Choosing Vista Laptop for Work

CycloniteCyclonite Tampa, Florida Icrontian
edited June 2007 in Hardware
Alrighty. Since at some point we're going to begin transitioning to Windows Vista within my company, my boss and I need to replace our current laptops with some Vista capable ones. I've been tasked with spec'ing out a few models.

Here's what we're looking for:

-Must have a port replicator available
These will be our work/travel computers. So, we don't want to be connecting and disconnecting a bunch of cables every day.

-At Least 2GB of memory
It just doesn't seem like any less would be beneficial for running Vista.

-Not excessively bulky
Like I said, these are used in and out of the office. I take my laptop home every night because I typically have to do at least a small portion of work while no one is in the office.

-Under $2000, accessories included (if possible)
It's hard enough to push $1200 for a laptop including accessories for any other user here. We're "the computer guys," so we get something a little better. However, we don't want to be excessive. If it turns out that our best bet is to go with a $2000 laptop, then accessories can be purchased separately. Although, we want to avoid this if at all possible.

I've looked at HP, Lenovo, and Sony. The chances of Dell's entering this building is slim-to-none. My boss is dead set against them, and I've never been that impressed with their support. If someone can present a good argument otherwise, I can pitch it to my boss.

Keep in mind these are corporate use laptops, and we'll be looking for a good 3+ year warranty on them. So, they won't be chosen for gaming and the like. However, if we can fit in a nice graphics card, I won't complain. Hah. It's easier to pitch anyway with Vista's "graphically resource intensive interface."

Thanks for your help, guys.

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited June 2007
    I strongly, strongly recommend Lenovo for work environments.
  • CycloniteCyclonite Tampa, Florida Icrontian
    edited June 2007
    I failed to mention that. We currently use Lenovo, and my searches have shown them to be the best for what we want. It just seemed like a good time to see what else what out there. :)
  • Sledgehammer70Sledgehammer70 California Icrontian
    edited June 2007
    Lenovo is great for business I just ordered 13 systems for a company here in Temecula,

    - ThinkPad T60p

    http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=1F106632CBC24D2CBD23DF19644D3694

    I just wish they had Nvidia as an option :(
  • Sledgehammer70Sledgehammer70 California Icrontian
    edited June 2007
    The only other companies who offer laptops that can compare such as Dell or HP, have good systems, but no one are tried and true like Lenovo.

    One brand I would say that is making a rise is the ASUS systems, I have ran into a handful of their new systems in the business front and they are nice system with some sweet setups :)
  • CycloniteCyclonite Tampa, Florida Icrontian
    edited June 2007
    Not sure I'm willing to go with ASUS at their current state. Haven't heard enough about their notebooks, personally.

    Looks like the consensus is leaning toward Lenovo, as I was initially too. The T60p is a very nice corporate laptop, IMO, and that's the one I was looking at.
  • Sledgehammer70Sledgehammer70 California Icrontian
    edited June 2007
    Sweet machines!!! After setting up over a dozen I came to like them. Very durable as all the notebooks are... and they just scream with the packed hardware in them.

    My only complaint which is more of a preference is the GPU. Nvidia's workstation GPU's are far superior to AMD/ ATI's FireGL series. But either or the chip in the system is fast and gets the job done...

    Also the cost of this machine is on par with all companies… and these are the best suited for Business out of all those.
  • CycloniteCyclonite Tampa, Florida Icrontian
    edited June 2007
    I agree with you on the GPU front. I was a little disappointed in the lack of selection, but what are ya gonna do, I suppose. Heh.
  • Sledgehammer70Sledgehammer70 California Icrontian
    edited June 2007
    To get a system with a nice Quadro card is almost double the cost. I guess the saying is true, you sacrifice graphics selection for portability.
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited June 2007
    I'll also throw in with the Lenovo crows. I've had Dell's, Acer, Asus and Lenovo's at work and Lenovo's are the only ones that have been good stable quality machines. They are the most expensive out of the lot but they are simply the most solid built reliable laptops around. To the point we only buy them now.
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited June 2007
    Look at Toshiba, we have a bunch here and they have done well for us.
    The A200/A205 are nice boxes.
    Some reasonable video options.

    Stay away from Sony.
  • QeldromaQeldroma Arid ZoneAh Member
    edited June 2007
    Cyclonite wrote:
    Not sure I'm willing to go with ASUS at their current state. Haven't heard enough about their notebooks, personally.

