

Ask HN: Buying a new laptop, any suggestions? - mdolon

I'm in the market for a new laptop this holiday season.  I sold my old Macbook and was considering buying a new one, but I need a bigger resolution (1440x900 at the least) and more power.<p>My work primarily consists graphic design (Photoshop, Illustrator) and programming (Notepad++, Textmate), and I'm fine with any OS.<p>The Macbook Pro would've been nice if the screen wasn't glossy and it didn't cost so much. =/  My budget is about $1100 and right now, I'm looking at the Lenovo Thinkpad T400 or a Dell E6400.  I've had a Thinkpad before but I've heard their quality has gone down.  I've also owned a Dell desktop before and their quality used to suck, however I hear they've improved.<p>Anyone have any suggestions?  I've been pulling my hair trying to find the ideal laptop for a week now.
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kalvin
A brand new, sealed, warrantied Macbook Pro (the previous version) can be had
on eBay for $1200 shipped if you're willing to do the following and use both
ebay and paypal:

a) sign up for a Live.com cashback account, do a search for "wii" or whatever
the term is today (google for live.com cashback) on Live.com, and click
through the eBay referral link offering 25% off, max $200 (it fluctuates, but
has been 25 or 30 for most of the last few months)

b) find a new macbook pro (early 2008) offered by a reputable reseller (100+
feedback, 99%+) selling for $1400 or less with the Buy It Now option (required
for live.com CB) and pay via Paypal. Make sure the 25% CB banner appears at
the top of the ebay page.

I did this a few weeks ago for $1220, and I didn't spend any time at all
waiting for lower-priced auction-- just bought one on the results page. I'd
guess you could find one for $1100 ($1300) at this point, or at least $1150.

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tkho
You'll need a friend at UCLA, but I just had a buddy pick up a previous gen
Macbook Pro for me this morning for $1099+tax. It's definitely better bang for
the buck than the current MBP.

<http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/880148>

Anyway, there should also be good deals coming up for Black Friday.

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mdolon
Wow, that's a steal! Unfortunately I live on the opposite side of the country
(NC) and don't have any friends at UCLA. I've looked at the laptops on sale on
Black Friday but I haven't been able to find a decent one yet.. looks like all
the big stores are running pretty weak promos this year.

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qhoxie
I have been a content Dell Latitude user for about a year now. I have the D630
and it is fantastically rugged (on par with a thinkpad) and has great battery
life. The new E series expands on these qualities.

Thinkpad quality has diminished slightly, but they are still good laptops.

~~~
shard
After my Thinkpad T30 got increasingly flaky (the memory slot failure issue
hit me, then a MB flex issue (picking up the laptop on one specific corner
causes the unit to freeze) as well as a cracked screw requiring a full
disassembly to retrieve the loose metal), I did some extensive research online
for a solid laptop which is not the newest model (so that bug reports can
filter in).

I also ended up with a Dell Latitude D630. It's built like a tank, much more
solid than my T30, easier to disassemble as well. I could not find any widely
reported problems with this laptop. Note that because this is a business
laptop, it only has a mono speaker buried under the keyboard, it's my only
complaint.

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quellhorst
I would get new Macbook Pro or ThinkPad X301 if I wasn't using OS X. Both have
1440x900 resolution. For the amount of time I use my laptop I budget more $
then use it for ~2 years.

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whatusername
I've got a post-Lenovo Thinkpad (T60) - and it's been pretty solid for me. (At
least as solid as my T30 / T43)

~~~
icey
I've got a Lenovo T61p that has been a tank for me so far.

~~~
safetytrick
My T61P's been a dream machine, no problems at all.

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pedalpete
try not to laugh, but I got a gateway a few months ago, and i'm crazy
impressed with the specs for the price. I got the t-series, which doesn't
output to the built in screen at the resolution you want on the 14", though
i'm pretty sure it will bump up to that on an external monitor. but I think
the 15" m series does.

From the looks on their site they are getting ready to upgrade the t-series,
so the next version might have higher resolution.

