Need to buy a PC-based laptop: Suggestions?

The time has come to replace my 5 YO Dell Laptop (I'd have replaced it sooner, but I always have one through work). Based on what I've read on this forum, there are some pretty smart IT folks here, so I'd like to hear what you all think.

Basic/general requirements

Thinner than a phonebook and relatively lightweight

Minimum four hours battery life watching video

Widescreen - most of the laptops I've looked at have been in the 15.6" range

Minimum 250 GB memory

Able to play DVDs/CDs and burn 'em

Full MS Office suite with Outlook

Basic/starter multimedia abilities - I currently don't make videos, but I'm starting to accumulate footage and would like to learn. Same with very basic photo editing.

I've been surfing around lately and I've come up with a few options:

Dell always has deals in the $500-700 range, but they don't have the MS Office suite, which runs $200 from them.

Costco has some good stuff in the $600-800 range, but again it comes with a starter-edition of Office

My dilemma is it's hard to tell online how livable these things will be - I got an Asus laptop from my Dad and the keyboard is horrible. I had an HP once that continually crapped out, etc.

Why don't you consider a Mac? Great question - I work with a lot of people that swear by them, including suppliers of mine that use them 100%. The simple answer is that I work with and support PC users - anything I do at home would have to be able to be viewed by someone using a PC/laptop with anything from MS Office 2003 to Windows 7. The ability to work on Mac and produce files that translate directly across isn't quite there yet, despite what people say - pagination/bullets/formatting is always a bit off. Photos/diagrams show up a bit weird or in the wrong spot. I can identify in seconds whether a PPT/Word file was created on Mac and converted. And I'm a freak about little details, so a missing/incorrect page break won't do.

Sorry for the long post - thanks for hanging in there and I'm interested to read what y'all think.

I bought an Asus P50IJ-X2 a few months ago. It meets all your requirements, except I haven't tried running the battery down by playing videos.

Check out the Acer Timeline series.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115829

As for Office, just install it yourself. Be prepared to fork out $200 or so for what I consider a mediocre program. OpenOffice is FREE and has the same mediocrity. The only problem I've found with OO is not being able to save in the .docx format.

to be devil's advocate.... Windows on a Mac via BootCamp or Parallels?

Justification:
Apple makes some great hardware, particularly laptops. You should be able to set things up so that you could run Windows by default and switch to Mac OS. Also, they make really good consumer-level audio/video editing software which you could take advantage of.

The best thing to do is take some time and go to a couple of stores and try them out. I am very picky about how a keyboard feels and touching them is the only way to find that out. So go to a couple of stores, find one you like and then go home and ge it online.

scardeal wrote: to be devil's advocate.... Windows on a Mac via BootCamp or Parallels? Justification: Apple makes some great hardware, particularly laptops. You should be able to set things up so that you could run Windows by default and switch to Mac OS. Also, they make really good consumer-level audio/video editing software which you could take advantage of.

Covered above, but to re-state:

Media/multi-media/editing is a nice to have. The real purpose of this thing is to allow me to work from home when I don't want to be in the office at 3 AM. To do that, I need to be able to create documents that will seamlessly transfer to PCs of a variety of ages...Mac has come along way, but there are still little nuances that don't quite make it over, and they drive me crazy.

I'm not anti-Apple - I have several of their products and my wife has a Macbook. But for what I do, I need a PC-based laptop with Office. That's what the people who use my stuff have.

Derick Freese wrote: Check out the Acer Timeline series. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115829 As for Office, just install it yourself. Be prepared to fork out $200 or so for what I consider a mediocre program. OpenOffice is FREE and has the same mediocrity. The only problem I've found with OO is not being able to save in the .docx format.

That Acer looks good - hadn't considered them. Any thoughts on reliability?

Derick Freese wrote: The only problem I've found with OO is not being able to save in the .docx format.

I think the latest version can do that...

Acers are good. I'm sure there's duds, but in general, people have good luck with them. I have an Acer notebook I bought from Wally World a couple years ago. I use it to share internet at home.

In reply to speedblind:

I read and comprehended your OP. I believe that you are misunderstanding what I'm saying.

I'm not suggesting you run Mac Office on Mac OS. I'm suggesting you run Windows (eg. Windows 7 with Office 2010 for Windows) on a dual-booting Mac laptop. The Apple hardware is excellent whether you run Mac OS or not. Because it is literally running Windows, it'll run things EXACTLY the same as any other Windows based laptop.

