2014-2015 Laptop Discussion

I have been considering a Lenovo ThinkPad X1. I think I'm going to wait until the end of the year in hopes that the keyboard will be reconfigured (backspace/delete key location is terrible in my opinion).

Are there any competitors out there I should consider or look into excluding the Macbook Air?

I picked up the Samsung AITV 13.3 inch last month from the Microsoft store. Best laptop I've ever owned. Smooth keyboard, lightweight, long battery life. $1400 or so.

Picked up Lenovo y40 as well. Hasn't been very long, but so far so good.

I picked up a Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro for $950 at Best Buy. 256g SSD, 8g RAM, i7, 3200x1800 resolution. Best Buy will offer a $150 discount for students on this model.
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I hope I'm in a similar position this time next year so I'll have an excuse to buy a new laptop

Don't buy Toshiba. I bought a Toshiba C55-B5272 and found out just outside the return window (one month) that the ethernet port is dead. It's taken five phone calls to get them to finally let me send it in for repairs.

I'm right now in the middle of applications and my laptop just crapped out on me. Luckily everything is saved on a portable hard drive, but I still have a long way to go with a bunch of my schools.

I was wondering if it was worth replacing my Acer S3 ultrabook now or waiting until next year and finishing the apps on my work computer. I'm thinking about the Samsung Ativ 13.3, Lenovo X1 carbon, or a Macbook Pro/Air.

Any suggestions?
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First, get dropbox or google drive or something to back up your files! In any case, it depends on what you need a laptop for... if your work laptop can handle everything, why not just wait a year? If for some reason, you're adamant on having a personal laptop, stay away from a Mac... most bschools will require Windows for various software.
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Thanks farful.

That's a pretty solid idea. I don't know why I haven't backed up my files yet.

Actually, my work comp is a desktop and I've been staying late at work to work on the apps. The laptop would be easier, because then I could just work on it at home or pretty much anywhere. For the last leg before my CBS submission I used my wife's Mac and I have to say, Microsoft Word is much harder/confusing to use on a Mac for someone like me who has only really used a PC. She and others have told me I should convert to Mac, but I'm still not convinced...

I'm just afraid of laying down another ~$1.2k-$1.5k on a computer that will not last through B-school (my Acer was $900 and barely lasted 2 years). I also haven't used the (new) Windows 8.1 yet. I've been a solid Windows 7 user and I didn't really see the advantages of going with a Windows 8.1 computer, but I think it's a pretty stupid concept that you have to pay more to actually "downgrade" to Windows 7 these days.
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Do not let the requirement to run Windows deter you from buying a MacBook Pro/Air. Here's a little secret about MacBooks -- You can run Windows on them and install any program that is made for windows on the Macbook as if it was a PC. Amazing I know. Plenty of people going to business schools all over America use MacBooks and do great. It will require some adjustment to the different keyboard layout, but you can be up and running Excel 2010 on Windows with all the keyboard shortcuts you love in no time. It's fairly easy to use Boot Camp or Parallels/VMWare on the Macs.

I would recommend if you are unsure that another PC laptop will get you all the way through another year of work and two years of school you consider a MacBook with upgrade RAM and it will last three years just fine. I've had my first MacBook since 2009 and it would work fine for school if it had greater than 4 GB of RAM. Beware, you can't upgrade a MacBook after the fact! Don't let the Windows vs OS X debate deter, find a computer that you like and go with it.

Been using my wife's Macbook Pro for the past couple of weeks and I've determined that although it wouldn't be too hard to learn excel, powerpoint, and word on a mac, the subtle differences in the UI and the ease of access to certain applications and files are just not good enough compared to Windows.

I went ahead and just ordered a Lenovo t440s. Not as "high end" as an X1, but a solid build and from what I can tell, and more than enough for what I will use it for.
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