New Laptop - Any recommendations that meet my priorities?

amirm

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I would get an Apple and instal Windows on it. One of the most reliable AND holds the resale value, which cannot be said about any of the PC laptops, which are worth nothing after 3 years.

Someone about that has always seemed strange, just like the "digital" prostate exam I just had from a female doctor. :D

Seriously, it is a good option and I almost went that way but getting a matte screen was special order and I went the HP route.
 

rblnr

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NorthStar

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Ok, Lloyd is looking for a Microsoft operating system...and Apple always comes up on the subject (vice versa)...that's good because the internet highway just like the human race is a universal port of communication.

My brother is all Apple, and me all Microsoft, and when we communicate between each other we sometimes encounter our two worlds constructed differently and it slows down our communication advancement on several important aspects today in the world we all live in. And one of the slowdown we encounter is an intellectual progression/communication.
Example: I use Skype, he uses Facetime...and that was creating conflicts before...we couldn't communicate without issues.
I've read that they are working to make this world a better one and join together access to both from both systems.

He told me that with Facetime he can access the entire planet without any problem; but after he installed Skype, I recommended it to him, he said Bob the video picture is better, with less breakups, and the audio is very fine. I was a little surprised because is iMac Pro is one of the latest, not cheap, and installed by a professional, his own stepson.

We live in a big family, and one of the best thing on Earth is families. So, methinks that Microsoft and Apple have the best interest of the entire planet to communicate good between their two systems, with a friendly/family bridge that can reunite all good people of our planet. And the bad apples they can use their own system...whatever it is called.

Me I'm not a computer, I am not a machine, nobody are, and we just want to communicate the real values without being slave of one system or the other that can't work as a team force together.

I shared that because like I said; every time we talk about one, the other pops up automatically...and we usually know a tune or two that we're familiar with.
But those couple tunes they can be tuned together to sing across the bridges of borderlines.

Tomorrow morning, say I go all the way Apple stuff and don't ever comeback with Microsoft...what would happen to all my friends using Microsoft, and would I and would they be able to cope with the new change?

Everyone is using his own laptop with his own interface and world communication system...and it runs the entire gamut of the human race.
We buy one, we made our decision, and we learn to live with our choice and accept it as the one simply to be satisfy for our own use of what we know (not what we don't know because that's why we are here...to find out on the higher possibilities that can enhance our computerized life in direct relation with the human race...of course).

There is the entertainment factor, the family reunion one, the discovery of the "new", and the business aspect of a laptop.
A good one would be one that excels on all aspects, I think, excels in the use of our particular domain/interest, and one that can interface harmoniously within different universes...Microsoft and Apple.

My sister she has a full metal jacket laptop, Windows 7, HP, worth $1,500 US dollars brand new...and she paid $300 for it, used, about four years old.
She bought it from a computer guy who has a business and who has been @ it for a long time with an impeccable support for his customers. He doesn't come to your home to install it, like audio dealers should, but a laptop is different than a pair of hi-end loudspeakers or a home theater system.

They have now 4K (UHD) screen resolution laptops. What do you think is the average amount of money people pay for a laptop, here in North America?

By the way, the brands that often pop up as some good ones are: Dell, Asus, Lenovo (IBM).
One last question; how much do you think the most expensive laptop of our planet cost? ...MSRP.
 
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ack

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Someone about that has always seemed strange, just like the "digital" prostate exam I just had from a female doctor. :D

Oh geez, you too :D
 

LL21

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Gents,

Very much appreciate all the great advice!!! I have gone ahead and ordered a Lenovo Thinkpad which incl 4-year Next Business Day On-Site Service/Repair...i5 dual core, 256GB SS Hard Drive and 8GB of RAM, 15-20 hour battery life with the add'l battery...for just over GBP900.

Hopefully will arrive in about 2-3 weeks.
 

NorthStar

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Wow, comes with two batteries for 15-20 hours of running time...amazing!

Mine is supposed to be 3.5 hours (one battery) but in actual use is more like 2.0 hours. :(

* I think those batteries don't last forever...I must have charged mine about 400 times so far...and it doesn't last like it used to @ the beginning...I was getting roughly 2.75 hours, now never passed 2.0 hours. But my screen is bigger @ 15.5" and Sony are not expert on batteries. ...Only @ selling more of them to you.
Yeah, some manufacturers want you to buy products from them that are only compatible with their own products...and their accessories are ultra expensive! You can't use accessories from another manufacturer...you know...Sony...sounds familiar.

