looking for stable laptop for work

M

miskari

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jan 9, 2006
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A friend of mine is looking to get a new laptop for work, i was thinking to go with IBM just because they seem to be more sturdy and less full of all the junk that most manufacturers put into their laptops. But Im' not too sure about whats what these days so heres the criteria: it will be strictly work related, heavy worksheet work (think excel etc.), definitely need a big HDD (min of about 250 GB), it has to be VERY stable as the information will be very sensitive and any loss of that information will be unacceptable.

i'm open to any suggestions, in addition i just wanted to ask how IBM is with their hardware warranties? would it be a problem if i wanted to pull out the stock HDD in the IBM?

thanks in advance.

PS: not quite sure if MAC is possible, but wouldnt mind a few suggestions in that area either.
 
IBM would be Lenovo now, and would be highly recommended. Also really good for security as well since that seems to be a major concern.


I'd look into Lenovo Thinkpad, Dell Latitude, and HP's business line...probably in that order.

I've never regretted a Thinkpad purchase, for what it's worth, and with exception of a 5 month stint in 2005 (Sold off a T42P for an Acer Ferrari 4005, which I then sold off for a T43), have been using Thinkpads as primary systems since 2003. I've used Latitudes at work, but they never compare to the T series or X series Thinkpads.


As far as non-manufacturer hardware goes, it won't void the warranties, but it won't be covered under their warranty. When I bought my T61p, I told the guy on the phone I wanted the least RAM and hdd possible, as I had a 200 and a 320gb, and 4gb of RAM I'd be using. No worries, no issues. As far as their hardware support goes, get 9-5 next business day support. I've had them replace the plastics on my R60, a guy came out the next day to do it (even though I told them I could do it myself).
 
so im guessing any HDD that satisfies the requirements of the mobo in the laptop will work? are core2duos relatively cool, don't want something thats gonna end up with some1 on fire.
 
very cool.

My Pentium M systems, especially my T42P when playing Rainbow Six, would put out a lot of heat. The laptop would be cool, but if your hand was near the vent, it'd start sweating on the mouse. A friend of mine sitting next to me complained, although he had no room to talk, as he was using a P4 based laptop, which actually is a portable oven.

Compared to the T43 I had with a Pentium M, the Core 2 Duo based T60 made less noise and ran cooler. The T61p runs even cooler than the T60 did.
 
miskari said:
A friend of mine is looking to get a new laptop for work, i was thinking to go with IBM just because they seem to be more sturdy and less full of all the junk that most manufacturers put into their laptops. But Im' not too sure about whats what these days so heres the criteria: it will be strictly work related, heavy worksheet work (think excel etc.), definitely need a big HDD (min of about 250 GB), it has to be VERY stable as the information will be very sensitive and any loss of that information will be unacceptable.

i'm open to any suggestions, in addition i just wanted to ask how IBM is with their hardware warranties? would it be a problem if i wanted to pull out the stock HDD in the IBM?

thanks in advance.

PS: not quite sure if MAC is possible, but wouldnt mind a few suggestions in that area either.
Click to expand...

If the information is that important, I should hope you are recommending a good backup solution. Regardless of how well put together the laptop is, hard drives die all the time.

I'd suggest a good RAID usb enclosure with a regular backup process in place.
 
Cannot recommend Lenovo enough for anyone looking for a sturdy laptop.

There is some issues with replacing the hard drive, because of their software and management, but there is no better manufacturer to go to. I use a z61t for school (just graduated with a degree in biology, and starting grad school soon), as well as for everyday uses while building my desktop.

As for their current lineup, I'd go with a T61 (just to give you a place to start). If you are interested, here are a couple resources for you to check out: one generic ( site: notebookreview.com, forum: forum.notebookreview.com ) and one for the lenovo notebooks/thinkpads ( forum.thinkpads.com and thinkwiki.org )
 
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