Lenovo T530 or HP Envy 17/EliteBook 8540W

[GeoHack]

Long time lurker, first time poster

Basically my old F series Vaio (VPC F115FG) had an incident with a bottle fo water and now I'm looking for a new laptop and really cant decide between the above. I'm a PhD student just about to start writing up my thesis so something that is comfortable to type for days on end is important, equally the screen needs to be very high quality.

Realistically they all have huge amounts of grunt (all i7) and FHD screens, ample ram and enough gpu grunt for photoshop, arcgis etc

I was leaning towards the Lenovo because I can pick it up cheap with a SSD but I am a sucker for the metal finish on the HP.

Help me choose!

Looks like I missed something!

What is your budget?
2200-2600NZD/~2100USD

What country will you be buying this in?
New Zealand

What size notebook do you prefer?
Desktop Replacement (15inch + screen)

What brands do you like or dislike?
Like: Dell, HP, Sony or Lenovo (practically anything with a good build quality)
Dislike: None

Would you consider a refurbished laptop?
No

What are the primary tasks you need this notebook for?
Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Mathematical Modeling (Matlab), PhD thesis and paper publication (MS Word, PowerPoint, Photoshop, Illusrator etc)

Games: Nothing specific (havent gamed in awhile) but some strategy games and the occasional FPS etc would be great.

Where will you be using this laptop?
Mostly on my desk as a desktop replacement, but will be travelling with it occasionally (working in cafes, international conferences etc)

How many hours of battery life do you need?
2-3

Will you be buying online or in store?
Online

Which OS do you prefer?
Windows 7

List the screen resolutions that interest you:
Max Resolution (1920 x 1080)

Do you prefer a glossy or matte screen?
Matte

Is the laptops design important to you?
Yes. A value a strong build quality

Approximately what date will you be buying this laptop?
August 2012

How long do you want this laptop to last?
3 years

How much storage capacity do you need?
1 TB+

Are you interested in SSD for storage?
If possible. It is an option on the Lenovo

Do you want a built-in optical drive, what type.
Not fussed, will probably swap it out for another HD.

Basically it is a choice between the Lenovo with all the option boxes ticked (e.g., i7, 8GB ram, FHD screen, SSD and dvd bay swapped for a 1TB 5400rpm drive) or these

JUST LAPTOPS - HP Workstation Quad-i7 16GB 15.4" 1080P FX880M/1GB for sale!

JUST LAPTOPS - Envy 1080P 2630Q 8G 2x750G/7200 BD ATI6850/1G W7/P for sale!

My main criteria since they are all equally powerful for most tasks is keyboard, screen and build quality. I'm really leaning towards the EliteBook but could be easily swayed with peoples opinions! ( i do like backlight keyboards since I work well at night which the EliteBook doesnt have)

[GeoHack]

Bump. Any advice?

Cheers

[frodoz737]

Stick with a Precision, ThinkPad or Elitebook in that order. You get the build quality you need, and the performance you want.

[pepper_john]

I'd go with T530 since lenovo has a big discount for students right now. Probably you want a quad core i7 cpu to go with it.

[GeoHack]

Unfortunately Lenovo in New Zealand doesnt offer a student discount and the Dell Precision is about twice ($4,999nzd) the price (and much more poorly spec'd) than the other options.

I think it might be owners lounge question but is it possible to swap out the standard keyboard in EliteBook for something that is backlight? and also swap the DVD drive for another HD (possibly an SSD)?

After reading about the en horrible switching between the onboard and discrete graphics on the Envy (ATI) its put me right off.

[pepper_john]

Unfortunately Lenovo in New Zealand doesnt offer a student discount and the Dell Precision is about twice ($4,999nzd) the price (and much more poorly spec'd) than the other options.

I think it might be owners lounge question but is it possible to swap out the standard keyboard in EliteBook for something that is backlight? and also swap the DVD drive for another HD (possibly an SSD)?

After reading about the en horrible switching between the onboard and discrete graphics on the Envy (ATI) its put me right off.

Not sure about the elitebook, but T530 comes with the backlit key board option and you can add a SDD on your own.

[GeoHack]

Yeah, decent price too.

I'm pretty torn between the T530 and the Elitebook tbh. The metal finish on the HP does it for me...but the T530 is the better laptop. Even if it is ugly.