    I'm doing a review of a laptop I bought a couple of months ago and may be posting it here soon. This may be more for my personal laptop- but you may find what you're looking for. Here are some excerpts. :

    My laptop:

    Model: PowerPro A 2:38 SUPRA
    Date of Purchase: 3/22/07
    Price with S&H: $1827.48
    Main Barebones Shell: ASUS Model Z84JP, 667 FSB rating
    Screen: 1680x1050 Hi-gloss 17” Widescreen LCD
    CPU: T7200 (2.0GHz Merom processor with 4MB cache)
    Memory: 2x1GB Corsair DDR2 667 (PC2-5300) 5-5-5-15
    Hard Drive: 160GB/8MB cache 5400RPM Seagate ST9160821AS
    Video Adapter: nVidia GeForce GO 7600 with 512MB
    Optical Drive: Matshita DVD-RAM UJ-8505 (8xDVD-R/RW with DL support)
    Ports: 4xUSB, 1xLAN, IEEE-1394, e-SATA, HDMI, 3-jack Audio, VGA, S-Video, SD
    Sound: 4.1 speaker system built-in, Realtek ALC883
    OS: None purchased with unit.
    Wired Network: Marvell Yukon 10/100/1000 Ethernet Chipset Controller
    Wireless: Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG, and Toshiba Bluetooth V2.0+EDR
    Other Goodies: 17” canvas laptop bag, 3-year parts & labor warranty, Car Power Adapter
    Reference Links:
    Pictures: http://powernotebooks.com/specs/images/a2-38/
    Specifications & Options: http://powernotebooks.com/specs/PowerPro/a2-38.php
    Warranty: http://powernotebooks.com/info/powerpro_warranty.php
    Operating Systems policy: http://powernotebooks.com/OS.php3

    Company Name: PowerNotebooks.com
    Location: Genoa, Nevada
    Owner: Don Stratton
    Link: http://powernotebooks.com/ (imagine that  )
    Phone: 1-877-711-1777
    Laptop Product Lines offered: PowerPro (in-house model name), Crown, Sager, and ASUS
    Resellerratings.com’s Rating (5/31/07): 10.0 (six-mo)/9.99(lifetime) Reference Link

    Here are some of the compelling reasons (not in order) that sold me on PowerNotebooks:

    1. Reseller’s rating. This should say something by itself. It is simply the best in the business.

    2. OS Selectability. With Vista being forced on us by most major vendors, it was a relief to find someone who offers both installation and support for XP/Vista/Linux/None. That’s right- you read both Linux and none.

    3. Helpfulness. The site is fairly straightforward, but answers to my queries by forum, phone and e-mail were prompt, knowledgeable, truthful, and courteous. You generally have (and to some measure, can select) your representative to work with. Mine was Ron Baird who actually phoned me shortly after I placed my order to see if I was really OK installing my own OS. (Apparently some people really do want one but overlook the selection as the “None” option is the default).

    4. Discount for cash purchase. This one amazes me because it is an untold truth that you pay extra on your products because of the cost of debit/credit transactions. This discount is generally 3% off the price. However, your trust is tested because you basically give them your money via deposit or Bank-Wire Transfer (which may have a fee associated with it- generally less than $10). But if they have ever reneged on someone, I think their Reseller rating would have suffered severely.

    5. Pricing. While I can build a machine for less than a boutique equivalent, I found myself unable to beat that of the PowerPro line soundly enough. Since my cap for this venture was $2000 (and I told myself I’d never go past there again), I wasn’t going to build a boutique machine anyhow. When done, this became the least expensive out of the 4 laptops I have purchased.

    6. Three-year warranty at no additional cost (for PowerPro machines). If you go to a major retailer, you may be hit with an extra $250-450 to get this. When I factored this in, it was NO contest- I could not find a better machine at any retailer. Be careful here though- this warranty does not apply to all product lines sold by PowerNotebooks.

    7. Overall, I think PowerNotebooks.com is about as good as it gets for this market. I have found nothing with which to impact their rating. I have no reservations about coming here again and recommend this as a stop worth spending some time at for anyone.

    I know it's overkill- but I just got done with the draft and hope it can help. I can only say- for everything I want to do- even professionally- it is a solid unit.
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