New Laptop Question

[Krypt]

are lenovo thinkpads the gold standard for a business laptop? I have a macbook, but don't like the ms office software for macs, and basically need a laptop for just excel. I'm also not looking for a laptop with neon red gaming lights looking like a straight dork nah mean.

[cmoney]

The Windows Surface Book is god imo

Any Mac Laptop is not god imo

[Zap_the_Fractions_Giraffe]

are lenovo thinkpads the gold standard for a business laptop? I have a macbook, but don't like the ms office software for macs, and basically need a laptop for just excel. I'm also not looking for a laptop with neon red gaming lights looking like a straight dork nah mean.

Thinkpads are the best, Dell Latitudes are great, HP EliteBooks. Nice keyboards, run cool and thicc and dockable. If I needed a good laptop for MS Office shit I would get a refurb corei5 Latitude or Thinkpad, but I would be sure that it was outfitted with an SSD and I would be weary of the cheapskate 1366 x 768 screen. Go full HD it's just much nicer. I would personally also go for Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 because Windows 10 is adware. I unfortunately use a lot of Excel and I opted for a laptop with a numpad, it fucks with the aesthetics of the keyboard but it's a definite plus. also online poker bet sizing.

I am typing this message on my ASUS Republic of Gamers 17.3 inch laptop with red backlit keyboard

[Zap_the_Fractions_Giraffe]

Also you won't get a very good machine for $500.

I would look to spend $1000, and then plan to hold onto it for at least a few years.

I stretch about 5-6 years out of my laptops typically, but I am also a cheap Jew, and I'm good at maintaining the OS to where it's virus/malware/bloat-free, which can be tough to do if you're not good at that sort of thing.

you have any good free anti-virus software recommendations? Or anything else you use to maintain a clean system

none. Antiviruses might as well be viruses because they sap all your resources and make your shit not work. If you must use Windows, make sure it's updated (this will take hours and hours on a new computer) and windows defender is turned on, that's enough. Install uBlock Origin on your browser. Create a new user in Windows and make it an admin. Strip yourself of Admin privileges, don't surf the internet on an Admin account. you will be prompted for password to do things like install programs and viruses.

Here's another tip: get a free program called Virtualbox and install an Ubuntu or Linux Mint in there. It's really easy it's all point and click. Go into the linux virtual machine when you want to watch streaming porn or go to weird sites because it basically makes you bulletproof unless you're a complete retard, you would have to go out of your way to fuck up your Windows install from the inside of a linux vm

[BlunderMaker]

The newer Dell Latitudes are actually better than the newer ThinkPads IMO. ThinkPads took a turn for the worse around 2012.

[Deal]

A single 256gb ssd is likely all you need for what you specified in requirements. Adding a second drive is unnecessary for most people. Windows and all it's addon bloat only takes 30 and it is by far the biggest hog. Keep your movies and porn on an external connected to your home router as a NAS. You don't want your only copy on a laptop anyhow so just load up what you want, when you want.

Your wireless card is next. Make sure it is at least AC1200 for $50 instead of the stock $20 piece of shit.

Your best advice is not to take advice from PFA. Go here instead: https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/

A $500 laptop for anyone not gaming or loading up multiple VM's as a development machine is sufficient. Don't fall for the upsell bs.

[Charham]

The newer Dell Latitudes are actually better than the newer ThinkPads IMO. ThinkPads took a turn for the worse around 2012.

I think IBM sold the thinkpad to the Chinese, who then loaded them up with spyware/adware.

[El Gallo]

Also you won't get a very good machine for $500.

I would look to spend $1000, and then plan to hold onto it for at least a few years.

I stretch about 5-6 years out of my laptops typically, but I am also a cheap Jew, and I'm good at maintaining the OS to where it's virus/malware/bloat-free, which can be tough to do if you're not good at that sort of thing.

you have any good free anti-virus software recommendations? Or anything else you use to maintain a clean system

Malware Bytes

[chinamaniac]

TYDE IS GOD/thread

[BlunderMaker]

The newer Dell Latitudes are actually better than the newer ThinkPads IMO. ThinkPads took a turn for the worse around 2012.

I think IBM sold the thinkpad to the Chinese, who then loaded them up with spyware/adware.

Yeah IBM sold their PC business to the chinks around 2005. The thinkpad line has steadily decreased in quality since then. They were still the gold standard up until about the T420 but at this point I think Dell's offerings are superior

[adamantium]

I think IBM sold the thinkpad to the Chinese, who then loaded them up with spyware/adware.

Yeah IBM sold their PC business to the chinks around 2005. The thinkpad line has steadily decreased in quality since then. They were still the gold standard up until about the T420 but at this point I think Dell's offerings are superior

Anyone who has any experience in the computer business knows that Dell is shit compared to Lenovo and HP.
Lenovo is still top top, in the corporate world build quality and after marked support is very important and nobody beats Lenovo in this department.

Im talking T and X model thinkpads.

I have been in this business for close to 20 years and this thread is full of so much fail.

Who the fuck recommends a laptop with 2 discs, ITS VERY GOOOT THEN YOU HAVE ONE DISCS FOR YOUR DOWNLOADS! FUCKING HICKS
If you are into gaming you buy/build a desktop.

