Laptops ??

[Cain]

I need to buy a good business laptop...

Powerful not too heavy and a docking station....

Suggestions ???

[mapes]

I got a refurb dell xps m1530. I don't know if it has a docking station but, It runs COD:waw great. It did come with a bum wifi card but, they replaced it free of charge.

[{CLR} Cobalt]

Cant help too much, all my laptops are custom made.

But what apps are you running?

[DougBob]

Well, I have had good experiences with HP, but the Dell would suite your needs fine also. I usually get the 2 yr Accidental Damage Extended warranty with it which usually costs an extra $300.

What exactly will you be running on it and how will you use the laptop. Will you be requiring it to easily be available to whip and and input stuff, do you need a constant connection to the net, is it just a book keeping or will it be required to perform any graphic programs like CAD or Visio, etc. How rugged to you need it to be. There is only one choice that I know of for rugged. That's the Panasonic tough book. The Army and Marines use these a lot in the field.

Based on your weight requirement I am going to say the large screens are definitely out. I'm going to provide links to the smaller ones. Looking at these the prices vary quite a bit and the weight seems lighter on the Panasonic and HP. I know the toughbook model of the Dell is the first time I've seen it. The Panasonic has been out for a while and has a lot more field time to refine their designs, etc. The HP do not have any ruggedize type models from what I can find. The HP and Dells I were looking at are in the Small business areas and have a wide variety of options including broadband connections. The HP Table PC I got the wife is a lot cheaper than these but it's not something I would probably have in diverse environmental conditions and would be fine for the home or office environment. In case you want to compare it against the others it's the
HP Buy an HP Pavilion tx2500 and tx2500z series notebook PC from HP



These are all Tablet PC type laptops:

Panasonic
Comments: Good reputation for rugged, not a bad weight. meets MIL-SPEC-810F, Pricey, 10" screens
Toughbook 19 Fully-Rugged Mobile Computer - Official Panasonic Toughbook 19
Price: approx $3500-4000

ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/pub/panasoni...s/TB-19_ss.pdf


Dell
ToughBook model
Comments: Heavy, 64 GB SSD drive available, heavy, 14" screen
http://www.dell.com/downloads/global...Spec_Sheet.pdf

HP
Comments: Didn't find any ruggedized models. Not bad weight on 2530P and 2710P models , 12" screens
http://h71016.www7.hp.com/dstore/cto...wPrice=$499.00

[Zantheus]

HP is the way to go Cain....I bought one almost 2yrs ago for around 1.8k cdn and it came with Duo Core CPU, NVidia graphics...and I still use it today on my home network mostly as a media storage station

[{CLR}geneSW]

Every HP I have seen has the monitor die within 2 years. Just my experience with them....

[DougBob]

Every HP I have seen has the monitor die within 2 years. Just my experience with them....

I haven't seen that too much. I think that may have been an environmental issue. I've had my dv9000 laptop for 2 yrs 2 mths and no problems yet other than the hard drive sector corruption last week that was recoverable and I replaced the drive as a precaution.
Laptop in general have a higher failure rate due to the nature of it's mobility.

[-Bar]

Every HP I have seen has the monitor die within 2 years. Just my experience with them....

I have had 3 HP laptops... 1 had the screen die. 1 had a fan fry within a year. 1 just kept cooking its batteries.

I would go with a Dell. I don't like Dell but I have to say that they make the best computers at the moment. Well, best if you know how to clean a machine out. If you are like these people that buy a computer take it home and then call tech support cause you can't get your internet to work or because you can't figure out why your machine lags so much after just taking it out of the box. Then a Dell is not for you.

I personally looking into a buying an Alienware machine atm.
Compare Gaming Notebooks Custom-Built For PC Gamers - Alienware

Just can't quite figure out the one I want and it will be another 3 months til I graduate so who knows what might be out by then. And if I get deployed... well gaming will be on hold

Don't know what you want but Dell has some nice choices.
http://www.dell.com/content/products...s&cs=19&~ck=mn

I see Sony is making some nice laptops these days as well.

[Cain]

I want a laptop that weighs less than 5 lbs.....

Anyone here got one of those Netbooks ??

[-Bar]

Well these ones from Dell and less then 5. Actually like less then 3.
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/s...ref=lthp&s=dhs

These ones are close to your number/ Again from Dell.
http://www.dell.com/content/products...ref=lthp&s=dhs

Sony has a lot of lightweight one as well.
VAIO? Notebooks

[{CLR} Cobalt]

I want a laptop that weighs less than 5 lbs.....

Anyone here got one of those Netbooks ??

Cain, I use an IBM Thinkpad. T42 for work. Its an older model but its light weight, and believe me when I say I've put it through the mill. These IBM machines are tough hardware wise. Software is all up to you. But, I've had it in the desert for over two years over here and its still plodding along. And it was given to me after somebody in the states had been usin it for a while.

They have some newer models, but no HP or Dell for that matter could have stood up to what I've put this thing through. Just something to think about.

[BlackArrow]

I have the Delll 1530 Mapes mentioned and it is a great medium laptop.

I also have a TI T-61, now Lenovo.......they make the best work laptops around. The latest X300 and X61's are pretty sweet and less than 3 pounds:

Lenovo - Notebook computers - ThinkPad X Series

some reviews:

Lenovo's X300 vs. Apple's MacBook Air : Introduction - Review Tom's Hardware

Best thin and light laptops and notebooks - CNET Reviews

Best ultraportable laptops and notebooks - CNET Reviews

[DougBob]

Lenovo's X300 vs. Apple's MacBook Air : Introduction - Review Tom's Hardware

You probably don't care, but a word of CAUTION about Lenovo. Lenovo is not a preferred purchase item in the US right now, with the IBM selling their laptop division to them. All I will say is this, if you don't mind being spy'd on, buy the Lenovo.

[{CLR}geneSW]

Cain, I use an IBM Thinkpad. T42 for work. Its an older model but its light weight, and believe me when I say I've put it through the mill. These IBM machines are tough hardware wise. Software is all up to you. But, I've had it in the desert for over two years over here and its still plodding along. And it was given to me after somebody in the states had been usin it for a while.

They have some newer models, but no HP or Dell for that matter could have stood up to what I've put this thing through. Just something to think about.

Conditions for laptops don't get much worse then where you're at Cobalt. except for maybe in South America, or the lower parts of the U.S. where the humidity is really high.

[Hammy]

I have the Delll 1530 Mapes mentioned and it is a great medium laptop.

I also have a TI T-61, now Lenovo.......they make the best work laptops around. The latest X300 and X61's are pretty sweet and less than 3 pounds:

Lenovo - Notebook computers - ThinkPad X Series

some reviews:

Lenovo's X300 vs. Apple's MacBook Air : Introduction - Review Tom's Hardware

Best thin and light laptops and notebooks - CNET Reviews

Best ultraportable laptops and notebooks - CNET Reviews

Lenovo and HP are what my last 3 companies have used. I am considered a heavy field user and I have never had a support issue with either.