Best Laptops for MBA [2019 Discussion]

Question

I had a few people ask me for suggestions for the laptop to get for the business school. Here are my thoughts based on my experience and mistakes: Laptop Tips I bought a $2,200 laptop when I went. It was cool for playing games BUT.... that's about it. There is no reason to get a top of the line machine since you will be using it to take notes and browse internet and check email. My recommendation - get a mid-range laptop, esp since you will likely be wasting $500-800 on a new phone. I would recommend that you stick under $1K as the target/goal. You will likely go over it and there will be tax, but a $1,200 laptop is much better than a $2,500. Trust me - I had both

I bought a high performance 15" Dell with great screen. It was great BUT.... it was heavy and bulky. I suggest something lighter and slimmer that you can carry without much strain I got a 3 year warranty... it was helpful during bschool but a 2-year warranty will be probably be good enough. My main issues were in Year 4 after my warranty expired and in year 2 I had a power supply issue. That's about it but I highly recommend warranty, esp as often it is included for free for 2 years (more on that later) Today for work I use a 13" Macbook Pro running windows with several 24" monitors - that's a better setup and cheaper too than a 15" high end laptop 13" screen is not only lighter but also easier to carry and takes up less desk space in classroom and airplane. I only use 13" Get an SSD (i think everyone does these days but just in case). You can get as little as 256GB (I would not get less). MS OFFICE 365 comes with 1TB of cloud storage in One Drive - I put all the videos and pictures there, keeping only the docs and things i really need on my SSD Get 8 GB of RAM but I don't think you need 16. I have not needed and you will likely be much more organized than I am and have fewer windows open If you have used PC all your life and now want to switch to Mac to spice things up, that's probably fine but keep in mind that you will have a bit of a learning curve and some frustrations. Also most hardware and adapters which you will need for USB, Network, are pricey and most things are more expensive with Apple. I do like their hardware. It is very dependable and reliable but I run Windows 10 on my Mac Do not buy software for BSchool. A few reasons: You can get MS Office free from the University in 99% of cases and often they may even have a license of Windows available as well in case you are running a Mac. Whatever other software you may need for classes will be provided, so don't spend $$$ on office or upgrades. When & Where to Buy? If you are not from the US, you may not know that many retails have big Back to School promotions and deals. This is the only time Apple does a special offer (they give free headphones or iTunes cards or other things), which is as good as it gets with Apple. Back to School deals usually start mid to late July. What most people don't know is that this is the last opportunity for the retailers to dump their laptops and models before the new stuff comes out for the Winter shopping season so most PC and Apple vendors will have new models announced in late Sept when all students already purchased their computers. College and School is a big business for them! Sometimes you can find a cheaper deal at a store such as Best Buy than from the retailer (e.g. Dell). It pays to shop around and compare specs. Sometimes there will be small differences in configurations but they may be worth it Most of the time you will be buying a computer you can't touch/see before you buy it except pictures. Pay attention to the details! The last computer I bought for one of my family members, had a funky touchpad - it was really old school and I did not catch it since I bought the computer online. One of the overall best places to buy is Costco actually (you have to be a member though) since they provide a second year of warranty free While in the past Best Buy was a horrible place to buy, it is actually very competitive these days HP, Dell, and a few other manufacturers are famous for having ridiculous coupons and offers that stack for multi-level discounts. Check out sites/forums such as https://slickdeals.net/filtered/laptop- ... B%5D=8&r=1 and a few others If you are looking for a cheap deal/temporary laptop or something on a budget, I found https://www.blinq.com/ to be a great site (you have to research the models a bit more as sometimes they sell a 3-month old model and sometimes they are 4-years old. It is hard to tell these days. I have bought 3-4 computers from them for family members and all have been very good quality and as promised. They offer free 30-day returns, which is a much better deal than getting something from ebay or craigslist. Free shipping and free returns!) Some good deals that's available right now: 14" Lenovo with 16GB Ram and 256 SSD for $600 13.3" - 14"Blinq laptops What are you getting for school? Please share what laptop you are planning to get!

stonecold · Answer

It also totally depends on personal preferance. I struggle with wondows. Too much goes on screen. I bought a jacked up macbook 15 inch. In retrospect, I should have considered a 13 inch version and as    bb    said, keep my budget in check .

sbg53RKM · Answer

bb, I've couple of questions on your above post.

1. What is a good battery life for laptop one should have at least during business school ? What do you recommend based on your personal experiences ?

Will 9-10 hours be just sufficient ? Or we should look for laptops with 12-15 hours battery life ?