[adamantium]

To the OP

All you need is:

Intel i5 processor
8 GM memory (16 if you run a lot of shit at the same time)
256 GB SSD

If you have the extra cash get a Lenovo T470S

[Deal]

This would be perfect. 1920x1080 is the nuts for screen resolution. This one is in Canadian peso's.

http://www.nmicrovip.ca/zenbook-core...b-refurbished/

[adamantium]

This would be perfect. 1920x1080 is the nuts for screen resolution. This one is in Canadian peso's.

http://www.nmicrovip.ca/zenbook-core...b-refurbished/

Good choice.

Also Windows +4K = nut low

[Dan Druff]

Don't listen to the people telling you to only get 256 GB SSD.

That is a very poor long-term strategy for your computer. At first it will seem like plenty. Two years down the line, your drive will be full, and you're going to wonder wtf happened.

LOL at people like Deal telling you to hassle with external drives.

The average computer user doesn't want to deal with that nonsense. Having two drives also gives you the advantage of being able to quickly and easily store important things on BOTH drives, to where there's no longer a single point of failure. Unless your computer gets lost/stolen or completely destroyed (like in a fire), your important stuff will be preserved if one of the two drives fail.

I can tell you from experience that 256 GB isn't enough.

I don't download a lot of software, store movies on my second drive, and still my 256 GB SSD is running low and I'm finding myself moving less-used things to the second drive. The 256 looked like plenty at first, but two years later I'm so glad I have that second drive.

A fact of life with PCs which has been true since the 1980s: You can never have too much hard drive storage or too much RAM (within reason, of course).

I still remember people mocking me in 1986 for buying a 40 MB hard drive, asking me, "How are you ever going to use 40 megabytes?"

Now, you shouldn't spend too much on storage or RAM. If increasing storage/RAM becomes significantly more expensive, then obviously don't do it.

However, 16 GB RAM plus 1 TB of storage is a good target for a computer that you want to see last for awhile.

The only good advice from Deal was the screen resolution thing. 1920x1080 should be your goal there.

[adamantium]

Don't listen to the people telling you to only get 256 GB SSD.

That is a very poor long-term strategy for your computer. At first it will seem like plenty. Two years down the line, your drive will be full, and you're going to wonder wtf happened.

LOL at people like Deal telling you to hassle with external drives.

The average computer user doesn't want to deal with that nonsense. Having two drives also gives you the advantage of being able to quickly and easily store important things on BOTH drives, to where there's no longer a single point of failure. Unless your computer gets lost/stolen or completely destroyed (like in a fire), your important stuff will be preserved if one of the two drives fail.

I can tell you from experience that 256 GB isn't enough.

I don't download a lot of software, store movies on my second drive, and still my 256 GB SSD is running low and I'm finding myself moving less-used things to the second drive. The 256 looked like plenty at first, but two years later I'm so glad I have that second drive.

A fact of life with PCs which has been true since the 1980s: You can never have too much hard drive storage or too much RAM (within reason, of course).

I still remember people mocking me in 1986 for buying a 40 MB hard drive, asking me, "How are you ever going to use 40 megabytes?"

Now, you shouldn't spend too much on storage or RAM. If increasing storage/RAM becomes significantly more expensive, then obviously don't do it.

However, 16 GB RAM plus 1 TB of storage is a good target for a computer that you want to see last for awhile.

The only good advice from Deal was the screen resolution thing. 1920x1080 should be your goal there.

Stick to what you know buddy, cuz this sure as shit aint it.

[adamantium]

Don't listen to the people telling you to only get 256 GB SSD.

That is a very poor long-term strategy for your computer. At first it will seem like plenty. Two years down the line, your drive will be full, and you're going to wonder wtf happened.

LOL at people like Deal telling you to hassle with external drives.

The average computer user doesn't want to deal with that nonsense. Having two drives also gives you the advantage of being able to quickly and easily store important things on BOTH drives, to where there's no longer a single point of failure. Unless your computer gets lost/stolen or completely destroyed (like in a fire), your important stuff will be preserved if one of the two drives fail.

I can tell you from experience that 256 GB isn't enough.

I don't download a lot of software, store movies on my second drive, and still my 256 GB SSD is running low and I'm finding myself moving less-used things to the second drive. The 256 looked like plenty at first, but two years later I'm so glad I have that second drive.

A fact of life with PCs which has been true since the 1980s: You can never have too much hard drive storage or too much RAM (within reason, of course).

I still remember people mocking me in 1986 for buying a 40 MB hard drive, asking me, "How are you ever going to use 40 megabytes?"

Now, you shouldn't spend too much on storage or RAM. If increasing storage/RAM becomes significantly more expensive, then obviously don't do it.

However, 16 GB RAM plus 1 TB of storage is a good target for a computer that you want to see last for awhile.

The only good advice from Deal was the screen resolution thing. 1920x1080 should be your goal there.

This advice coming from a guy who bought a new pc in 2016 WITH OUT a SSD.

I rest my case

[Dan Druff]

Also, the "get a refurbished computer" advice also sucks.

