Durable laptops.

[Reaver2145]

Right after loosing it with my useless acer laptop for the last time this evening and hammering it into submission (it felt so good btw blue screen that you PoS) im now in need of a new laptop.

Im not computer savvy at all so im looking for your suggestions on a replacement.

Some simple requirements.

NO MACS i will break them within a week.

£450/$900 max budget

Dont care how heavy it is though i would like it to be portable as it was a pain getting the 19" monster out at the airport security.

Preferable able to take some smashy smashy style punishment.

There might even be a bundle of smokes for the best answer and by best i mean the one i buy.

[Ogre]

PM Bill86 or GG, they seem to be knowledgable about such things.

[smitty81]

Here ya go buddy.

http://www.panasonic.com/business/Toughbook/laptop-computers.asp

My boss has had one of these for years. Throws it in the back seat of his pickup with a bunch of hand and power tools. He takes it out to fields when he works on pivots. It's taken a lot of drops, dirt and water.........

[Reaver2145]

While those thoughbooks look perfect for the kind of abuse i plan to dish out on it they are all a little expensive though ill keep them in mind.

[smitty81]

While those thoughbooks look perfect for the kind of abuse i plan to dish out on it they are all a little expensive though ill keep them in mind.

Not if you look around. Go to google and type in Toughbook laptop. click the shopping button and then sort by price. SOME new ones to be had for around $1,000.

You can get a used or refurbished for a great price too.

I wouldnt be a bit afraid to buy a used one. Parts are cheap.

[smitty81]

look here.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834150244&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Tablet+PCs-_-Panasonic-_-34150244

[Reaver2145]

Not bad i will look into it tomorrow but first sleep.

[ApexAZ]

I would get a Lenovo Thinkpad. They are pretty damn solid.

They happen to be having a sale:

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=158789389E999C7AFD948ECE84C546E5&action=init

Very durable laptop with a thick, hard plastic case. The screen is the most solid I've seen in any laptop (outside of a toughbook). It has to be a thinkpad though. I have an Ideapad too, and it's very flimsy in comparison.

[irratebass]

I got me a Lenovo and love it, only came to about $480

[G G]

I would get a Lenovo Thinkpad. They are pretty damn solid.

They happen to be having a sale:

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=158789389E999C7AFD948ECE84C546E5&action=init

Very durable laptop with a thick, hard plastic case. The screen is the most solid I've seen in any laptop (outside of a toughbook). It has to be a thinkpad though. I have an Ideapad too, and it's very flimsy in comparison.

I got me a Lenovo and love it, only came to about $480
I have a Lenovo Thinkpad Egde E520 and I love it. I paid $570.00 shipped. And it is a solid built laptop.

[Bill86]

The blue screen of death is no reason to trash the whole laptop :r

Maybe just the hard drive, but even then I'd reload it first. There are plenty of ways to fix such things.

Next time just shoot me a PM.

As for durable laptops, it depends how far you drop it. Ultimately if you keep dropping it no matter what laptop it is, it will break or start having problems.

Most things on a laptop can be easily fixed though. I've swapped screens, hard drives, motherboards, keyboards, processors, memory.....pretty much everything in the laptop.

I would just look at the specs and price point. You would be sacrificing quite a bit on the specs to score one of those toughbook type laptops. IMO it's not worth it.

I'm not familiar with prices in your area but you should be able to score a very nice laptop for $450-$500.

look here.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834150244&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Tablet+PCs-_-Panasonic-_-34150244

That might be durable but that is PAINFULLY expensive for the specs

:2

[Silound]

The only brand that matters if you're going to physically abuse it is the brand of credit card you're paying for it with :)

Jokes aside, NO laptops are designed to be abused heavily in a physical manner, not even the ToughBooks (they got blasted about a year ago for not really being all that tough in real-life applications). Some models of laptops handle a beating slightly better for various reasons, mostly from design of the form factor and case.

Personally, I like Lenovo Thinkpads and Dell Latitudes. I think the case design is best suited for protection from what is considered traditional "heavy use" to a laptop (constant open/close, being moved around or transported a lot, picking up/setting down).

