Solved! Looking to buy a new laptop (running GIS software)

beyakk

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Jul 22, 2010
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Hello,
I am looking to buy a new laptop. I was advised to look here for some advice. I would appreciate input people might have. The hardware choices are a little baffling.

_What is your budget?
up to $2200 or so- would prefer lower of course
2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
15"-16"
3_What screen resolution do you want?
doesn't need to be the very very best but at least mid-range in quality
4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
again- mid-range, portable but I don't mind if it is a little heavy
5_How much battery life do you need?
Battery life is very important, I am very interested in solid, hopefully 4-5 hours of life
6_Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
no games- just GIS software including very high resolution satellite and photographic imagery
7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)
a little bit of all above but not priority
8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?
at least 500GB
9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?
3-5 years minimum
11_What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
just CD writable (RW is nice but not critical I don't burn much)
12_Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
I seem to be narrowed down to looking at Dell (studio xps or latitudes), Lenovo (thinkpad W or T series) and MacBook Pro. I am not sure on the battery life with Lenovo, Macs and Dells have some good long batteries. I will have to run Windows XP so I have an added cost with the Mac.
13_What country do you live in?
USA
14_Please tell us any additional information if needed.
Mostly not sure if the extra money for the Mac is worth it, have had good experience with Dell customer service in the past. Not sure about Lenovo, Mac seems to be highly recommended in this category. I am concerned that the machine be durable and upgradable to last.

Thanks for your input
 
Solution
I believe that the MAC hardware has been recently refreshed with the latest intel chips and nvidia graphics. However, I think the better buy would be to go with a Dell. You'd get the best possible hardware for the price, i.e. i7, high end ati card (5870 perhaps- if they offer it). If you went with a MAC with similar hardware, I can see the price easily over $2K.
I believe that the MAC hardware has been recently refreshed with the latest intel chips and nvidia graphics. However, I think the better buy would be to go with a Dell. You'd get the best possible hardware for the price, i.e. i7, high end ati card (5870 perhaps- if they offer it). If you went with a MAC with similar hardware, I can see the price easily over $2K.
 
Solution

IsabellaWinTeam

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Apr 27, 2010
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Hi there,

You should check out the Toshiba Satellite A500-ST56X6. It has a 16" screen, 1.6 GHz Intel® Core™ i7-720QM processor, and NVIDIA® GeForce® 310M graphics. It also has good battery life for such advanced specs.

What do you think?

Cheers,
Isabella
MSFT Windows Outreach Team