ThinkPad E470 or Dell Inspiron Ubuntu

[0989383]

Im buying a new laptop soon and I can't afford a Mac.

I'm planning on either buying a ThinkPad E470 with i3, full HD screen, 180GB SSD with Windows 10. My attraction to this device is that for £500 I'm getting a full HD screen and decent specs and build quality.

A distracting and tempting alternative is Dells Inspiron which costs a mere £190 with Ubuntu preinstalled. The hardware won't be as nice, but will it be nice enough to live with? Ubuntu doesn't seem as demanding for power as Windows. It's also quite Mac like. In terms of reliability, though it might not be built as well is it worth buying and enjoying it's cheapness and not worrying about my investment getting ruined should it get a bit battered.

Am I an idiot to consider such a cheap option against a decent safe bet option?

My needs are Office documents, file management, Minecraft and web browsing.

ThinkPad:
http://www3.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/thinkpad/edge-series/E470/p/22TP2TEE470

Dell:

http://www.dell.com/uk/business/p/inspiron-15-3552-laptop-ubuntu/pd

 

[sracer]

I recommend the ThinkPad all the way. I was a big fan of ThinkPads when I worked for IBM, and then when I retired I wanted anything BUT ThinkPads. Recently I purchased a few vintage ThinkPads (T42 and T61) and forgot how much I appreciated the build quality, TrackPoint, matte screen, and keyboard.

If you need full MS Office, then there really is not better option than a Windows system. If you want to try out Ubuntu, it should be a simple matter of swapping the harddrive in the ThinkPad and installing Ubuntu. Linux installers these days are dead easy to use and highly reliable.... at least in my experiences.

 

[0989383]

I recommend the ThinkPad all the way. I was a big fan of ThinkPads when I worked for IBM, and then when I retired I wanted anything BUT ThinkPads. Recently I purchased a few vintage ThinkPads (T42 and T61) and forgot how much I appreciated the build quality, TrackPoint, matte screen, and keyboard.

If you need full MS Office, then there really is not better option than a Windows system. If you want to try out Ubuntu, it should be a simple matter of swapping the harddrive in the ThinkPad and installing Ubuntu. Linux installers these days are dead easy to use and highly reliable.... at least in my experiences.

I have about £500 to spend in the next few weeks. Should I stick to the E470 or are there better options out there? I appreciate Mac users opinions as were on the same page about quality vs. Windows options.

 

[sracer]

I have about £500 to spend in the next few weeks. Should I stick to the E470 or are there better options out there? I appreciate Mac users opinions as were on the same page about quality vs. Windows options.

The E470 seems to be the only ThinkPad that is within your budget. If at all possible, consider adding the i5 to it. I know that is above your budget but maybe if you search around you can find a Lenovo coupon that you could apply to your purchase to bring it closer to your budget.

As much as I appreciate my iMac and 11" Macbook Air (a fantastic notebook) ThinkPads are of higher quality IMO.

 

[0989383]

The E470 seems to be the only ThinkPad that is within your budget. If at all possible, consider adding the i5 to it. I know that is above your budget but maybe if you search around you can find a Lenovo coupon that you could apply to your purchase to bring it closer to your budget.

As much as I appreciate my iMac and 11" Macbook Air (a fantastic notebook) ThinkPads are of higher quality IMO.

I'm planing on going for the E470 with full HD screen, are Lenovo screens good? Also with the 180GB Intel SSD

 

[sracer]

I'm planing on going for the E470 with full HD screen, are Lenovo screens good? Also with the 180GB Intel SSD

Screen quality is highly subjective, but IMO they are. If you can drop by a store that has them on the floor I would recommend checking it out in person.

 

[lowendlinux]

I'd buy the Ubuntu box

 

[sracer]

I'd buy the Ubuntu box

How well would that solution address the OP's need for Office documents? If their needs are modest, sure, LibreOffice, WPS Office, and ONLYOFFICE might help them get by.

Or use WINE and PlayOnWine to install an older version of MS Office. Which has varying degrees of success. Font-rendering (aliasing and smoothing) in WINE remains a chronic issue.

Another requirement is Minecraft. How easy is it to set up Minecraft in Linux? What about graphics drivers? The OP would need to investigate to determine if optimized drivers exist for Ubuntu. It is not safe to assume that the preloaded Ubuntu image is fully optimized... or at least as optimized as its Windows counterpart.

I'm a fan of Linux, but I understand its limitations.

 

[lowendlinux]

How well would that solution address the OP's need for Office documents? If their needs are modest, sure, LibreOffice, WPS Office, and ONLYOFFICE might help them get by.

Or use WINE and PlayOnWine to install an older version of MS Office. Which has varying degrees of success. Font-rendering (aliasing and smoothing) in WINE remains a chronic issue.

Another requirement is Minecraft. How easy is it to set up Minecraft in Linux? What about graphics drivers? The OP would need to investigate to determine if optimized drivers exist for Ubuntu. It is not safe to assume that the preloaded Ubuntu image is fully optimized... or at least as optimized as its Windows counterpart.

I'm a fan of Linux, but I understand its limitations.

WPS has no issues, libre office is fine until stuff gets real complex. Minecraft both server and client run fine on linux. Intel drivers generally come to Linux first and complete and nVidia drivers are released right along side their Windows counterpart.