And others they program chips inside their products with a time auto-destructive capsule...like in Mission Impossible flicks...you know...so that when the time expired the bomb automatically armed itself and pouf! ...A cloud of smoke. :b
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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Wow, comes with two batteries for 15-20 hours of running time...amazing!

Mine is supposed to be 3.5 hours (one battery) but in actual use is more like 2.0 hours. :(

* I think those batteries don't last forever...I must have charged mine about 400 times so far...and it doesn't last like it used to @ the beginning...I was getting roughly 2.75 hours, now never passed 2.0 hours. But my screen is bigger @ 15.5" and Sony are not expert on batteries. ...Only @ selling more of them to you.
Yeah, some manufacturers want you to buy products from them that are only compatible with only their own products...and their accessories are ultra expensive!
And others programmed chips inside their products with a time auto-destructive capsule...like in Mission Impossible flicks...you know...so that when the time expired the bomb automatically armed itself and pouf! ...A cloud of smoke. :b

Yeah...i think the one good thing i remember about the Thinkpad i had yrs ago was it really was built for business-use, and i am hopeful that remains today. Doesnt have to look great or be the thinnest...it has to be reasonably fast, have super-long battery life and have a good keyboard...and be reliable.
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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Well, it arrived this evening...MS Office 2010, Anti-virus and Adobe Full-Acrobat are all fully uninstalled from old laptop and reinstalled here. Fortunately, was not too difficult. Just now need to move old files across and done.

So far, its very fast (thanks to the SS Hard Drive which makes opening/closing software instantaneous and the added battery/performance features of these newer laptops seem quite coo...dont know if they actually help manage processing speed/battery life any better, but sure looks cool. Guess with 17 hours of battery life, i should hopefully have enough!

Thanks to everyone who chimed in. To be honest, i found out post-order that lenovo has had some serious problems in delays on delivery...but i had the reverse experience. Supposed to arrive in 3 weeks and it showed up in about 5 days!
 

LL21

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Lloyd, the Lenovo Thinkpad X250 is less than $1,000 (USD) and how long the battery is good for...ten or twelve hours?
Screen size...12" or 13"? ...i5 or i7?
Link from the best deal in town?

Hey Northstar, It was about $1400 in USD...17 hours on battery life according to reviews. 12" screen since i dont like having to lug stuff around and have gotten very used it for the last 20 years. 8GB RAM, 256GB SS Hard drive (just enough for me...and i use USB keys a lot). I am told its almost never that i would use more than 8GB, certainly not the next level up which was 16GB.

i5 on purpose because if the cooling is not ideal, the i7 just causes more heat and the laptop does not necessarily take advantage of everything an i7 gives you...plus for many users (like me who just use word, excel, powerpoint and a littel surfing)...there is very little need for the latest chip.

for laptops, most of the comments seems to suggest people actually preferred i5 and a few regretted the 'upgrade'; to i7 when the laptop lasted less long, did not perform much faster, and if anything was less reliable over the long term.
 

NorthStar

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Hey Northstar, It was about $1400 in USD...17 hours on battery life according to reviews. 12" screen since i dont like having to lug stuff around and have gotten very used it for the last 20 years. 8GB RAM, 256GB SS Hard drive (just enough for me...and i use USB keys a lot). I am told its almost never that i would use more than 8GB, certainly not the next level up which was 16GB.

i5 on purpose because if the cooling is not ideal, the i7 just causes more heat and the laptop does not necessarily take advantage of everything an i7 gives you...plus for many users (like me who just use word, excel, powerpoint and a littel surfing)...there is very little need for the latest chip.

for laptops, most of the comments seems to suggest people actually preferred i5 and a few regretted the 'upgrade'; to i7 when the laptop lasted less long, did not perform much faster, and if anything was less reliable over the long term.

Thanks Lloyd for all that useful info. ...Cool, and $1,400 US is like 2,000 loonies here. :b
 

LL21

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Thanks Lloyd for all that useful info. ...Cool, and $1,400 US is like 2,000 loonies here. :b

Oh and i forgot...i extended the 3 -year warranty to 4 years with next business day service. that's included in my price.
 

NorthStar

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Oh and i forgot...i extended the 3 -year warranty to 4 years with next business day service. that's included in my price.

