hehe - sounds like what I'd hope for. :)

I've had my current laptop (Dell Inspiron, nothing flashy except I upgraded the RAM a long time ago) since November 2006. I'd stopped traveling with it (thankfully not often needed for work) a couple of years ago, but it'd done really well.

Unfortunately, while it worked fine it had XP so replacement was needed since I loathe WIN8. I finally bought a WIN7 laptop this week to meet me upon returning to the Western world next week.

I have a Lenovo ThinkPad T420. I actually have two T420 laptops, one spare, new-in-box. I will not upgrade my laptops. May 22, 2012 is the day laptops died (that's the release date of T430 which hav forsaken the old keyboard).

I really like the form factor of the T440 over the T420, but am still getting used to the keyboard. Placement of keys - especially page up/down and home/end/insert/delete take some getting used to. That's not too bad, though. I actually like typing on it otherwise.

The biggest adjustment for me is the touchpad. I'm a big touchpad user and the new one is VERY different. I like that it's got gestures, but I find myself using a mouse more frequently.

My MacBook Air is 3 years old this weekend. Just been in and out of the Apple store and had the trackpad, screen, logic board and some other things replaced (only exception is the battery - to my disappointment). And this was for a very well looked after laptop - I sure did get my money's worth out of the Apple Care!! Hoping for the computer to last 3 more years.

On the other side my wife's white Macbook was poorly looked after with the casing cracking and splitting. Took it to the Apple store at the same time as mine - it is 5 years old in September. The internals working fine (we bought a new battery last year) and with all the fixes required to the plastic casing a total cost of £51. Very pleased.

I'd been disappointed to have had to replace either laptop - still feels too early given the amount they cost!

Yeah, I probably should have been more specific. 1TB would be more than enough, as I haven't even filled half of my 512GB HD as of right now, thanks to network and cloud storage, plus several multi-TB portable drives. I'd mainly want a SSD for the speed and durability.


Between the crap processor, the lack of RAM, and the fact that the Inspiron weighs roughly 20kg, it was possibly the worst choice they could have made for traveling employees. On the plus side, their on-site service was always very prompt, even at random customer sites and hotels. I was further crippled by having never used any Windows product, save for NT4.0, so XP was a major hurdle for me. I was always a DOS, Unix, MacOS user, previously.

My 2007 white Macbook C2D 2.2 4GB RAM 500GB 7200rpm, running OSX Lion refused to die on me. 7 years and still fast enough for my need. I did change the battery couple of times though. Eventually, I'll give it to my son and get another MBP.

But it's an old one he's talking about.

I change laptops every 3 - 4 years. I am currently using a Lenovo Ideapad U160 (bought in January 2011) with which I have been extremely happy. Small, light weight and fits into every small bag. It has been running 7 days a week, 18 hours on average. There is nothing wrong with it, except that one plastic piece at the left hinge was broken and cannot be glued together.

Now I am looking for a replacement for work and may use the current one for private stuff at home.

I'm somewhat embarrassed to confess that I upgrade my primary laptop pretty much every year, whenever Apple comes out with an updated MacBook Pro. My work is very computationally-intensive ("big data" stuff), so having the latest-and-greatest has an actual impact on my productivity.

Thankfully, Apple products tend to hold resale value so well that I can usually do this for about $500 out of pocket after selling last year's model on eBay or Craigslist. The way I look at it is that I'm "renting" a high-end laptop with full warranty coverage for a bit more than a netbook costs.

Durability is huge; when I initially went SSD (very early), the speed benefits were somewhat less clear, but I was killing about one laptop hard drive a year with drops.

I've got pretty much my whole life on my laptop (100+TB of pictures, for one) ... plus 3 OSes (Windows 8.1, 7, and Linux... plus virtual machines for XP and an alternate Linux distro) and have 2x 1TB drives in it now (and about 700gb free, since the 2nd was upgraded from an a 256gb very recently.)

