Looking for a laptop, is this too much to ask for?

[JeffreyLebowski]

Good luck.
I'm guessing HP buys the cheapest poosible hard drives. My uncle's HP laptop goes through a hard drive a year.

 

[Kroze]

Update:

I'm very sad to inform you guys that I sent the laptop back to HP for a refund. D:

While the laptop exterior is very nice, it runs EXTREMELY hot. I can't have it on my lap browsing the internet without it burning me. I doubt I have a defective one as a quick search on google show that a lot of people have the same issue with it running really hot and overheating :thumbsdown:

I don't know what HP was thinking, the laptop heat up so fast and get so hot that feel like it's going to burn you.

On top of that, the abysmal battery life on this thing made me call it quit. 1 hour and 20 minutes, yep that's how long it lasted on a full charge D:

At first I thought it may have been because i need to fully discharge the battery and recharge it fully. But after doing that, the battery life still doesn't improve one bit :thumbsdown::thumbsdown:

What the hell am i going to do with a laptop with only 1 hour of battery life? that's just browsing the internet. God forbid If i play a game.

So the very next day after receiving the laptop, I contacted HP asking for a full refund.

So now i'm back to square one, I really like the macbook pro but it's just too expensive

If it was me I'd get a used Lenovo T60 or T61 with 14.1" SXGA+ 1400 x 1050
screen and the extra sized battery. Quality on the cheap. The DVD-RW drive pops in and out. You could get it all for under $350 probably off ebay. I wouldn't buy HP, their rep for reliability sucks. $3000+ for a Panasonic? Maybe if you have the money.

I check several listing on ebay and they are pretty nice laptops. But the thing is I can't find a decent one that's not all beat up/used-n-abused.

Also with the IBM T61P, people are still asking $650-750 for it . Nowhere near your suggested $350

 

[TheStu]

How important is the DVD drive to you? Especially while porting it around?

There is the MacBook Air, 13" with 1440*900 display, starts at $1300 I think, but you can score a refurb for about $1100. About the same amount of money gets you the 13" Pro, which still has the older 1280*800 display, but does have Sandy Bridge.

And of course there are always Dell and HP business systems. You pay more (generally) but they last longer and are better built than their consumer lines (I have found).

Finally, there is the ThinkPad.

 

[gsaldivar]

I would recommend either a T420 (14") or X200 (12") series from Lenovo.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=31576089&postcount=4

Unless you have a very specific need for MacOS software, you're overpaying for Apple hardware.

 

[RobertPters77]

which looks like a aluminum unibody macbook ripoff with a crappier touchpad.
.

Unibody is overrated. Once the warranty is up and the battery dies most people would rather buy a brand new mac instead of shelling out 100$ at tek-serve. I've replaced the battery on my gfs late 2009 mac twice already.

 

[OS]

toshiba portege?

 

[beginner99]

Get 14" business-line notebook. At least with Lenovo and Dell variants you can choose battery size. They also have the possibility to install a second battery (instead of dvd-drive). Meaning you can take along the drive if you need it, if not you can install the battery.

What is you price range?
Screen resolution?

Personally I will probably buy a T420s. It's a little expensive but I might be able to get it a lot cheaper (student rebate) but not sure yet.

 

[Kroze]

I would recommend either a T420 (14") or X200 (12") series from Lenovo.

Unless you have a very specific need for MacOS software, you're overpaying for Apple hardware.

Thank you sir! I checked out the T420 and fell in love.

Unibody is overrated. Once the warranty is up and the battery dies most people would rather buy a brand new mac instead of shelling out 100$ at tek-serve. I've replaced the battery on my gfs late 2009 mac twice already.

Get 14" business-line notebook. At least with Lenovo and Dell variants you can choose battery size. They also have the possibility to install a second battery (instead of dvd-drive). Meaning you can take along the drive if you need it, if not you can install the battery.

What is you price range?
Screen resolution?

Personally I will probably buy a T420s. It's a little expensive but I might be able to get it a lot cheaper (student rebate) but not sure yet.

Thank you guys, after doing some research I've decided on the Lenovo T420.

This thing is a monster in disguise!! Legendary IBM build quality and it met all of my criteria.


- Replacable battery!

- 7 hours of battery life on regular 6-cell battery. 30 hours of battery life with extended battery slice :thumbsup::thumbsup:

- Have a DVD burner/drive :thumbsup:

- 14" screen :thumbsup:

- Core i5 Sandy bridge :thumbsup:

Oh and I got the FREE 4gb of ram upgrade (from the standard 2gb) and a 500gb 7200rpm hard drive (from the standard 250gb 5400rpm) upgrade when i ordered on their website :thumbsup::thumbsup:

On top of that, the coupon code drop another 5%

 

[gsaldivar]

Thank you sir! I checked out the T420 and fell in love.

Congratulations!

I forgot to mention that there is a also a T420s which was just released. It is priced higher than the T420, but it's not too late to cancel and place a new order if you decide to change:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/566110-t420-t420s.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAfoq_6oeJE

The difference between the two models is subtle but there are advantages to both the T420 and T420s. Briefly, with the T420s you get new housing (carbon-fiber/magnesium instead of carbon-fiber/plastic), USB 3.0, and better expansion options - but at the cost of higher price, and reduced battery life. Be sure to read carefully through that forum link and decide what best fits your requirements and budget...

I'm sure you will be very pleased with either one though. Once you get hooked on Lenovo's enterprise-class build quality, nothing less than the best will do!

Good luck!

 

[brknseals]

Thank you guys, after doing some research I've decided on the Lenovo T420.

Did you actually purchase it, yet? What do you think of it?

 

[Doclife]

I'd get the 14" 1600 x 900 resolution option on the Lenovo T420 if I were you.