Laptop for Professor

[Bronsky]

Well, my wife will be using it for work at home. She has a desktop computer at work. It will also be her's and my go to, general use, home computer for email and such. So she won't be taking it out too much, except on the rare occasion to coffee shops, etc.

What is it about the consumer notebooks that makes them not worthy? Is it just the speed?

Thanks for all the responses!

The build quality of the enterprise notebooks is far better than most consumer models. Warranties are typically better as well. I use the Acer due to its unique design and my need for a powerful dedicated GPU in a small notebook. It was the most powerful design on the market at the time (its nearly 2 years old) and it has a unique cooling system that is unmatched in a 13.3" notebook. So, it was worth the compromise, but, since the notebook has been extremely reliable over the past two years, I got lucky. I also bought an extended warranty when I got it.

The Probooks are enterprise grade notebooks. For consumer units, the Dell XPS 14z is a decent choice. I would get it with Dell's next day, on-site warranty. That way, if you have problems, a tech will diagnose your problem on the phone and a service tech will come to your home the next day and fix it. IMO, Asus service is pathetic. I stay away from Asus notebooks, even if they are beautiful designs like the UX31 because the service is so bad in the US. The Samsung series 3 notebooks are also decent. I bought my daughter an 11.6" Series 3 notebook last November and it has been flawless so far. The warranty, however, is a typical "depot" warranty that requires you to mail the unit in to a service center if you have a problem and you can be without the notebook for a couple of weeks if there is a problem. For a business user that can be a real issue.

Best of luck with your decision.

[sirmetman]

Well, if you are worried about service for Asus and the like, you could always go through a reseller and get a 3rd party warranty from them.

[knight427]

Third party warranties aren't comparable to NBD on-site service offered on business machines. Waiting weeks for you laptop to be shipped out and in is not acceptable for a work machine.

[ZaZ]

If you're not in a hurry, the Dell Outlet is tough to beat for value. Something like the Latitude e6520 should be able to had in the Dell Outlet within your budget if you can wait for coupons. There's a thread in the Deals forum dedicated to Dell Outlet coupons. You might want to check it out.

[knight427]

^agree

Also, unlike other outlets, Dell gives you a same-as-new warranty on most (if not all) models.

[jimmers073]

Thanks for all your help!

[Bronsky]

If you're not in a hurry, the Dell Outlet is tough to beat for value.

Could not agree more. The outlet sells both refurbished and new models. If you wait for a sale, you can get a decent notebook at a great price.

[jimmers073]

Could not agree more. The outlet sells both refurbished and new models. If you wait for a sale, you can get a decent notebook at a great price.

Yeah. It's funny. At first Dell was the obvious choice. But I started looking around and second guessing. Now it looks like I'll end up getting a Dell. You just can't beat the deals and service.

Are the refurbished reliable?

[knight427]

I don't know if there is any data comparing new Dell computers to refurb Dell computers made public (I'm sure Dell has studied it). However, the refurbs come with same-as-new warranties.

[Bronsky]

The outlet also sells new units and you can get extended warranties on the refurbs. Lenovo and HP also have outlets but the Lenovo does not offer warranties past 1 year and HP only offers 90 day warranties.