2010 Laptop discussion

Check with your school before you go out and spend $$ on Office. Some schools give free copies to students at the start of the school year.

What do you guys think of the Thinkpad X201 Tablet?

https://shop.lenovo.com/us/notebooks/thi ... 8006850841

I love my Mac and hope I'll be able to use it in school!

Any thoughts re: the Mac tablet for b-school purposes?

For mac lovers, if the only think holding you back from using your mac in school is MS Office, then get parallels Desktop 5, as mentioned in prior posts.

It works wonderfully, even on my not-so-new macbook 13 2ghz white. You don't even have to "see" windows - I just click an icon for Excel 2003 for Windows, and it just pops up. Works extremely fast, and there's no issues with drivers whatsoever.

I was worried I'd have to get a new laptop, or switch back to windows.

No need!

For people looking for a budget laptop ($500-600), I just bought the Toshiba Satellite L500-ST2543 (link). It's even cheaper if you buy it with the AMD Athlon chip. I wasn't sure about that so I just went with the Intel option. After upgrading to Windows Professional and adding a Bluetooth, it came out to $547 with taxes included. Specifically for Ross people-even the cheapest option (I did not add memory etc.) exceeds Ross's basic computing requirements as listed on myImpact, with the exception that you will have to upgrade to Professional.

I went to Best Buy today to see if could look at it and I believe it's sold in the stores as the Toshiba L505-ES5018. The specs were identical to the L500 I bought online (with the exception of being installed with Home Premium).

I'm pretty happy with it. Everything is nicely sized and the keyboard has a seperate number pad, which is apparently a blessing for entering crap into Excel (have no idea how much of this is needed in b-school but whatever). The tradeoff is the weight, obviously. And I'm sure computing power compared to a snazzier Lenovo. These weren't as important to me because I bought a parking spot near the school and because the last time I bought a super-expensive laptop for school ($2000 in 2002), I used it for Word and Itunes and the internet and pretty much wasted all its potential.

The only thing I wish I'd figured out before I bought my laptop is that Ross's computer showcase sells Windows 7 Ultimate for way cheaper than the upgrade through any website. I realised this when I was purchasing Office after I completed the computer transaction. This would potentially have made the Lenovo I was looking at (SL series) competitive with the Toshiba. It doesn't really matter-but I figured I'd throw it out there for any Ross people pricing laptops.

I think everyone should look into it. it is amazingly cheap (especially at ross) for certain upgrades and licenses. Also check your work's Home Use Program. I got Office ultimate for 10 dollars through my work.

I just ordered a Thinkpad X201. I've had great experiences with Thinkpads in the past but just wanted a smaller one that is easy to carry for walking around in NYC. I got a stupendous deal on it (~850 shipped w/ tax) by following the directions below:

https://slickdeals.net/permadeal/35010/l ... win-7-prem

Pretty sweet deal. Other than having a tiny screen, which is a plus or minus depending on who you are, looks like a great 'puter.

That is a great deal, I was gonna get it when it was 850 before take, now it's 802, WOW

I went the cheap route and bought the HP dv4. I was looking at the T410, but the comparably equiped HP was half the price. It is about the same size, the battery life is a little under 6 hours, the music/video experience is better, and if I need to upgrade in three years I won't feel bad about it. While Lenovo quality is no doubt better, I think this HP will last me until time to upgrade. My Dell Latitude D620 had all sorts of issues after 3 years (multiple batteries, new power cable, new hard drive, and flickering monitor). Due to improvements in technology I would have probably chosen to upgrade anyway.

For me, it started at 802 and became 850 after taxes/shipping.

I've had 2 Dells, an Acer, and an HP in the past. Thought the HP and Acer were complete bunk after about 2 years. Dell is great if you buy a high end model, total bunk if you buy the entry level ones.

Lenovo however... Nothing but great things to say about them. The only downside I suppose would be the multimedia capabilities as these are sturdy, business laptops. They last forever. For people on a budget, you may want to check out the Thinkpad SL500 or another entry level one as I think it's well worth it for B-School.

after all that, it appears that the laptop i'll be using in the fall will be.... a dell

the standard YSOM issued laptop is the dell e6410. can't say it's a favorite, although it appears to be reasonable: core i5 processor, win 7, ~4.5 lbs. i toyed with the idea of buying a lightweight notebook or netbook in addition to the main laptop, but i can't justify the additional expense.
_________________

Should be totally fine for school. Buy a Lenovo when you graduate though

All the drivers you need for Windows is on the Mac Installation disk!

For those looking for something a bit more budget... this looks really solid at $372

https://slickdeals.net/permadeal/35160/i ... 8-w-webcam

It's $755 pre-tax now:
https://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread ... id=2067712

Are they clearing the x201 out for a new model or something? It seems remarkably cheap. Makes the Kellogg laptop @ 1285+tax seem like a rip.

Yeah, I am second-guessing buying the Kellogg laptop. It is quite expensive considering that you have to pay for tax and shipping from CDW. I am guessing there will be a newer version of the x201 with the ULV i5 pretty soon.

The X201 was only released earlier this year in February 2010. Before that, they had an X200. I'd think it's too early for a new iteration at this point... maybe next year?