Laptop Advice - Need a work laptop - $2000 to $2500 budget

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nicnzl

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#143272 8-Apr-2014 19:35

I need a new laptop for work so I'm looking for a bit of advice.

I have a budget of $2k to $2.5k
Windows OS, not concerned if it's Windows 7 or 8.
It needs to be portable as I will be carrying it between home and various client sites/the office.
Needs a decent chunk of memory and processing power, enough to run multiple software programs without performance hits.

Currently looking at a 15 inch screen.

Thanks in advance.

danfaulknor

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#1020850 8-Apr-2014 19:40

For that price bracket we use HP EliteBooks. The newer ones are very nice!

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rhy7s

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#1020866 8-Apr-2014 20:19

As a starting point I'd say go with 8GB RAM or more and an SSD with a matte screen, e.g. http://pricespy.co.nz/category.php?l=s167882500&o=produkt_pris_inkmoms#rparams=l=s167882517

billgates

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#1020898 8-Apr-2014 21:00

Dell XPS 15. $2479 model. Talk to their sales team and swap the 1TB HDD for a 256GB SSD. Might even lower the price too.

http://www.dell.com/nz/business/p/xps-15-9530/fs

Do whatever you want to do man.

macuser

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#1020905 8-Apr-2014 21:23

billgates: Dell XPS 15. $2479 model. Talk to their sales team and swap the 1TB HDD for a 256GB SSD. Might even lower the price too.

http://www.dell.com/nz/business/p/xps-15-9530/fs

Also check if your friends or family work at/study at uni. You can probably use their details to save 15% on Dell from their employee purchase programme.

http://epp.enfatico.asia/nz/

Dynamic

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#1020912 8-Apr-2014 21:48

You have not said what you will be using it for.... what work and applications? Full time or as a desktop companion? What will you be connecting to it when at the office/home/clients?

“Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.” Douglas Adams

networkn

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#1020927 8-Apr-2014 22:29

As has been previously mentioned the Elitebooks from HP have outstanding warranties and are top notch quality. Can't go wrong!

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nicnzl

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#1020959 9-Apr-2014 06:09

Dynamic: You have not said what you will be using it for.... what work and applications? Full time or as a desktop companion? What will you be connecting to it when at the office/home/clients?

I work in IT BI, so I will be using a wide range of different products and applications. Sometimes it will be my full time computer, other times it will not.

nicnzl

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#1020960 9-Apr-2014 06:10

Cheers for all the help so far, I'll have a look into the Elitebooks and the Dell.

geekiegeek

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#1020964 9-Apr-2014 06:41

billgates: Dell XPS 15. $2479 model. Talk to their sales team and swap the 1TB HDD for a 256GB SSD. Might even lower the price too.

http://www.dell.com/nz/business/p/xps-15-9530/fs

I have 2 Dell XPS 13s, 1 for work and 1 for home. Both are i7 with 8GB RAM and SSD. Really nice machines, light and fast and they have a 1080p screen.

timmmay

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#1020972 9-Apr-2014 07:12

Lenovo make solid, quality laptops. They give the impression you could run one over with your car and keep on using it - NB don't try that.

macuser

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#1020986 9-Apr-2014 08:07

geekiegeek:
billgates: Dell XPS 15. $2479 model. Talk to their sales team and swap the 1TB HDD for a 256GB SSD. Might even lower the price too.

http://www.dell.com/nz/business/p/xps-15-9530/fs

I have 2 Dell XPS 13s, 1 for work and 1 for home. Both are i7 with 8GB RAM and SSD. Really nice machines, light and fast and they have a 1080p screen.

Just ordered that for a friend, hopefully it turns up alright!

Had a 25% discount to use, so that took the $2500 machine down to $1900, which was an awesome deal. Too bad that discount has expired.

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Dynamic

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#1020987 9-Apr-2014 08:10

nicnzl:
Dynamic: You have not said what you will be using it for.... what work and applications? Full time or as a desktop companion? What will you be connecting to it when at the office/home/clients?

I work in IT BI, so I will be using a wide range of different products and applications. Sometimes it will be my full time computer, other times it will not.

Okie doke. My thoughts are:

An EliteBook with an SSD (we stick with Intel SSDs for servers and Kingston SSDs for workstations/laptops). If you want to go larger with the SSD and stay within budget, there is nothing wrong with the ProBook series (except the wireless cards are only 1x1 speed). The ProBook 470's are sharply priced at present an give you a 17.3" screen.

If you really want 1Tb of storage space, then retrofit a WD Dual Drive - 1Tb HDD with 128Gb SSD onboard that we set in cache mode, so your most common 128Gb of files are automagically cached. The net result is that after your first couple of bootups, the machine starts at SSD speeds but you still get decent storage space. The disadvantage of these over a traditional SSD is that you still have moving parts that can break down. For that reason, consider retrofitting to the laptop a traditional SSD and the HDD that is removed can go into a USB caddy. Note that Seagate also have these hybrid drives, but they have a much smaller amount of SSD cache.

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lxsw20

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#1020999 9-Apr-2014 08:47

ProBooks only have 1366x768 screen res unless you do a CTO I believe.

Dynamic

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#1021016 9-Apr-2014 08:56

lxsw20: ProBooks only have 1366x768 screen res unless you do a CTO I believe.

ProBook 450 G1 15.6" - 1366 x 768
ProBook 470 G1 17.3" - 1600 x 900
EliteBook 850 15.6" - 1920 x 1080

The full HD screen would give beautiful detail of course for images and design. For business use the 1366x768 screen is more than fine. The disadvantage to a FullHD screen on a laptop is for applications that do not scale up their GUI. Client bought her own Sony Vaio ultrabook which has a Full HD display on a 13" screen. Their LOB application doesn't scale up so it was virtually unusable on the laptop screen. She runs it on an external 22" LCD now, or uses magnification software when out of the office. PITA.

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