2. What exactly you mean by lighter with reference to carrying it during MBA classes ? Upto 3 lbs ? Or 3.5 to <= 4 lbs ?

It'll be great to know what you think on these aspects.

bb · Answer

Sorry I missed this post from way earlier, the battery life doesn’t really matter in my experience. You will have power in the classroom and you will have power in the meeting rooms in the library and wherever you go. I think 3-4 hours is plenty. I can’t really situation where you will need extra long battery power. Any new laptop or tablet will have plenty of battery life. By lighter I would say under 5 lbs and if you can get 4 or 3 it is great. Don’t get a gaming laptop (unless that’s where you are recruiting for) as lugging that thing and it’s huge brick will be a pain. Bottom line: get a business laptop

Posted from my mobile device

sbg53RKM · Answer

Hi bb,
Thanks for your thoughts.

But carrying power adapter always during classes will gonna add to your backpack weight further. isn't it ?

As you've recommended several times not to overspend, rather stick to closer to $1000, I just would like to know which one of the following two options would be good for b-school and thereafter for few more years (considering your above tech recommendations for each) ?

1. a 15 inch laptop (weighing 4 lbs and having 7-9 hours of battery) @ ~$1000.

2. a 13 inch laptop (weighing 3 lbs and having 10-12 hours of battery) @ ~$1500.

It's a difficult choice for me!!

Would much appreciate your help.

sbg53RKM · Answer

Also, why no one talks about HP ? As I see, they seem to have a few good models. Do you've any feedback on HP laptops ?

BTW, can you please dig deep a bit why you recommend business laptop ? Any specific brand on this front ?

Sorry for bombarding you with a lot of questions

bb · Answer

I think HPs look bad but my employer with thousands of employees provides either HP or MacBooks and HPs seem to get the job done. They look kind of bad though. They look like they are from the 90s.

Posted from my mobile device

bb · Answer

Both. It is really up to you. We are splitting hairs at this point in time

Posted from my mobile device

sbg53RKM · Answer

Hi bb,
Thanks for your thoughts.

Just curious to know what would you've chosen, given these two options?

sbg53RKM · Answer

Ha ha ha

Yeah mostly I think. But of late they've a few cool models like specters... Can you please dig deep a bit why you recommend business laptop ? Any specific brand on this front ? And is accidental coverage protection sufficient during b-school or should one opt for theft protection as well on top of it ?

bb · Answer

Sorry but this is really going to the granular level of inspecting every aspect. I am not prepared for providing this kind of support. Maybe someone else can comment but I shared all I had. If you don’t hear from anyone, I would suggest you visit some computer-related forums and do a deep dive there.

Thank you.

sbg53RKM · Answer

Hey bb,
No issues. I understand. (Seems you're annoyed) Sorry man, if I've offended you!

Frankly, I didn't have any such intention, rather simply wanted to get just your expert thoughts since you've gone through this already and have helped many others make a sound decision.

Thank you for your help and Happy Thanksgiving

sbg53RKM · Answer

@ Current students/Alums : Can anyone please shed any light on this : https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-laptops ... l#p2413097 Would much appreciate your help. Thank you!

newgirl · Answer

If the MBA program you are starting begins in July... Thoughts on waiting for back to school specials? How do back to school deals compare to pricing that you might have through your current employer? Trying to gauge if I'm better off buying before I quit my job or waiting until right before classes start. Thanks!

al6dK · Answer

Hi!
I recently surveyed my class IESE MBA 2020.
almost 60% of them recommend the latest Microsoft Surface.
Here the full results!

https://iesemba.com/2020/02/08/whats-th ... a-student/

omavsp · Answer

Hi! Im thinking about getting the new Macbook Air (M1), but heard that macs are not good for bschool. 
Can you please elaborate on what kind of softwares are used in Bschool (LBS/Insead, hopefully). Also, do you find excel in office 365 different in macs compared to windows ?
Thanks!

Posted from my mobile device

bb · Answer

You should be totally fine using either windows or a Mac. This is a very old information that continues to live for unknown reasons really. You could use even an iPad Pro probably or even just a phone for all of your business school needs.

All you will need is Microsoft office and of that could be done online. Most software these days is online to and a lot of it is compatible with MacOS.

You should be just fine with MacOS and M1 chip for Bschool needs as long as you can run a browser and basic office things and zoom.

PS. Macs have a great resale value by the way. I had one for 2+ years (it was in a great shape with a few singles) and I sold it probably for $300 less than I could have bought a new one. So that is a huge benefit to be able to use a computer that long for about $300.

DiCaprio25 · Answer

Hello  bb ,

I would say that people should prefer Windows over Macs. Have read on a lot of forums that some b-school classes require you to install specific add-ins to Excel which are a pain to get running through BootCamp (Virtual Windows in Mac) which takes space. Some of these just don't work without native Windows OS.

I also found an article by Columbia Business School which specifically says  "We do not recommend a Mac for your time at CBS". 
 https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/itg/students/laptopoptions

Open to any more inputs that you/current students might have on this.

Thanks!

Best Laptops for MBA [2019 Discussion]

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