Recommendation for new Laptop

jah8887

I am in the market for looking for a new laptop. I will be using it for network administration and support. I don't need anything powerful just something that I can test and configure equipment. Any suggestions?

TechGuru80

Which OS? If you don’t need a ton of power, something like a MacBook Air would be nice if you are moving around a lot and want to have something portable.

Iristheangel

Not sure if this is what you're looking for but this is what I'll be buying in December: https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/series/switch7blackedition

Pros:
- Form factor of Surface Pro (which I have) but bigger screen which is what I've wished out of my Surface for awhile
- Wacom EMR technology (4096 levels of sensitivity)
- Battery-less pen that actually tucks into the laptop
- Great for presentations
- Quad core Kaby Lake processor
- 16 GB RAM
- 10 hour battery
- Liquid cooling
- 512GB SSD Drive
- Discrete GPU
- USB-C
- MicroSD card

I'll probably be swapping out my Surface Pro 4 with this since I'm always on the run and I can use this for making videos, presentations, labbing, and it's light enough for travel.

stryder144

I am not an Acer fan but that is a pretty awesome sounding computer.

djrabes

Anything Intel i5 or higher with 8GB of RAM to be honest. Dependent on whether you want OS X or Windows/Linux

mikey88

I have a Dell XPS 13 and I love it. When I bought it, it was "smallest 13in laptop on the planet" lol due to it's infinity display. I may go for XPS 15 though because I want a dedicated GPU going forward.

but as @djrabes mentioned, anything i5,i7 8gb Ram and a SSD would be solid.

yoba222

Also have an XPS13 because Dell is more Linux Friendly than most other laptop making companies. There is no dedicated ethernet port. You have to fiddle with a floppy adapter to get that working. Macs are even worse in this regard.

NetworkNewb

Iristheangel wrote: »

Not sure if this is what you're looking for but this is what I'll be buying in December: https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/series/

The only thing that annoys me about that is the stand. Looks like it would get bent or just snap off if it got pulled to hard.

Iristheangel

@networknewb - Per the video reviews, it's pretty solid. It does look easier to replace though if it does break than a Surface Pro stand

jah8887

No OS preference, and that Acer is looking nice, but I can be clumsy and wondered if I would accidentally break it :oops It does seem solid though as said above by Iris.

dmoore44

Iristheangel wrote: »

...bigger screen which is what I've wished out of my Surface for awhile...

Bigger screen? Huh, I'm the opposite - I've got a SP3, and I wish the screen were smaller. I dislike the 12" size and 3:2 aspect ratio - I wish the form factor were closer to the iPad's 9.7" size and 4:3 aspect ratio. I guess it's all a matter of use case - if you're a hardcore content creator who likes to lab on the side, a larger screen would be worth it. I like to use my tablet to read (general web content via feedly, ebooks, comics, etc) and watch videos.

Iristheangel

@dmoore44 - LoL. I always like more real estate and for it to be portable. That's why I have one of these with me at all times: https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-MB168B-1366x768-Portable-Monitor/dp/B013XFJKGI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1506484593&sr=8-3&keywords=ASUS%2Busb%2Bmonitor&th=1

Less than a pound and a full USB powered 15.6" 1920x1080 IPS screen. Perfect for labbing and work

TechGromit

Something with a built in Ethernet adapter, they are becoming increasingly hard to find. WiFi is great, most of the time, but get some interference, poor WiFi coverage or too many devices without enough access points, than your better off with dial up, at 2400 bauds. Yes, they have external Wifi adapters you can plug into your USB port, but that's another thing you'll not use often and when you need it, your like damn I forgot to pack it. Can't forget it, if it's build into your laptop. Forget BestBuy, last time I was there, they didn't sell a single model that had built in WiFi.

jah8887

I agree Gromit and where's the cheese? Sorry I had to. I haven't found a lot with built in Ethernet adapters. I just recently found out that I had an old HP Compaq 6730b laptop and still works with Windows 7, but it is 7 years old according to HP site. Kind of hesitant to **** money into upgrading it but it does have built in Ethernet adapter and a wireless a/b/g card.

wd40

Lenovo T4 (T470) series laptops and X2 (X270) series have Ethernet ports, both are business laptops so you will have to pay a little bit more than consumer laptops.

https://www3.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/ThinkPad-X270/p/22TP2TX2700

https://www3.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/thinkpad/t-series/T470/p/22TP2TT4700