That sounds like the guys who were selecting laptop for my employer's professional services organization back around 2005-2006. They bought 17" Entertainment notebooks. On the earlier of the two models (Inspiron 9300) they got them with a big GPU, too, and the attendant extra heat sink and fan... at least the 2nd (9400) was slightly lighter without the GPU.

The first of the two was old enough that in laptops there pretty much only were only pretty much crap processors to be had; the second was decent when it came out although for no good reason they kept ordering the Core Duo when the much improved Core 2 Duos came out for another year and a half.

Absolutely beautiful screens, though; when they disposed of a bunch, I rescued two (one to run, one for parts) and dropped a C2D 2ghz into it. Makes a pretty nice media player and terminal for use around the house.

I was (and am) in software development and in particular we do big customer-hosted enterprise apps where it's a HUGE convenience to be able to build and test the whole app on your own machine rather than building and deploying on the network somewhere. Nobody even thought about using a laptop for our kind of development back then; the first machine anyone liked enough to make an optional standard for developers was when the first good quad-core laptop chips came out in very early 2011.

Surprisingly, after a decade and a half of "no matter how fast we buy, it's not fast enough" for my work the first generation i7 quad core desktops we bought in 2009 and the first generation quad core i7 laptops we bought in 2011 have all remained pretty good for use now. It's been really nice to actually have machines stay ahead of needs... even if it is a bit weird to see other developers deciding not to bother to take an offered upgrade when the machines go out of warranty.

Actually, he was talking about both -- saying that at the < $500 range, both older and newer ones were still topping out at 4gb.

"Over 4 years old" covers a broad range, and the nearer end of that is also going to be essentially 100% 64-bit systems.

Well, when my last MacBook's screen would go black at random times, I got a new MacBook Pro. Wouldn't you know that my old MacBook has NEVER went black again. I do love my MacBook Pro, so I guess I can't complain too much. :)

used to be every 2 - 3 years, but seeing less need now. My Macbok Air is approaching 3 years and is plenty fast, and the Macbook Pro is 4 years old I think (Sandy Ridge quad core i7) and plenty fast.

I might get a new one one of these days, probably replace the Macbook Air with something only to get a better screen but it's 11" and it's really an incredible machine other than battery life.

I think the improvements that are coming are more in the realm of battery life, displays and storage rather than CPU speeds which are plenty fast enough.

The hardware is designed to have a predictable lifecycle of 3 years so that's the sensible thing to do.

On laptops, absolutely -- especially since quad core machines are still a pretty narrow chunk of the market. If anything, the huge success of ultrabooks in the past two years (and the MacBook Air for a couple of years before them) has probably brought average CPU speeds down a bit compared to early 2012 when the Ivy Bridge chips came out and the first really good ultrabook chips were still "coming later this year."

Even with a quad core machine, my current personal laptop has a slightly slower CPU than my last one (i7-4702HQ vs. i7-3720QM)... and I really, really don't care. The graphics (both discreet and integrated) are a lot better, and the machine is 2 1/2 pounds lighter with a bigger screen -- it's basically Dell's attempt to clone the MacBook Pro form factor. Major wins all around except for the CPU, and fast enough CPU that the differences are never actually noticeable.

He is probably talking about the Windows 32-bit memory limitation - in order to add more memory above 3GB, you'll also need to change the OS for a 64-bit one.

Really? Source? :rolleyes:

Mine do not get replaced until which time they no longer do what I need them to do. If they get the job done reliably I don't need the latest and greatest product.

Every one of my Toshiba laptops have lasted longer than that!

Every 6-8 months. I upgrade while my old machine still has residual value. Current machine is a Samsung Ativ Book 9 plus. When something better comes along, I'll switch again.

This thread is extremely helpful since I have to buy a new laptop because I'm retiring and have to give back my trusty ThinkPad x120e.

Here's what I want:
an Intel 4th gen processor
a solid state drive at least 256 G
a screen that doesn't have absurd resolution that makes everything tiny
small, lightweight, durable
Windows 7 pro

Here's what I don't know:
Would a 128 GB solid state drive leave me any room for anything, or would I have to depend on the cloud / external drives?