Here's a decent deal for a Latitude E5520. I would go with the described Core-i7 option that totals out at $639.
http://www.logicbuy.com/deals/dell-latitude-e5520/30288.aspx

However, if you're really that hard on laptops and there's no room to change that, then I suggest you go buy the cheapest bare minimum $350 job you can find, because there's no point in wasting your money if it won't last :)

[shilala]

You're really in pretty good shape with anything BUT an Acer. They're the 2010's eMachine. They're super inexpensive and built that way. As a result, they don't last very long.
As Bill said, a BSOD does not mean it's trash. It likely means the hard drive puked.
Bill has some damn fine machines for sale, you should pm him. Maybe he'd go through the trouble to send one overseas. :tu

[dwoodward]

I have a Sagar and the girlfriend has an Asus, both are great and their warranties are excellent. We both got ours from www.xoticpc.com. Xotic is a great company to work with, the owner Justin is top class.

[pnoon]

I have a Sagar and the girlfriend has an Asus, both are great and their warranties are excellent. We both got ours from www.xoticpc.com. Xotic is a great company to work with, the owner Justin is top class.

Are you making an implied comment on their durability? It is, after all, the point of the thread.
Posted via Mobile Device

[dwoodward]

Are you making an implied comment on their durability? It is, after all, the point of the thread.
Posted via Mobile Device

IS there such thing as a durable laptop? He did ask for suggestions tho, so I gave a couple.

[pnoon]

I'll take your response to mean no.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Reaver2145]

Behave kids or you wont get any ice cream.

Still thanks for the suggestions guys ill be looking over them for the next two weeks till i get paid.

[pnoon]

Behave kids or you wont get any ice cream.

:D
Thanks. But I'm part owner of the ice cream store. ;)
Posted via Mobile Device

[ApexAZ]

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/notebooks/thinkpad/l-series/l420

Watch the "View ThinkPad L420/L520 tour" video at the bottom in the related resources section. They talk about the milspec durability testing, which should interest you. I worked with these laptops for 3 years (I was a desktop engineer), which is why I ended up with one as my own personal computer. They are great machines.

[Reaver2145]

By "desktop engineer" you mean tell me to turn it off and on again in a Indian accent right.

Still thanks for the link ill keep it in mind.

[ApexAZ]

By "desktop engineer" you mean tell me to turn it off and on again in a Indian accent right.

Still thanks for the link ill keep it in mind.

No. Our helpdesk did that and they were American.

I was responsible for selecting, configuring, distributing and maintaining our desktop computer infrastructure and the servers/software needed to maintain them.

In a nutshell, I did all of our imaging, software packaging (wise package studio) and managed the infrstructure needed to deploy it (altiris, winpe, etc). We used Lenovo exclusively for our laptops and HP for the desktops. The only time I felt a little bit weary about Lenovo is when they changed from IBM to Lenovo, but we didn't see any decline in quality. In fact, they continue to use them today.

[Reaver2145]

I have little idea what you just said it was meant to be a joke as in England if you have a computer engineer it involves calling up a Indian help desk with several things being lost in translation.

Its even better if your calling BT.

[ApexAZ]

I have little idea what you just said it was meant to be a joke as in England if you have a computer engineer it involves calling up a Indian help desk with several things being lost in translation.

Its even better if your calling BT.

I got the joke and we experience that here too, but I truly was a desktop engineer :) I haven't done it in a while though. I am an Implementation Consultant for systems enhancements now.

Anyways, I really do like Lenovo!

[dwoodward]

I'll take your response to mean no.
Posted via Mobile Device

Well tbh, Sagar and Asus laptops almost always come with accidental damage coverage, so I don't see how it's a total no. And a quick look at 3 random ones on the website i see all of them come with it too.

Fact remains, any electronics can break, durable and electronics are two words that don't go together very well. But you can take steps to ensure things last as long as possible.

[pnoon]

Well tbh, Sagar and Asus laptops almost always come with accidental damage coverage, so I don't see how it's a total no. And a quick look at 3 random ones on the website i see all of them come with it too.

Fact remains, any electronics can break, durable and electronics are two words that don't go together very well. But you can take steps to ensure things last as long as possible.

:tu

[Ratters]

I have an asus and love it. Took a 3' drop onto the deck and still runs like a top. :D And it did come with a one year accidental damage policy, though you need to make sure and follow all the steps to enact it. When it's time for a replacement, I'll be getting another one.