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Recommendations for a PC laptop?

A

Adamantoise

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 1, 2011
991
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I'd like to buy a PC laptop that runs Windows. However, I don't want to bother installing Windows on my Macbook Pro (as I also want USB 3.0 and a few other ports)

I was looking at the HP Envy Spectre ... But believe it or not, I am not a fan of a few things here and there about it.

Can anyone recommend a decent PC? Optical drive is not necessary this time (I have a desktop and my MBP)
 
I've had very good experience with a Sony in the past (2003/2004 Z1 model, priced like the 15'' MBP).

Currently besides Apple I would consider Lenovo, and in particular the Thinkpad series of Lenovo. It is a very robust series of notebooks.
 
Honestly I'd stay away from anything HP (or Dell). They have the highest repair rate of any laptop at work.

I personally prefer Asus (do NOT confuse that with Acer ;) ) for Windows machines.
 
So I took a look at the Lenovo Thinkpad series, and I think I might have found a choice.

It's going to be for my sister, and even though she probably won't mind, I am not fond of the 1366x768 resolution (I hate that resolution).
 
Steer clear from HP, Dell, or even the Sony VAIO laptops. My mom and friend's HP laptops are built poorly. My roommate's VAIO is falling apart. These gripes apply to many Dells too.

Check out laptops by ASUS or Lenovo. Thinkpads are great computers.
 
While HP and Dells consumer lines pretty much suck their Professional notebooks are very high quality. On par with Lenovos Thinkpads. Look at the HP Elitebook and Dell Lattitude line of laptops if you don't like thinkpad looks
 
ABadSanta said:
Steer clear from HP, Dell, or even the Sony VAIO laptops. My mom and friend's HP laptops are built poorly. My roommate's VAIO is falling apart. These gripes apply to many Dells too.

Check out laptops by ASUS or Lenovo. Thinkpads are great computers.
Click to expand...

Ooo I forgot about Vaio. Terrible computers. I owned two, never again. They tout all kinds of awesome specs than fall apart.
 
Dell Lattitude E series from their Refurb Store. AMAZING Deals. some great buys in there!
 
Another vote for thinkpads. I've owned many over the years, and if the Mac quality ever slips I'm going back there. My favorites are the x series and t series for larger desktop replacements. I haven't owned a w series but they look even bigger.
 
Adamantoise said:
So I took a look at the Lenovo Thinkpad series, and I think I might have found a choice.

It's going to be for my sister, and even though she probably won't mind, I am not fond of the 1366x768 resolution (I hate that resolution).
Click to expand...

Don't kill yourself and let your sister do the picking. Just give her a price range and ask her to pick the one that she likes. Of course, if the specs are very "cheap" then you can make recommendations. Other than that, just leave it all up to her.

All laptops, like any machine, will eventually fall apart and will need to be replaced so don't loose sleep over it. If you want something that is build like a tank, then the Panasonic tough-book gets my vote. If you buy something cheap, it might fall apart on you regardless what brand, make, or model.
 
I had a lenovo thinkpad in the past and the thing was a tank. it was one tough computer. lasted me a long time. I prefer the thinkpad series since they are alot lighter then the others but all lenovos are good.

I had an acer the thing was a pos. really bad keyboard and poor build quality. you could see distortions in the lcd screen just from opening the lid it was so poorly supported. if a macbook air doesnt have that problem, something 8x thicker shouldnt.

My HP had no problems with it but again the build quality wasnt that great

My asus had great specs for the money but the screen colors were really washed out and very poor blacks. some colors didnt even look correctly at all.
 
If you like ultrabooks the U300S looks nice, as does the Asus Zenbook. The XPS 13 looks good too - I haven't had any problems with Dell personally, but I guess others have. Finally the Portege Z830 looks good. I don't have any personal experience with any of these, but they may be worth a look.
 
No Prob's w/Lenovo

Most of the 15" notebook mantra sport the 720p resolution. In real time use, it isn't bad.

I'm quite happy with my sub $600 Lenovo i7, quad Ideapad. The "bumpy" track pad (biggest neg.) has the same functions as a MBP, though it requires more finger pressure.

I use mine mostly as a portable desktop.

Check the Lenovo Outlet for refurbs. Be careful. The prices change dramatically. After I bought mine, I checked back later, and it was $300. higher.
 
Samsung RF711 17.3 inch Laptop - Black (Intel Core i7 2670QM 2.2GHz, RAM 8GB, HDD 1TB, Blu-ray, LAN, WLAN, BT, Webcam, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit)

£819.97

That's not bad but it's not a Mac :/
 
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