After 5 years (normal life with my travels in the bush) my old laptop is deciding to head off to the great data dump in the sky. Need a new one. I'm looking at the toughbooks and the like, don't really need the 17" screen (nice for acad, but....) Any suggestions?
-JD-
I just moved up to a 15.6 screen model, with the built in numeric keypad, and I really like it. It is so much easier than the external usb keypad I use with my old laptop.
What are your specific needs? My laptop is my main computer now, but I still went with a less expensive model. I back up my data, and I do on occasion take it in the truck. I did not want to loss an expensive laptop if someone broke in.
Good luck!
Last 2 were 17", which is nice when playing with autocad. Trouble is, my traveling around the state takes a major toll on them, + they are just over the "carry on" size for bush planes. Getting 5 years out of them is about normal. I use my laptop exclusively, fire it up i the morning, it sounds like a 747 winding up for take off!! Harddrive is failing, I fear. I like the look of the tough books, armored and all that. Was wondering if anyone has used these and if they are as bullet proof as touted.
-JD-
There are a TON of good options. Just note, Windows 10 is scheduled to come out in January
For the price Sager makes some good Laptops powerful laptops if you do any scanning
http://www.sagernotebook.com/
Also Lenovo aka IBM is ALWAYS a good choice
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/x240/
My latest satisfactory "laptop" is a loaded Dell Precision M6800...
There is at least one poster here somewhere (I can not remember who right now) that loves their Toughbook. As I recall they are not cheap though?
About 4K with the racing stripes and flames!
-JD-
I second these machines, We have these M4700 17" super fast. Heavy though...
> My latest satisfactory "laptop" is a loaded Dell Precision M6800...
I had a Dell Precision M4800 at my last job that was very nice.
I recommend a solid state hard drive for maximum reliability. 15" screen for portability. Docking station & dual monitors for CAD production in the office.
I second the Dell's precision business laptops. I use a 4700, which is not as sexy as the 6800, but mine is the right size (15.6") and enough power to run everything I need.
But I want the mag wheels too, how much extra are those?
> There are a TON of good options. Just note, Windows 10 is scheduled to come out in January
>
> For the price Sager makes some good Laptops powerful laptops if you do any scanning
>> http://www.sagernotebook.com/
>
> Also Lenovo aka IBM is ALWAYS a good choice
>> http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/x240/br >
I have had great service from my Sager NP8170... only one problem and they were very fast and courteous in the repair and return.
Consider a model with dual disk drives.
My brand of choice these days is Asus. For many years, HP was my laptop brand of choice because they did actually make pretty awesome stuff at one time. Asus is the company that makes a large number of the internal parts for other laptop and desktop computer manufacturers. One day, they decided to build the whole machine and I'm glad they did.
However, you are looking for something more rugged and I don't think Asus makes anything like that. If they did, it would likely be quite awesome.
On a side note, I LOVE my Microsoft Surface Pro 3. 🙂
> My brand of choice these days is Asus.
Only a single data point, but I bought a late model low end Asus ($550) earlier this year and the camera, mics, and WiFi didn't work. After a day of dealing with the Asus website I took it back to the store for a refund.
Here's where it gets interesting. For some reason they insisted on an exchange instead of a refund. I kept saying the machine don't work right, and finally won when we went out on the floor, fired up the demo model, and it had exactly the same problems. The salesman pulled the demo model off the floor, thanked me profusely, and coughed up the refund.
I have an older Toughbook which has been a good laptop but it was very expensive when I bought it and I still have trouble reading the screen outside.
I saw a Carlson rep throw his running Toughbook (the same model I have) on the floor to show how durable they are. I cringed when he flung it across the room then he said "you can do that " and I told him you can, but you don't. The computer kept on running and didn't seem to suffer any problems. I am surprised about all of the "durable" data collectors and such that need constant repair. My old HP48 in a collector case running TDS and SMI never needed any repair and I used it for years. I use a Ranger that we have to mark the keyboard with a marker because the numbers have worn off.
I would recommend a Toughbook if you want to spend the $$. I think they make different levels of toughness now, the better units cost more.
T. Wilson
