Need a New Laptop, Mostly Coding/Business Use, Budget = $1,500

scotty on 06/04/2010 - 23:29

Hi all,

Well. I will need a new laptop computer soon. I am currently using my work's laptop for almost everything, but it had a failed hard drive recently which wiped out some of pending changes I made for OzBargain :( So I guess I'll need to really separate my work with my hobby (aka OzBargain), and use a different computer when I am at home.

I am currently using an almost 3 year old Dell Latitude D630, and I am looking for something of similar quality but at a much lower budget. I probably will have around $1500 to spend, and

  • Preferably a 14" or 15" laptop. Not too heavy, as I will need to take it out 3-4 times a week.
  • My current laptop has 1440x900 display. Looking for similar resolution.
  • i5 and 4GB RAM minimum.
  • Mostly for coding + web surfing + some number crunching in spreadsheets. Don't think I'll do any gaming on it.
  • Good sturdy build quality. I hate flimsy notebooks.

I have been a Dell man for the last 10 years so I went to Dell.com.au first to check out their offers. I am mainly interested in

  • Vostro 3400 (good looking business oriented 14" lappy)
  • Studio 15 (because of full HD screen option)

Anything else that you will recommend? I would love to have a Lenovo ThinkPad but they seem to be under-spec and expensive. Not too sure about the HP and Asus equivalents. Sorry budget is pretty much fixed.

Thanks!

Find Me A Bargain

Comments

  • chuneeperformance on 06/04/2010 - 23:45

    interested in a E4300 business laptop with dock/stand/zeroshock3 case and 2 1/2 years warranty running in excellent condition?

    • skysky on 08/04/2010 - 16:50

      Although a bit pricey, the Latitude E4300 is a fantastic laptop. I've been using one for the last year or so and the build quality is fantastic. I've also used the Latitude D630 and find the E4300 much better..

      The Dell "Laptops for Home" are however, quite poor quality I find…

      If you want a Business laptop with good build quality, have you considered the ThinkPads; specifically the T series notebooks? You can pick one up for around or under $1500 when they are on special.

      30% off T series:
      http://shopap.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/auweb/Leno…

      EDIT:
      Just did a quick search on OzBargain and it seems that you, scotty, posted the same deal on the ThinkPads a while ago.. So obviously you've considered them.. =]

      • scotty on 09/04/2010 - 09:27

        Yeah… But I am looking at at least an i5 4GB/500GB for under $1500. It will be nice to get a T410, but like Latitudes they are a bit out of my range.

  • Davo1111 on 07/04/2010 - 11:28

    Although i own a dell studio 16… (if you're up in canberra you're welcome to test it).. i have a soft spot for asus. Have you had a look at asus models? there was a super asus $1200 one the other day

  • h4lcyon on 07/04/2010 - 12:45

    Something like this?

    I'm sure you could drive a better price from mln considering their heavy usage of the site for promotions, and the additional revenue this has generated.

    • scotty on 07/04/2010 - 14:57

      Thanks for the suggestion. That's a pretty good spec lappy for under $1500. A bit more budget if adding in 3 year warranty. but

      • Almost 3kg.
      • 16" with only 1366x768?
      • 6 cell 4400mha is a bit low on the battery size.

      I don't really need bluray or USB3.

  • slowmo on 07/04/2010 - 17:10

    i am using a samsung R620 paired with 2 cheap lcd monitors… got it at 1200ish. the resolution is 1366x768 but it has a vga out and hdmi out.. so it doesn't bother me. :)

    runs pretty cool as its a p8700.

  • inherentchoice on 07/04/2010 - 23:22

    I would keep an eye on Graysonline, as they have plenty of laptops that are new or near new (e.g. resealed/reconditioned/demo) but my impression is that you can get them at a fair way below the retail cost (I got one myself). You have to bid of course and there's buyers premium, but if you're patient I'm sure you can get a good deal.

    There's only one with i5 at the moment and it's 13", but you probably know that they have new sales going up all the time, with quite a lot of Dell, Acer and HP models I think.

    http://www.graysonline.com/Search.aspx?q=i5

    • POWERevolution on 10/04/2010 - 01:33

      LOL, drunken mod :)

      • Davo1111 on 10/04/2010 - 06:07

        nah dodgy internet :P

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