By dual-booting, I mean it'll still have Mac OS X on one part of the hard drive and Windows on another. If you boot into the Mac side, you'll see the Mac applications. If you boot into the Windows side, you'll see the Windows applications. You can literally shut down Mac OS X and then boot into Windows. I'm not speaking here of running a Mac OS version of Office.

If you wanted a more integrated experience, you could use Parallels, VMWare or VirtualBox to run Windows OS and Mac OS side by side. This would allow you to run Windows applications and Mac applications side by side. You could have Internet Explorer open (which is a Windows only program), Microsoft Access (again, windows only), GarageBand (Mac OS only) and iPhoto (Mac OS only) running all on the same computer at the same time, side by side.

Does that make more sense?

I have a plastic case Timeline. It's a very cheap unit, doesn't even have a webcam. 4 gigs of RAM, onboard video, DVD Multidrive, dual core 1.2 ghz CPU. It's lived through more than any laptop has a right to.

2 days ago, I spilled about 4 ounces of water into it. Before I could pull the battery, the computer shut down and started making death noises. I still pulled the pack and took everything apart and dried it out. A few hours later, I assembled it to a testing point (CPU, RAM, power) and it booted fine. I assembled it the rest of the way and it's running just like new. That's the first time I've seen a laptop handle water intrusion that well, and I was a computer tech in a previous life.

I've had a bunch of Apple hardware in the past and still have a MacBook, plus the work machine I'm typing this on is an 8-core Mac Pro. Runs Windows 7 just fine and as scardeal points out above, you can switch easily between MacOS X and Windows.

Another alternative would be a Lenovo Thinkpad - they're usually very good quality, but they're not cheap either. I've owned several, still own an older one and bought one for my wife simply because they "just work". Plus at the 'pro' end of things you get the impression that you can hammer nails in the walls with them and not do any damage to the laptop. And no, I haven't tried that yet .

speedblind wrote:

Derick Freese wrote: Check out the Acer Timeline series. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115829 As for Office, just install it yourself. Be prepared to fork out $200 or so for what I consider a mediocre program. OpenOffice is FREE and has the same mediocrity. The only problem I've found with OO is not being able to save in the .docx format.

That Acer looks good - hadn't considered them. Any thoughts on reliability?

I have never had any trouble with any of my Acer products. Cheap, reliable, quality, cheap...

After my misadventures with my Acer, I'm going to replace my wife's Lenovo S10 netbook with an Acer Timeline. When I was a computer tech, Acers were the ONLY laptop we'd carry. They were all that would survive past our 3 year in-store warranty. Over the year and a half I worked there, we saw ZERO come back for any issue.

Up until my recent water intrusion accident with this laptop, I was pretty brand agnostic. Now, Acer will get all of my business.

Think a little more about that wide size. I've had used massive 17+" ones, to the 10" netbooks.

Big units suck batteries dry fast. It's an exponential thing, with really big units sucking the battery dry in under an hour use.

They weigh a ton. Portability is not pleasant with those big and heavy units. They have to be heavy to survive their size. Light weight big units are remarkably flimsy. I've had some of those too.

If you like to hold it in your lap, big units are remarkably awkward.

Keyboard ergonomics on a laptop are lousy. You say you want the full blown office suite. OK, that means a lot of typing and key tapping. Consider a seperate keyboard and even a seperate monitor. IE, a docking unit. I've been using this for years at work, with my ergonomic keyboard (helps greatly with the carpel tunnel stuff).

Trap, I seem to remember a laptop many years ago that had a built-in ergo keyboard. It was a clunky beast, but I think that would serve your purposes well if they started making them again.

The Timeline series is rated at 8 hours of use. Granted, that's probably ultra light use, but that's a significant amount of time. Heck, mine has a 15.1 screen and runs for about 3 hours doing relatively heavy tasks.

foxtrapper wrote: Think a little more about that wide size. I've had used massive 17+" ones, to the 10" netbooks. Big units suck batteries dry fast. It's an exponential thing, with really big units sucking the battery dry in under an hour use. They weigh a ton. Portability is not pleasant with those big and heavy units. They have to be heavy to survive their size. Light weight big units are remarkably flimsy. I've had some of those too. If you like to hold it in your lap, big units are remarkably awkward. Keyboard ergonomics on a laptop are lousy. You say you want the full blown office suite. OK, that means a lot of typing and key tapping. Consider a seperate keyboard and even a seperate monitor. IE, a docking unit. I've been using this for years at work, with my ergonomic keyboard (helps greatly with the carpel tunnel stuff).

Good stuff here - as for the size, the 15" seems to be a pretty standard size and a good compromise between portability and readability (I can't stare at a 10" screen for hours).

For home use it will definitely have a docking station, monitors, etc.

From what everybody's said I think it's going to be an Acer. I found the timeline at Wallyworld online for $707 shipped. Seems to be the best deal so far.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Acer-LX.PTG02.111/14906555

The one you found at Wally World is the same model as the one I posted from Newegg with lower specs. It has a lower end CPU (think Celeron next to a Pentium), and 180 GB less harddrive space. The Newegg one has better graphics by far.

I'd personally spend the extra $92. I don't think you're going to be disappointed with either one, however.

speedblind wrote: Good stuff here - as for the size, the 15" seems to be a pretty standard size and a good compromise between portability and readability (I can't stare at a 10" screen for hours). For home use it will definitely have a docking station, monitors, etc.

If it's going to have a docking station at home, I'd look into a 13" size if you can find it. It's going to be more portable, still have a full sized keyboard, and won't be a hindrance at home, since you've got the docking station.

scardeal wrote: In reply to speedblind: I read and comprehended your OP. I believe that you are misunderstanding what I'm saying. I'm not suggesting you run Mac Office on Mac OS. I'm suggesting you run Windows (eg. Windows 7 with Office 2010 for Windows) on a dual-booting Mac laptop. The Apple hardware is excellent whether you run Mac OS or not. Because it is literally running Windows, it'll run things EXACTLY the same as any other Windows based laptop. By dual-booting, I mean it'll still have Mac OS X on one part of the hard drive and Windows on another. If you boot into the Mac side, you'll see the Mac applications. If you boot into the Windows side, you'll see the Windows applications. You can literally shut down Mac OS X and then boot into Windows. I'm not speaking here of running a Mac OS version of Office. If you wanted a more integrated experience, you could use Parallels, VMWare or VirtualBox to run Windows OS and Mac OS side by side. This would allow you to run Windows applications and Mac applications side by side. You could have Internet Explorer open (which is a Windows only program), Microsoft Access (again, windows only), GarageBand (Mac OS only) and iPhoto (Mac OS only) running all on the same computer at the same time, side by side. Does that make more sense?

scardeal - you took a lot of time with this (thanks), and I feel I owe you at least a reply. I don't really have a logical argument against what you've laid out - all I do know is that when I'm working with people that create documents on Macs, regardless of how similar the source program, things always get a bit messed up. Little stuff like pagination and indents. I don't really know what setup everybody's running, but it's pretty consistently an issue.

My other issue with Macs is that my wife bought one and after a year the batter wouldn't charge - it now needs to be plugged in to be operable, and the stupid magnet power cord becomes detached at the slightest nudge, which shuts the machine down instantly. Could be an isolated incident, but she was a big Mac fan in the past and won't be getting another one.

As for the docking station comment, you're dead-on. I need to research options at some point, but it'll be at least a few months before I'm looking to set up a multiple-monitor work station...for now, I just need a laptop that will travel well and have more than 60 GB hard drive.

Derick Freese wrote: The one you found at Wally World is the same model as the one I posted from Newegg with lower specs. It has a lower end CPU (think Celeron next to a Pentium), and 180 GB less harddrive space. The Newegg one has better graphics by far. I'd personally spend the extra $92. I don't think you're going to be disappointed with either one, however.

Aaah. Good call. Yeah, it's probably worth the $92, even if I only understood 2/3 of what you said. Thanks for the advice.

from MY experience any laptop will have a just about worthless battery in less than 2 years. in the past 7 years I have had a half dozen dells. 2 of them were replaced under extended warranty because of water damage. Both times the replacement laptops were SIGNIFICANT upgrades over the prior machines. That alone has been the reason I have stuck with dell machines vs other companies. I get the extended care warranty for 4 years and I don't worry about anything but the batteries (only 1 year warranty). We have had them replace all manner of minor annoyances at no cost to us.
Yes I am aware that the extended warranty I buy is almost as much as the computer is, but when they replaced my inspiron 1501 with a 1525 and my wifes 1521 with a Studio XPS 16. I feel the cost was definitely justified :)