It don't matter Lloyd, because next year they are going to release a better one for half the price and with a new battery that lasts 36 hours. :D
/// Just teasingly kidding ///

* When you're ready to upgrade give me a call...I'll buy that one from you if @ the time our loonie is still worth a joint of marijuana. ^_^
 

LL21

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It don't matter Lloyd, because next year they are going to release a better one for half the price and with a new battery that lasts 36 hours. :D
/// Just teasingly kidding ///

* When you're ready to upgrade give me a call...I'll buy that one from you if @ the time our loonie is still worth a joint of marijuana. ^_^

hah! probably so...to be fair, my last Acer laptop lasted nearly 5 years and it costs 499. I upgraded to a Thinkpad because the 499 model also had multipel break-downs during the last 4 years...requiring a new chip, new screen and new RAM put in...plus the keyboard is now half-broken. Whereas my wife's laptop (1 year older) is from Toshiba and, while slow, still works perfectly with no repairs. It cost about $1200 at the time, but still works fine. Get what you pay for sometimes.
 

Johnny Vinyl

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Congrats Lloyd on the early arrival of your new Lenovo laptop. It's always a pleasant surprise when those things happen. My first real laptop was a ThinkPad and one of the things I loved about that machine was the mouse pointer in the centre of the keyboard ( I forget it's specific name now). To this day I still can't get used to those touchpads and always use a wireless mouse. I went to a Toshiba Satellite after that and had it for 9 years. Best laptop I've ever owned. And then last year, after having had good experience with a Dell desktop, I bought a Dell Inspiron 17" laptop / i7 / 1TB HDD / 8GB RAM. Like you I went with the additional warranty and I'm covered for 4 years. It's been great so far and I'm pleased with my purchase. I don't know if it'll last 9 years like the Toshiba, but I almost don't care as pricing on laptops has dropped significantly over the years and I'll probably want a change anyway.

I also only use mine now for surfing the web and some light MS Office duties. My power-use days are long behind me. As such, this budget-friendly laptop suited my needs perfectly. I paid $799 CDN.

http://laptopmedia.com/review/dell-...media-station-thats-actually-worth-the-money/
 

LL21

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Congrats Lloyd on the early arrival of your new Lenovo laptop. It's always a pleasant surprise when those things happen. My first real laptop was a ThinkPad and one of the things I loved about that machine was the mouse pointer in the centre of the keyboard ( I forget it's specific name now). To this day I still can't get used to those touchpads and always use a wireless mouse. I went to a Toshiba Satellite after that and had it for 9 years. Best laptop I've ever owned. And then last year, after having had good experience with a Dell desktop, I bought a Dell Inspiron 17" laptop / i7 / 1TB HDD / 8GB RAM. Like you I went with the additional warranty and I'm covered for 4 years. It's been great so far and I'm pleased with my purchase. I don't know if it'll last 9 years like the Toshiba, but I almost don't care as pricing on laptops has dropped significantly over the years and I'll probably want a change anyway.

I also only use mine now for surfing the web and some light MS Office duties. My power-use days are long behind me. As such, this budget-friendly laptop suited my needs perfectly. I paid $799 CDN.

http://laptopmedia.com/review/dell-...media-station-thats-actually-worth-the-money/

Thanks! The red middle button that acts like a joystick/mouse is called the Trackpoint, and i agree...in fact i have disabled the touchpad because i tend to mess things up when i type, and the bottom of my hand slides across the touchpad. I only use the Trackpoint and the 2 buttons for 'point and click'. I too had a Thinkpad years ago and still remember above all others. My wife swears by Toshiba and has one again right now. Had a Dell...ended up with a lemon and did not go back though i acknowledge they've got a great reputation.

Hope this Thinkpad works out well!
 

LL21

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Thanks, Carol! Good to know.

Good luck with it! At least if anything breaks, they will respond in 24 hours. When I bought my HP EliteBook - business class - something did break and help was a phone call and overnight shipping away.
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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Well here is an update...hard drive failed within 8 days. Sent a replacement...that failed too. i have just received a written letter confirming full refund. So assuming the whole return shipment process works, then should have a full refund within about 2 weeks...fortunately, Amex is already on the case to ensure we get it.

Decided to order a Toshiba Z30...similar specs: i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB Solid-State hard drive, 16 hours battery life, 13" screen...stay tuned!
 

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