Best Business school laptops - 2017

Question

Hi All,

Seems like some of the posts on here are quite outdated regarding laptops. Starting school this fall and I am in the market for a new laptop and wondering what others are considering. I use a Dell at work and must say its an excellent laptop. My work didn't skimp on this aspect. So I am considering something like the Latitude 7000 series (this is what I have at work) or the XPS 13. Anyone own an XPS? I could look into a Macbook Pro too I suppose. What are your thoughts on different specs? I am looking for an SSD and at least 8GB ram. Cheers!

Previous Laptop Discussions

Best Business school laptop 2015 
 
   Best Brand of Laptop for MBA 
 
   2014-2015 Laptop Discussion 
 
   2013-14 Laptop discussion 
 
   2012-13 Laptop Discussion 
 
   2011 Laptop discussion 
 
   2010 Laptop discussion

ashwink · Answer

Firstly, congrats on your admit!

I personally own a Macbook Pro(2015 version) and a Dell XPS 13(Kaby Lake). Both are beasts! I generally use the Macbook for development/coding and for music production. There really isn't a competitor for that kind of work. But, for my office purposes, I use a Dell XPS 13 and it's display is just awesome. It is extremely comfortable to work and should be your first choice if Windows is your preferred OS. Plus, it is worth the money. The new Macbook isn't worth the price at all(Sorry Mac lovers

) and if you do consider purchasing a Mac, go for the 2015 version. Since you would doing a lot of presentations, this one has all the required ports, else you would need to carry around a bunch of connectors( Type C

). Hope this helped. Sorry if this seemed long

All the best for your studies!

flamacue · Answer

I just bought a XPS 13 9360 (Kaby Lake) for business school. It's a great laptop for carrying around on a daily basis and it has a fantastic battery life. It will be able to handle anything you need to do in business school. Like ashwink mentioned, it has a great display and is very comfortable to work with. The only downside is, and someone can correct me if I'm wrong, you may need to buy a USB-C to VGA adapter for certain presentations.

ashwink · Answer

Yup! You would definitely require a connector for VGA/HDMI for presentation + you would need a USB to Ethernet adapter as well if you do want to connect to a local LAN. Bought myself a cheap one for $10(Type C to HDMI) but then again, it is a Windows OS and most of the drivers can be easily installed unlike for Mac :wink:

I would suggest going to a store and try out both the laptops before purchasing it.

socalmbahopeful · Answer

Do you guys think its worth getting a 2 in 1 - laptops with the ability to become tablets?

ashwink · Answer

In my opinion, a 2 in 1 is just not useful. It is extremely uncomfortable to use once its fully turned due to the keypad coming in between your hands(although it would be disabled in Tablet mode). Plus, the presentation mode that most of the laptop companies advertise is also rarely used since for most presentations, you would be using either the VGA or the HDMI cable.

socalmbahopeful · Answer

I thought so too.. I'm a bit old school but some of my friends swear by their surface / yogas.

Aves · Answer

one of the current students from Fuqua suggests me to buy xps13 as well.

He currently owns a Mac and he says it is not quite compatible in general usage.

bkhu · Answer

i got a xps 13. its awesome pretty much in every way except for the webcam is on the lower left so if you ever have to talk to someone on skype, it gets awkward because you are not looking at them.

like the others mention, its light, has great battery life, and can boot up pretty quickly. i chose not to get a touch screen because i think most times you don't need it.

a03b · Answer

XPS 13 is probably one of the safest choices. But I think there are 2 other strong candidates:

- HP Spectre x360
- Surface Pro 4

What do you think of these?

ashwink · Answer

Have used both these devices and they are really good. But after using the XPS 13, the bezels of Spectre x360 was just too much!! And the surface pro is not really that comfortable if you need to make a lotta presentations. You need to purchase an extra keyboard and thing itself is pretty small for my hands. So, XPS 13 it is for me

a03b · Answer

The new Spectre x360 has slim bezels as well. Can't really decide between the two.

ashwink · Answer

Just saw it! Awesome!

But the rate is a little steep i think? Oh btw, Dell XPS is now in 2-in-1 as well!! :wink:

Best of luck with your decision

emiozk · Answer

Current MBA students, how important has battery life been for you? Should it be a deciding factor for me?

Finally, what do you think of tablets with pen/stylus? Is it practical to take notes on a tablet at b-school?

iVoRy · Answer

Any thoughts on the Asus Zenbook?
It's a bit cheaper than other ultrabooks alternative.
Is the saving worth it?

bakavoice · Answer

I've got Dell E5470. It's a great business laptop with an incredible battery life (I had real 8 hours of web browsing with low brightness).
It has 14 inch IPS screen, yet it's light and not bulky.
I spent hours of searching and comparing various laptops and have come to the conclusion that this one has the best value for money.

GMattest2016 · Answer

Hello guys,

Need your kind inputs..
I own a lenovo ideapad yoga 13 laptop..Is it ideal for b-school?

19W · Answer

Anyone brought a laptop from B&H photo? I only have experience of buying photography stuff from them. I plan to buy Dell XPS 13 for GMAT Prep, applications as well as B-school. They have listed a brand new touch version laptop with 7th Gen i5, 8gb RAM, 128GB SSD  for $869 . Similar specs model is listed at dell.com and amazon for over $1000. Seems to good be true. Do dell make specials version of laptops to be sold specifically by B&H? If so, I'm kinda scared if they have compromised some parts to make it cheaper.

bb · Answer

I see it for $914 on Amazon now. It may be a rolling price reduction that has made it to some retailers but not others....
 Microsoft store has it for $899 . I would pick the store that has the most points/rebates/etc options without tax. Not sure if you have an Amex/Chase card that offers bonus points from certain stores. 900 bonus points is $9-18. That's better than nothing. Also B&H offers it  "used" for $709

I have purchased photo equipment from them and always had a very positive experience (unlike some other photo stores that have tried to up-sell me or mis-represented what they have advertised). I have also purchased used laptops for family from Blinq and out of 3 laptops, all are still working, 1-2 years later. (They have a pretty generous return policy).

In my experience, I have found Dell decent and always turned to them for laptops but Apple hardware is superior based on what I have found. I have had 3 Dell's and 2 Macs I run windows on my Mac and 3 years later, it is still in great shape and still fast.

P.S. In my view 13" is as BIG as you ever want to go. At home, you can always hook it up to a monitor to get a bigger screen but while traveling and in meetings, 13" is so much nicer and easier to deal with than a 15" laptop.

Gnpth · Answer

I would suggest you go with any Dell laptops. Since they are durable.

And there are plenty of Dell laptops, which comes with a feature to upgrade your RAM. I believe you don't need much of graphics. So choose any laptop that has at least 1GB graphics card and i5 or i3 processors.

So IMO, below should be ideal for B-schools for 2 years or even for other stuff per se.

1. RAM-4GB(minimum) or 8GB (preferred)
2. i3 or i5 processor. Latest generation ones.
3. 1 GB (minimum) or 2 GB (preferred) graphics. 
4. 1TB( sufficient) or 2TB hard drive. I feel 1TB should be sufficient since you can buy portable ones.
5. 14 or 15-inch HD screen
6. HD Webcam

It goes without saying Bluetooth and WiFi inbuilt.

And below list can be good to have.

1. Backlit keyboard.
2. DVD drive (laptops nowadays doesn't have DVD drive by default)

P.S. I feel Dell Inspiron series are really good. They are durable and lightweight. And battery life is good. Solid 5-6 hours of continuous usage in Balanced setting.

Best Business school laptops - 2017

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards