Hot Laptops right now?

[El Presidente]

My Laptops aren't cutting it any longer past two years. Not all thar surprising given the amount of work I churn through on them and the travel they do. 

So I am in the market for a new Laptop this quarter. Requirements?

• No larger than 13"
• Fast. 
• SSD
• Ports and cards a plenty. 
• TOUGH
• Windows
• Antiglare High Res Screen. 

I am not a gamer so it is a business laptop with naturally high vid/photo/forum use.

I am also not a natural Tech head. Not bad (Ken bad), but at the same time I need an intuitive platform to work with. 

Let me know what you believe is the best there is right now on the market  

[oliverdst]

"Hot laptops right now?" or "Windows boys x Apple boys biannual thread" 

[foreese]

I converted to a Mac in August of 2015, still use Windows on a VM for some stuff, but other than that I never look back. And yes, let the haters hate!

[MrGlass]

I was really happy with my previous Lenovo Thinkpad which lasted four years (but I do treat them well).  I've just replaced it with another one, a T450s which is a 14" and it has been great so far. If you're after tough, these are some of the best.

[Jeremy Festa]

Get the 11 or 13 inch Macbook Air.

[jwr0201]

Mac hands down.  Faster, more stable, longer lived.  I use two pc's at work and macs at home.  

[Fuzz]

35 minutes ago, MrGlass said:

I was really happy with my previous Lenovo Thinkpad which lasted four years (but I do treat them well).  I've just replaced it with another one, a T450s which is a 14" and it has been great so far. If you're after tough, these are some of the best.

Agree with Lenovos being a tough laptop. Plus, their service is pretty good. Had an X220 for several years that eventually crapped itself, spoke to Lenovo (I have a service contract) who tried to repair it, but eventually replaced it with a new X240 free of charge. I've had several Thinkpads over the years, going back to the T series. May not be the prettiest of laptops, but they are workhorses.

[luv2fly]

No morre windows for me.  Mac now.  I can run many window's applications on mine and there is a way to do a split system where the Mac runs Window's OS and you can switch between the two.  More costly on the upfront but several friends do this as they find a Mac much more reliable laptop.  

Mine has no moving parts which is key since I am brutal on my laptop for work.  My 2 cents.

[TheFullMontecristo]

Mac Air = get the extended warranty (glad I paid for it). nothing but problems on my daughters. Have returned it 3x in last 2.5 years for various dis-functions.

[JohnS]

Not that I've done it, but you can run Windows 8 or 10 (preferably 8) on a Mac Laptop.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/why-running-windows-8-on-a-mac-is-better-than-running-it-on-a-pc/

http://www.windowscentral.com/how-install-windows-10-macbook

http://blogs.wsj.com/personal-technology/2015/08/11/how-to-install-windows-10-on-your-macbook/

[Kbb]

Perhaps check out a Getac B300.  Rugged and 5 yr warranty.  Red backlight keyboard is handy in low light conditions. Not cheap, but you did bold print "tough".

[Cigarsandmalts]

This is a bit old, but the best performing Windows laptop is....actually an Apple.  

http://fossbytes.com/surprise-apple-macbook-pro-declared-best-laptop-for-running-windows/

this was also the case back in 2013. It's easy to install Windows on a Mac (the folks in the Apple Store could do it for you) but honestly if you were to buy an Apple and give Mac OS a test drive over a couple days you'd probably never go back to Windows. 

[planetary]

@El Presidente If you can go up to 14", I'd recommend the Lenovo Thinkpad T460s.  Has all the other features you want, including being MILSPEC certified, and though you're going a bit larger in diagonal size, the weight is kept under control.  As a bonus, it has one of the best keyboards on the market.

I might also look at the Dell XPS 13, which is very well-reviewed, though I'm not sure how tough it is.

If you're willing to consider a mac, I wouldn't buy one until the new models are announced and released sometime later this year.  The current Macbook Pro models are quite long in the tooth and well overdue for a refresh.

[Ferrero]

Whole office upgrade to Apple...

[LLC]

I use a Mac for personal but for work I use an Asus Zenbook which is basically an Apple Air notebook in size and build quality but runs Windows. If you get a top line 13 inch it should more than meet your needs. I've had mine 3 years and travel with it lots.

[HoyoFan]

Just out of curiosity, any reason why you wouldn't go to a Mac?

[PigFish]

... dude, if you would stay off the porn sites, the OS will work better! Can I ask the reason for a high-res 13" monitor??? That is almost funny! When you squeeze the screen down to 13" everything is hi-res... 

My God, what computer with an i3-i7 is not good for business? I only use my water cooled i7 to rip video and some CAM tool path writing. I can draw in CAD all day on dual core i3 that runs two threads a processor. Unless you are ripping video, or playing games who needs to pay top dollar for a computer?

Like some of the above, if you want a computer that lasts the test of time buy a Mac. Tough, well there are Panasonic Toughbooks. Me, I have gotten a lot of milage out of PCs these days as well. W-10 works well, as does W-7 and I run both platforms currently on several machines.

What will cost you money is a laptop with an 'off the die' video card. Typically you are looking at gaming laptops for discrete video processors.

What I take to work (when working for others) is a cheap Toshiba i5 generic, plastic laptop. I can usually find one from $200-$300, add my own SSD and some additional memory. I can do CAD work on it, and the monitor is better than my eyes!!!

My latest thing is the Gigabyte Brix... Very cool little computers, small, fast and cheap. 

Good luck!!! -R

[Kurt]

I bought a high end Macbook and lasted about 3 months.. annoying as hell.  

If you wanting a windows computer.. http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-15-9550-laptop/pd

15.4 inch infinity display 4K ultra HD touch screen, Intel 6th gen i7 processor.

I opted for the super dooper model.. 1TB hard drive, and 32GB of ram. 

[selpo]

I second the Dell XPS 13, you will love it

small, fast, sleek, SSD and battery life all day long.  

[Overproof]

Reading the title I entered the post as a fence ready to buy at a third of the price.  

Anyway, another vote here for a macbook

[Bill Hayes]

I have a Macbook Air. I run Microsoft office 365 for mac. I'm not much of a tech head though and mostly use word. I much prefer the mac keyboard for typing. If they are upgrading the Macbook pro I would perhaps wait for that. But the macbook air has a decent amount of storage and most things get saved to cloud nowadays anyway. I have the magic mouse for mac which I like. If you go down this option I would suggest a hard carry case for travel. The air is light but vulnerable to damage I imagine if you drop it.

[polarbear]

Microsoft Surface Pro?

Cant stand Apples (idevices or otherwise)

[seattledude]

There is many choices.

My top two would be.

1. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 4th Generation - $1500 to $1800 or so well equipped

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/x1-carbon-4/

 

2. Apple MacBook Pro 13 with Retina  - $1799 usd or so well equipped

http://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro?product=MF841LL/A&step=config

[MIKA27]

I must say DELL XPS is pretty good, go the i7 only issue is it has a 256Gb SSD

Also the new HP Spectre Laptop very new and has some great features and comes with 512GB SSD (Currently at JB HI FI)

 

[Hypersomniac]

I love my MacBook Pro. My last one lasted me 6 years, this one is going strong for a couple years already. And it can run windows.Give it a try, you might like it.