What about hybrid drives?

Is it time for me to bite the bullet and try Windows 8?

Work is offering me a ThinkPad 11e with a 1.86 Celeron processor, 8 GB ram, 128 GB SSD, for about $700. Windows 7 pro. I'm leary of the Celeron processor -- the processor is the weak link on my X120e.

I'm looking at the Dell outlet site (thanks, nkedel) at an assortment of choices, starting with a 3330 with a hybrid drive and working my way all the way up to a 7240.

I would like to keep this under $1000. And it has to be a windows machine, for a whole assortment of valid (to me) reasons, so the Mac Book Air is not an option.

I have an i3 E2740 w/ 4gb RAM and 128gb SSD supplied by work. It handles everything I throw at it just fine, but I don't do much outside of Office on it to be perfectly honest. The thickness and weight it great, but the build quality does not feel premium at all. There is a good bit of flex in the screen and body. There are no gloss finishes which is good, but the plastics still fill a bit cheap (especially the black ABS of the bottom). The screen is matte, which is nice, and average resolution (1366 x 768). The keyboard has semi-chiclet style keys with good travel and no flex in the deck. The trackpad is big and responsive. The available ports cover pretty much all the bases, including one to charge your phone when the laptop is off.

At the price these sell for, I don't see them as an excellent value. Being from the upper-end of Lattitude line, I'm assuming the build-quality is there under the skin, just not apparent based on the outside finish/materials. Even at the fairly low-end configuration I received the invoice was listed at $1250. I personally wouldn't pay more than $500 for one of these machines...

I myself would get a refurb Acer Aspire E5 13" i5 Haswell and upgrade the HDD to an SSD. It might not take a drop like the Dell E7240, but my laptops live on my desk 90% of the time and in a hotel 10% or less of the time (I travel almost exclusively with a Surface Pro these days, which replaced both my laptop and Android tablet).

Totally depends on your work style and what kind of data/documents you use. If you just use Windows/Office and a whole lot of mostly-textual documents, plus surf the net, 128GB is plenty -- you'll probably have 40-60gb free after the OS and applications and never fill it.

If you take a lot of pictures, or worse, video, or play videogames, or have a large music collection you want to bring with you... 128GB fills wicked fast.

Underwhelming at best, and have none of the durability advantages of an SSD.

Personally, I'd neither actively seek it out nor avoid it.

(8.1 does make " a screen that doesn't have absurd resolution that makes everything tiny" a lot less of an issue.)

As well you should be. I wouldn't touch it. I wouldn't touch anything less than an i3 in a regular laptop processor (one ending M) or anything less than an i5 in an ultrabook/tablet/etc processor (one ending U or Y.)

While I'd put no value in the hybrid drive over a regular hard drive (my experience with one was that it was slower than a 7200rpm regular hard drive), buying a machine with one and then swapping in your own SSD is often the most cost effective option.

My other piece of advice with the Dell outlet is always wait for a sale (or find one of their non-sale further-marked-down deals; there are always a few if you dig around the page, but you may need to wait for one on a specific model you're interested in.)

Sold as refurbs, they start around $550 on a coupon :D ... and yeah, I would not want to pay full retail for one of these. If you have a corporate account, they are very heavily discounted even new.

Even at $550, I think I'd go with a refurb Aspire E5 and upgrade the HDD to SSD (should come out around $500 with a 256gb SSD) UNLESS the laptop was going to live out in the world and be prone to bumps, drops, scrapes, etc. The E7240 isn't a Toughbook by any means, but probably has a stronger underlying structure than the Acers... the Acers do get you a bit more processor oomph for the price, and by upgrading the SSD yourself you end up with more SSD storage for the money too (and a 500gb drive to throw in a USB enclosure too).