"Get a refurbished (insert electronic device or appliance here)" advice always sucks nowadays.

This is because "refurbished" is usually code for, "Someone returned it with a complaint, we ran quick diagnostics, couldn't find anything wrong, assumed user error, and packaged it up again."

Sometimes it also means they found a problem and "fixed' it -- but often the fix was either incomplete or wrongly diagnosed.

Sometimes it also means you're getting an item which was really used once by a moron who didn't understand it, and the device is perfectly fine.

But you have no way to know which of the above is the case, and often you will only find the issues after you've had it for awhile.

Same goes for buying a "floor model" item. You'd like to think that you're simply getting an item which has been sitting on a showroom floor and may not be brand new, but otherwise operates fine. Wrong. Usually you're getting a refurbished piece of shit.

I bought a "floor model" dishwasher a few years ago, and it turned out to be refurbished (which the store didn't tell me). It had all kinds of defects -- some of which took a few months to become apparent. I got the store to take it back, after they reluctantly admitted they didn't disclose that "floor model" equaled "refurbished".

Buying anything refurbished is gambling, and you're often going to lose. A family member of mine also bought a "floor model" dishwasher, and theirs works great (which is why I gave it a shot).

But I'm never doing it again. Nothing refurbished. No floor models. Nothing from shady sellers who may claim a refurbished item is new.

If you are really on a tight budget, then yes, a refurbished item may be your only realistic option.

But I don't find all of the potential hassle to be worth it.

My grandfather once said, "I'm not rich enough to afford a bargain."

[Dan Druff]

Don't listen to the people telling you to only get 256 GB SSD.

That is a very poor long-term strategy for your computer. At first it will seem like plenty. Two years down the line, your drive will be full, and you're going to wonder wtf happened.

LOL at people like Deal telling you to hassle with external drives.

The average computer user doesn't want to deal with that nonsense. Having two drives also gives you the advantage of being able to quickly and easily store important things on BOTH drives, to where there's no longer a single point of failure. Unless your computer gets lost/stolen or completely destroyed (like in a fire), your important stuff will be preserved if one of the two drives fail.

I can tell you from experience that 256 GB isn't enough.

I don't download a lot of software, store movies on my second drive, and still my 256 GB SSD is running low and I'm finding myself moving less-used things to the second drive. The 256 looked like plenty at first, but two years later I'm so glad I have that second drive.

A fact of life with PCs which has been true since the 1980s: You can never have too much hard drive storage or too much RAM (within reason, of course).

I still remember people mocking me in 1986 for buying a 40 MB hard drive, asking me, "How are you ever going to use 40 megabytes?"

Now, you shouldn't spend too much on storage or RAM. If increasing storage/RAM becomes significantly more expensive, then obviously don't do it.

However, 16 GB RAM plus 1 TB of storage is a good target for a computer that you want to see last for awhile.

The only good advice from Deal was the screen resolution thing. 1920x1080 should be your goal there.

This advice coming from a guy who bought a new pc in 2016 WITH OUT a SSD.

I rest my case

I bought a new PC in 2015 with a 256 SSD and a 1 TB non-SSD.

I originally ordered a non-SSD machine, then realized it was a huge mistake and canceled it, instead ordering this one.

I'm typing on it right now.

[Dan Druff]

Don't listen to the people telling you to only get 256 GB SSD.

That is a very poor long-term strategy for your computer. At first it will seem like plenty. Two years down the line, your drive will be full, and you're going to wonder wtf happened.

LOL at people like Deal telling you to hassle with external drives.

The average computer user doesn't want to deal with that nonsense. Having two drives also gives you the advantage of being able to quickly and easily store important things on BOTH drives, to where there's no longer a single point of failure. Unless your computer gets lost/stolen or completely destroyed (like in a fire), your important stuff will be preserved if one of the two drives fail.

I can tell you from experience that 256 GB isn't enough.

I don't download a lot of software, store movies on my second drive, and still my 256 GB SSD is running low and I'm finding myself moving less-used things to the second drive. The 256 looked like plenty at first, but two years later I'm so glad I have that second drive.

A fact of life with PCs which has been true since the 1980s: You can never have too much hard drive storage or too much RAM (within reason, of course).

I still remember people mocking me in 1986 for buying a 40 MB hard drive, asking me, "How are you ever going to use 40 megabytes?"

Now, you shouldn't spend too much on storage or RAM. If increasing storage/RAM becomes significantly more expensive, then obviously don't do it.

However, 16 GB RAM plus 1 TB of storage is a good target for a computer that you want to see last for awhile.

The only good advice from Deal was the screen resolution thing. 1920x1080 should be your goal there.

Stick to what you know buddy, cuz this sure as shit aint it.

I guarantee I know this far better than you.

I've also lived it. I bought a computer with a 256 GB SSD, am not at all wasteful with space (nor do I install a whole lot), and two years later the SSD is running low, and I'm thrilled I have the second drive.

Sorry that you're too poor to afford a dual drive computer, but I'm trying to give this guy advice to buy a machine which will last more than 18 months before he starts feeling like it's time to purchase a new one.