TechGromit

Our last upgrade at work was HP Probook 640 G2, fastest option is Intel Core i7-6600U / 3.4 GHz 4 MB cache, 2 cores, compared to your HP Compaq Intel, Core 2 Duo P8600 / 2.4 GHz. They are considerably faster, CPU benchmark 4812 vs 1540. With built in Ethernet adapter. That not the model I have on my desk, I have an i5-4300M, which benchmarks in at 4407.

victor.s.andrei

wd40 wrote: »

Lenovo T4 (T470) series laptops and X2 (X270) series have Ethernet ports, both are business laptops so you will have to pay a little bit more than consumer laptops.

https://www3.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/ThinkPad-X270/p/22TP2TX2700

https://www3.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/thinkpad/t-series/T470/p/22TP2TT4700

You don't have to buy a T470 brand new. Earlier this year, I got a professionally refurbished T430s with 128 GB SSD and 8 GB RAM at Micro Center for $239 plus tax. It's been purring away as my primary computer ever since.

That said, the trick, in my experience, is to buy equipment that is designed for corporate use (3-5 year life cycle) rather than consumer use. That way, you're more likely to get something that's not nearly as disposable as say...the $200 Black Friday special at Best Buy.

thomas_

I humbly submit this:

https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/model/NX.GG5AA.005

Pros:

-$350
-built in ethernet adapter
-built in VGA and HDMI ports
-It will support a NVMe hard drive(but only at half speed due to 2x PCIE 3.0 lanes instead of 4x PCIE 3.0 lanes.) $124 for a 250GB.
-will support a max of 32GB ram
-easy access to replace hard drive/RAM
-backlit keyboard

Cons:

-weighs 5 pounds
-comes only with 4GB RAM. DDR4 RAM is kind of expensive
-replacing the battery is not so easy. Probably not the type of laptop for a person who carries a second battery.
-most of the laptop case is plastic.
-probably not going to be doing any gaming with the on-board video card.
-I'm not a big fan of the cd/dvd drive

Unknowns:

-I'm not sure how well it would run Linux. I haven't researched it or tried installing Linux.
-I haven't tried any virtualization on it yet. I'm guessing that it will do fine since I was running VMs on my previous laptop that had a core2 duo in it.

Overall:

-For under $500 you get a decent laptop that will most likely handle your needs and you won't feel too sad if you break it since it was relatively cheap.

stryder144

wd40 wrote: »

Lenovo T4 (T470) series laptops and X2 (X270) series have Ethernet ports, both are business laptops so you will have to pay a little bit more than consumer laptops.

https://www3.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/ThinkPad-X270/p/22TP2TX2700

https://www3.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/thinkpad/t-series/T470/p/22TP2TT4700

Not to mention that with a Lenovo business-class laptop, you can get a docking station. I have an old T420 with docking station and it is close to perfect. It currently has Linux installed, with absolutely no issues. Absolutely love it.

Bjcheung77

Currently have several laptops, two Acer, a Dell, an HP, and two Lenovo's - and 4 crappy desktops.
I would recommend a Lenovo laptop as well, here are the 5 - from the price points going higher.

1) Lenovo - Flex 4 14 2-in-1 14" Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Pentium - 4GB Memory - 500GB Hard Drive - Black
Cheapest, for everyday use, should run everything fine but heavy tasks or games - https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-flex-4-14-2-in-1-14-touch-screen-laptop-intel-pentium-4gb-memory-500gb-hard-drive-black/5206701.p?skuId=5206701

2) Lenovo - Yoga 720 2-in-1 13.3" Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 4GB Memory - 128GB Solid State Drive - Platinum Silver
Middle of the line, great for travel as it's 13.3 and lighterweight, sufficient CPU/SSD, but memory is lacking at 4G - https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-yoga-720-2-in-1-13-3-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i5-4gb-memory-128gb-solid-state-drive-platinum-silver/5722725.p?skuId=5722725

3) Lenovo - Yoga 720 2-in-1 13.3" Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - 256GB Solid State Drive - Platinum Silver
Same as #2, but with 8GB Memory and double the SSD at 256GB - this is what I would highly recommend - great "middle of the line Lappy".
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-yoga-720-2-in-1-13-3-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i5-8gb-memory-256gb-solid-state-drive-platinum-silver/5722715.p?skuId=5722715

4) Any other Lenovo with a minimum of Intel Core i5, 8GB, 256GB SSD, especially the business line such as a T460 or higher, but those are expensive. I am currently running a T460 and it is amazing, lightweight, 14.1" screen is nice, basically - it replaces my T430 that I had for a few years.