2013-14 Laptop discussion

Question

I've been doing a ton of research and wondered what people were doing as far as laptops for the upcoming year. I definitely want one sporting the new haswell chiipset, but it looks like there may not be too many options before school starts. i'm thinking the best bet so far is the sony vaio pro 13, but not sure what will challenge it before mid-late august when school starts. . .

candayam · Answer

I have my heart set on the x1 Carbon Thinkpad provided Lenovo refreshes the machine with the Haswell chipset. Otherwise, I'll probably get a Dell Latitude. The docking system for the Latitude is pretty solid.

lnds1001 · Answer

Hi all,

Found my way here by trying to figure out if I should buy a laptop pre-MBA admissions or wait. I'm applying '13/'14, so I have some time before I'd start. I'm using my work computer right now for most purposes, but it's become a pain lugging it back and forth (and I'm not sure I want to have all of my bschool apps on a work computer). Anyway, I was thinking of purchasing a laptop for use at home (my old one died recently), but then I couldn't decide if I should wait until next year once I know where I'm going. It seems like some schools "require" a certain type; plus, I don't want the one I get now to be outdated by then (or not fitting the required specs)

Any advice?

Also, any thoughts on Windows 8? Are people using this? Does it make sense to go the touch screen route, or is this completely unnecessary for what we'll need it for?

Thanks!

Agentfish36 · Answer

Well you definitely want a haswell chip. It makes huge improvements in battery life. I have been looking at stuff and basically while the macbook air would be ideal (long battery life, light), its a Mac and everything bschool is for PC (basically I've heard Mac excel shortcuts are different). Pretty much right now you have gaming rigs (not ideal) and the Sony VAIO pro 13.

I'm waiting to see if Acer, Asus, lenovo, or Toshiba come up with something competitive. Basically if you're getting a haswell chip, you're getting windows 8 with touch. I'm not very pro touch but the UI seems designed for it, 8.1 is bringing the start menu back so it won't be totally foreign.

I think the reccomended specs are 13-14in, 4th gen i5 or better, 8 GB ram, 256gb SSD (you can do a combo of SSD & reg hard drive but most ultra books seem to be ssd only). I want ac WiFi & HDMI out but that's for me personally...

Gleedaniel13 · Answer

I will be expecting a combination of laptop and iPad. Maybe a laptop that is a touch screen and be a able t use as phones and other media installed.

ohsballer · Answer

What did you guys wind up going with? I'm looking at either the Macbook Air or a Windows Ultrabook. I'm so-so on the touchscreens and Windows 8... especially with Windows 9 being announced soon.

Any thoughts?

shadow · Answer

I'm in the market for a new laptop as well. I had originally (at some point early/mid 2013) been leaning towards an Asus laptop. Lately, I've been looking more at laptops in my price range (~1000 +/-) but that have the 4th gen Haswell intel processors.

There's very few of them that fit the bill for me. One is the Sony Vaio (either the dual tablet/laptop or the Vaio pro). The other is the HP Spectre. Both of these underwhelm me, so I may opt for the Macbook Air, even though I've never been a big fan of Apple.

Also in case it wasn't already obvious - if you're getting a laptop for school, make sure it is portable (don't buy those 17" clunkers), and make sure it has good battery life. The last thing you want is to be running around looking for an outlet (or worse - borrowing someone's power cord because you forgot/lost your cord) :-D

719917 · Answer

Same here, in the market for a new laptop. Stern recommends a Dell E6330. I am the least computer savvy person so I have no idea if this is a solid bschool laptop or a clunker. Does anyone here have experience with this, or similar, Dells?

Also, Stern recommends Windows 7. If I wait until the summer before pulling the trigger, I feel like the options will become even more limited. I was looking at the X1 Carbon (because people on this forum have raved about it) but the refresh now comes equipped with Windows 8, which worries me.

SmallFry · Answer

How about the Asus K45? It comes with a 2 year warranty.. I am thinking of getting in this one as its quite slim and light..also Tue dell latitude 3440 seems like great value for money

BizSchoolorBust · Answer

Hey everyone, I've been following laptops for months (talk about putting the cart before the horse). I'm in a unique situation in that I don't have a tablet and I'm looking for something that can be a 2-in-1 device. With that in mind, I've been looking at the Surface Pro 2 and the Dell Venue Pro 11. Both are about 1k with the 4th generation Intel chips (Haswell). As someone mentioned earlier, the biggest thing for business school is battery life and mobility. If anyone has specific questions or would like my input on a specific model, please PM me. Thanks.

shadow · Answer

My main gripe about the Asus K45 is that it uses an older generation of processor (3rd generation intel vs. the current 4th generation Intel Haswell processors).

still, if you can get it at a good price, it might be worth it.

RyanCJW · Answer

I got the Surface Pro 2. Loving it so far. It's light, has great battery life, functions as a tablet when I want it to and a laptop when I'd rather be using those features. The type cover 2 is a really nice addition as well. It also takes seconds to boot up, something I wasn't used to (my older laptop is a Macbook).

Anyway, the Surface Pro 2 seems like it will be perfect. It does not come with Office, though, which kind of stinks. I think that most schools provide this at a discount to their students. It is kind of pricey but serves two functions and does both quite well.

SmallFry · Answer

Shadow,
I saw a model that I cant find on the internet for some reason although it was in the asus store - Asus k451lb. 14 inch, haswell, 500gb + 32 gig SSD, with optical drive for 899 singapore dollars. However i cant find it online so cant check reviews; so im a bit skeptical :D

archer90 · Answer

What have you guys ended up getting? And how do you like it?

I'm so undecided!

SmallFry · Answer

i bought the lenovo u430p.. loving it so far.. matte screen, i7 proc, gen 4 processor.. super thin n light

i think its perfect for d classroom

travisz · Answer

Would strongly recommend x1 carbon, it is just great.

GMAT888 · Answer

Used X1 carbon in the past, proved solid.

mbaadmit2017 · Answer

Please do not buy a Dell computer. I purchased the XPS 13 6 months ago and it has crashed 3 times already. Each time I had to
reinstall the operating system, thereby deleting everything stored on my laptop - files, pictures -everything. I would have lost 
it all if I did not have cloud storage. Technicians could not help me retrive backup files from the hard drive.
To make matters worse, they asked me to pay more money above the basic warranty which I had already paid for to "fix" the issue, which 
they could not do successfully. The first time it happened I was told it was a one-off event. This is 
the third time this has happened. I've spent countless hours on the phone over several days, trying an 
inordinate number of steps to no avail. Dell refused to give me a refund, replacement or exchange despite my "premium"
warranty. To add insult to injury, they claimed they would send someone over to fix it in 2-3 days. Being
that technicians don't work on the weekend and they have no emergency response.

2013-14 Laptop discussion

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