Recommend a work laptop

[guzziguy]

Well, I finally got a nice job. It's half time for 4-6 months. After that, we see where we are and what the business climate is like. I know the tech-lead and this should be a fun job!

I need to provide my own laptop for this job. I have a 4 year old Dell Inspiron 8600 that would probably do the job. However, I think that I'd be better off having a separate work computer. Other members of the team have recently bought this HP laptop. They did get it for $100 less but the price still is pretty reasonable. I've been pretty detached from computer hardware.

Should I get this or would you laptop knowledgeable people recommend something else? This laptop will be for doing Web App and Java development. It will not be used for gaming or for any heavy duty graphics. It would be best if it ran XP, but it's OK if it runs 32 bit Vista. 64 bit Vista is not acceptable as some of the work apps won't run on it.

Please suggest laptops with this basic feature set and in this price range.

Thanks.

[Voltron]

Congrats on the job Ken! No help on the lappy, tho. Excited that I am getting a new Dell model -- in Dusty-approved all black, no less -- and I am hoping it can manage to play music without all the drops and stutters of my current one.

[Salt Peanuts]

Can't help on the laptop, but congrats on your new job!

[Fungi]

My friend recommends HP for laptops, and that one you linked looks pretty good. If you want a strictly business looking laptop ThinkPads are always an option, but I'm not sure how much their minimal models cost.

[grawk]

you have a pm

[n_maher]

Other than the sweet hookup that Dan almost assuredly just offered I would recommend having a look at Sager Notebooks. Oh and if Dan just hooked you up as I suspect he did you should shop quickly, the last email I got from them had some scary good deals in it.

[Augsburger]

I don't know didly about computers nor do I care but congrats on the job hook up. I hope it is with a nice winery up in Sonoma or Napa valley.

[riceboy]

Congrats on the new job Ken.

In regards to a laptop, I have a HP laptop for 2 years now. It is a 17" laptop and before this laptop, I've owned two Toshiba's and a Sony. I've used Dell laptops and HP laptops at work as well. Clients have purchased IBMs, Dell's, Gateways, Toshiba, Apple, Sony, Asus, etc. From my experience HPs gave the most problems. My HP laptop just 1 month ago had the left hinge break. Keep in mind that I transport this thing in a laptop bag from home and work. I don't travel with this the laptop or use it anywhere but those two locations. Come to find out HP had a class action lawsuit for my laptop and many other laptops with a design defect on the left hinge. Folks were fighting HP for a year I believe trying to get them to admit there was an issue. Folks were paying out of pocket hundreds of dollars to get that fixed to HP. In addition to the left hinge, I've had other people that purchased HP laptops have the LCD screen just either stop working or have white and black lines on them. To cost to fix it was in the $700 and up range since they had to replace the LCD screen. At that point you just get a new laptop. Now the Toshiba's I had are still going strong as I sold one 6 years ago and another 4 years ago and they are being used every day in business offices and going strong. I've had a Sony I purchased 4 years ago and a client purchased the exact same model with better specs 3 years ago and they travel all over with them and they are going strong. Not to say all HPs are bad, but I would research the class action lawsuit on the left hinge and with any brand there willl be winners and complete lemons as well. I just wanted to share my experience with those laptops. Lastly, the Dells we have at work ranging from 1 to 3 years are all working fine with no problems. We have about 15 to 20 Dells and the same amount of HPs too. The HPs are running fine as well. If you just need one for work and could hook one up to an external model I would look at a netbook. I have a ASUS and I love it. Hope that helps and good luck with your job

[guzziguy]

Thanks to everybody for your advice and assistance. Yesterday, I went ahead and bought the HP at Best Buy. I did find some better deals at Dell and Lenovo, but would have had to wait for 2 weeks or more for delivery. By buying yesterday, I had the computer and was able to get assistance in setting it up for work. Also, I figured it was a good idea to get the same computer as everybody else on the team. That way, I can always get help and it removes an entire set of potential problems that come with having a different computer.

The HP is a bit cheesy. The keyboard is bright silver (yuck) and has a cheap feel to it. Everything else seems to have satisfactory quality. It's performance is way above the Dell Inspiron 8600 with 2G memory that is my home machine. Overall I'm satisfied with it and I'm sure it will do its job.

Yesterday was my first day on the job. It was mostly just an introduction to the team and product, doing all the administrative things and configuring my computer. Since I'm paid for that, it will just about cover the new HP. So I figure that basically the new company just bought me a computer.

[gtp]

Hey Ken, congrats on the job!