Friend took his alienware, when he had to book it off the tarmak that 12lbs laptop really didn't help.

adding: Took some samsung with a T7300, 17" laptop to khandyland, it was about 8-9lbs, regretted it horribly.
 
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