I quit dithering and just bought something:

Dell Outlet Latitude E7440 Windows 7 Professional
Unit Price: $959.00 coupon 20% off $191.80
Total $767.20

-- 128 GB Full Mini-Card Mobility Solid State Drive
-- Windows 7 Professional
-- Processor: Intel Core 4th Generation i5-4300U Processor
(3M Cache, up to 2.90 GHz), No SmartCard
-- 8 GB Dual Channel DDR3L 1600MHz (4GBx2) Memory

Thanks for all the input.

just bought a new 15" Macbook Pro. It is actually a refurb and it is of course expensive I suppose but I'm glad. 768GB SSD, 2.8Mhz processor, 16MB RAM, and it should work for me for 3 years. Next up I'll replace my Macbook Air, maybe when the model refreshes.

I think you'll be pleased.

For a thin and light machine, these are relatively easy to open up and to upgrade, so if you ever need to upgrade the SSD (pretty easy to outgrow) or the memory (most people are unlikely to need more than 8gb during the useful life of the machine but you never know), both should be doable even for a non-technical person.

Enjoy!

It seems a nice machine ^

I have a 6-yr old Gateway that may die any day but until it does... :). Bought a refurbished Toshiba a few months ago - i5, 8GB RAM, 1TB hard drive, 15" FHD screen for under $500.

I think you'll be hurting with only 16mb ram. :)

The first computer I ever used had 8k ram, and the first I owned had 32k.

4k and 128k respectively for me.

*lol*

Some of us are hurting with only 16GB (although the gigantic 4-memory-slot workstations that will already take 32gb would hurt worse.)

The first computer I used, and the first computer I owned both had 64k of RAM. The just less than three years in between the two (sometime over the winter holiday break 1980, and 10/22/1983 respectively) made the first a relatively high end home machine for the time, and the latter a ridiculously affordable one.

The first machine I was originally supposed to get would have only had 2k; luckily the price dropped substantially on the C-64 and the Timex-Sinclair partnership fell apart.

I also broke down and purchased a new laptop. In a previous post, I was having problems with my 3 year old Gateway. The DC jack was working intermittantly. While the part was cheap ($5-10), it looked like it was beyond my skill level to replace. I found a few places around town that ranged $175-300 for the work. I decided that I would just bite the bullet and get something new.

I have a new Lenovo 15 dual mode with 1 tb HD and 6 gig RAM. It is a touchscreen and came with Win 8.1. It has taken over the past week to adjust to Win 8 vs Win 7. So far, so good. I paid $600 at my local Office Depot.

My Sony Vaio is almost three years old, and the screen is somewhat broken. It only works at certain angles, while at others it flickers or turns completely black or white. Hopefully I can use it as a desktop and keep it around for one or two more years. I don't need the most high end computer anyway... Just need it for casual browsing and multimedia.

My first one was a Sinclair ZX81 clone, with 2KB RAM and 8KB EPROM loaded with BASIC. Cassettes were my storage media.

And I remember "downloading" programs from radio shows broadcasts... :cool:

Without further information, pick the size you like of 13/14/15" and buy the least expensive Dell Thinkpad or Dell Latitude at that size.

If you're genuinely unsure which size is best, if you plan to travel with it more than you use it at home or the office, get 13". If you plan to mostly use it at home or the office, get 15". If you're unsure, 14" is usually a happy medium.

As mentioned up-thread, there are also some great deals on refurb machines direct from both Dell and Lenovo, and some even better deals (but more questionable warranty status and exact configuration) from third-party sellers, especially older Lenovos on Newegg.

If you want it boiled down to a single machine, the Lenovo Thinkpad E440 is a good place to start, and it's both slightly cheaper (at current discounts, which change frequently) and slightly more solidly built than the comparable Dell model the Latitude 3440 AKA "Latitude 3000-series 14 inch" in their newer branding.

The 2k computer I referenced in #72 was the Timex-resold version of the ZX81 the "Timex-Sinclair 2000".

Looked like very fun little machines at the time; I spend pretty much the summer and early fall in 1983 waiting to get one for my birthday, only to have the price on the Commodore 64 drop enough that I was able to talk my folks into that much bigger machine instead.