I need a laptop.

[Joshua Hopkins]

A question for all you computer gurus.

Who makes a descent laptop something fast and rugged?

[Curtis R. Marburger]

I have a Dell Latitude D620 , going on 5 years or more , working at stone shop doing onsite CAD editing .
constantly on the go with it , we bought new battery for it, after several years battery still holds charge. i recently installed win 7 pro
we bought it used off ebay for around 300 bucks

having a docking station for laptop is real nice too

also bought a real nice Logitech wireless mouse for it

[clhilde]

If you want rugged spend some coin on the toughbook from panisonic

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Panasonic-Tough ... 19d194617c

[clhilde]

Found this vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggpk_cTkgTA

[Omni Cubed Larry]

Those Panisonic Toughbooks are nice, but too expensive (unless you are vacationing in the Jungle). I have usually suggested Dell, and my wife has a Dell that is many years old and still going strong. I do like our Dell, but it seems to have trouble burning to CD's and DVD's. And a friend of mine had a Dell with a bad video card (but they shipped it back and it was fixed under warranty). Our old HP didn't hold up, and the HP at our church didn't hold up either (the monitor hinge was weak on on and broke on the other), so unless they fixed that, I would avoid them. Also, the hard drive went out on our HP and the hard drive is going out on our church's laptop. So the drives they use might be lower quality just to get the prices down. If you are using it for your business, don't go for the cheapest price, because the components will be lower quality.

I have always heard good things about the IBM Think Pads (now Lenovo). They are geared toward business use, AND Laptop Magazine rated them #2 for 2011. They have very good tech support and scored first in customer satisfaction. I personally have not owned one, but I'm sure it is a good and safe choice.

http://www.laptopmag.com/mobile-life/le ... -2012.aspx

[kdnoel]

HP Business Class not Consumer crap... i still have an OEM account if you need one Josh.

The consumer line uses cheap components unlike the business class.

I agree the Toughbooks are way over priced.

[Todd B]

Hp here also and yes the bus spec

[Ger Vanderbas]

The toughbooks are pricey for sure.

With all the travel I'm doing, I'm rough on these things. Right now I've got a dell. Inside 8 months. So far nothing from a performance standpoint.

In about month 4 the back plastic cover pulled of the backside of the keyboard, just from pulling in and out of the travel bag.

I had an HP before. Lot's of problems on performance end, hard drive etc...

Wife has a macbook which is nice if you're "working" from starbucks in sipping tea but... I'm about to pay 400 to fix the hinges and everything from one fall. FAIL.

I wonder though if there isn't some MOD guy that can take a Dell and beef it up for half what you pay for the toughbook premium.

G

[Ger Vanderbas]

http://www.pelicanonline-ralphs.com/com ... -cases.htm

It's a case, but this might be the better answer.



G