Laptop for Bschool

I confronted a similar issue when I went to Bschool. Ended up buying a Macbook but ended up giving it to my wife and buying an x300 (predecessor to x1 I believe). The Mac version of Excel would not allow me to do simple statistical analyses like regressions because of the coding - was pretty frustrated at the time. I ended up getting a new computer but other guys with Macs got around it by using bootcamp.

I would email the guys who run the IT department at your Bschool. They will have much more insight as to what issues students face with their computers, and can give you more current info than what the School's website states, particularly since it says you need modem/fax capability. It seems years out of date. Lenovo's are awesome, very easy to use and resilient. I bought mine 3+ years ago and it is still going strong (although it doesn't get used as much as when I was at school).

Protip for anyone planning on buying a thinkpad directly from Lenovo. Call them and order over the phone.

There is a surprising amount of bargaining room available, I managed to haggle down to 21% off my latest thinkpad.

Even if you want to just buy it online, never pay the advertised price, there's almost always good sale coupons somewhere.

Originally Posted by Bentech

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Protip for anyone planning on buying a thinkpad directly from Lenovo. Call them and order over the phone.

There is a surprising amount of bargaining room available, I managed to haggle down to 21% off my latest thinkpad.

Even if you want to just buy it online, never pay the advertised price, there's almost always good sale coupons somewhere.

this. it's amazing how much $$$ one can save by shopping around, online or instore, and being patient.

Originally Posted by mr.orange

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I've heard some pretty bad things about dell though. They tend to fall apart with normal use and the support sucks. I've never owned a dell but, the other day, a friend of mine was complaining that she needed to buy a new computer a year after she bought her dell.
Not quite true. Dell consumer line laptops are total crap, that's a given. But the business line are built WAY better. I went the refurbished Dell Vostro route back in January. Found an online coupon, 20% off a lappy that's a refurb and ended up with a 15.6" high def matte screen, 4 gigs DDR3, 360 (or is that 320?) Gig HDD, Core-i5 dual core, multi-threaded with Optimus Nvidia/Intel video switching for about 500 bucks with tax and shipping included. I trust the Dell refurbs better than new actually. At least I know with a refurb, it had a problem, someone fixed it, and a tech checked it over and approved it for sale. Seems like more quality control than the new products receive these days. edit: Not saying Dell business line is better, equal to, or even close to Thinkpads, but, they are some pretty good bang for the buck at least worth considering IMO.

while i hate dells, i've been using them since 2001 since both college and grad school had dell support on campus. and while dell does suck, i've always been a fan of their support, in person at least (i know, of course, that the support personnel at these places are students). don't know if other manufacturers' plans cover as much or as well, but i've definitely gotten much more than my money's worth, it seems.
and when in school, getting fast, direct, personal service is definitely a plus. Especially when it's on campus and you can just go drop it off and pick it up next day.

Slickdeals.net

Laptops for school should run you sub $500. No need to get into the 1k area.

get a mac. if your school requires windows, don't go.

+1 to the Dell Business Class recombination. I've never been impressed with Dell in the past, but my office recently grabbed one of the business class notebooks and I am quite happy with it. There is clearly a major quality difference between the consumer grade and business grade. My other positive notebook experiences were with Thinkpads.

Originally Posted by scientific

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get a mac. if your school requires windows, don't go.

Do you have a real job?

I'm actually a Linux desktop user at home, so by no means am I a Windows lover, but I can't see how you can do normal business with anything else.

I still don't understand why anyone would pay the ridiculous price that Apple PCs sell for. Windows isn't the best, but you get guaranteed comparability. Linux may or may not fit all your needs, but it's extremely powerful and is 100% free. Mac on the other hand is the most expensive and least versatile.

One thing I'd note is that in my MBA program so far, all of my classes have banned laptops in the classroom.

As others have said, the Dell business class laptops are far superior to their consumer class.

I am somewhat of a laptop 'power user'. At the moment I have a Dell E5510 (latitude series), Macbook pro i7 & a thinkpad X220. The Thinkpad and MBP are both less then 6 months old, the Dell is probably 12 months old. I wake up at 6:30am, check my email, shower, go to work and use my laptop for another 8-10 hours. I get home and I surf the net, read or watch TV from my laptop.. So I get a fair bit of usage in.
Additionally to this, I work in IT and manage a fleet of 1,200+ PC's & laptops.

My honest opinion as a mac fanboy / IBM zealot.. Buy the dell. The build quality on the MBP is better, but it is overpriced.. The thinkpad is well priced but the build quality is lacking these days & the warranty options aren't reasonable.

The dells stand up okay to punishment I'm on a laptop all day every day, I've dropped mine countless times in airports, thrown it into the back of cabs, etc.. In fact I throw it (while in a bag) into my car every single morning, bounces fine. The dell warranties are fantastic too, doesn't really matter what you do to it (our guys stand on them, pour coffee in them, etc) and they have always fixed it.

TL;DR: Buy a Dell, it should cost you under $1,200 with good spec's and a 3 year complete cover warranty. That is a cost of $400 per year to not have to give a **** about your computer.



scientific said:

get a mac. if your school requires windows, don't go.

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Are you seriously advising someone going to BUSINESS SCHOOL to get a Mac?

johus, also keep in mind a refurb Dell has the exact same warranty as a new.

edit: Also note if you run Linux, avoid Nvidia Optimus tech

Whatever you get, just put an ssd in it. That's my advice.

Are SSDs actually worth it now? Are we getting full SATA 6 speeds yet?

I worked in consulting and fell in love with my Thinkpad to the point where I made them my brand of choice for personal laptops, but my experience is the quality has plummeted since Lenovo bought the business from IBM. I'm using a Dell latitude 4300 at work now and I'm pretty happy with its performance.