Another Another Laptop Buying Thread

[Autumn]

Okay, here's my shot.

I'm getting a laptop to be a secondary computer, to compute around the house, take to class, work in other locations. Looking to spend $800-1300.

My main requirements are that it is portable and has a solid build. My wife has an old Dell and I hate how it creaks if you pick it up or just seems cheaply made.

The two main things I'm trying to get:

-An IPS display, for the high resolution and great viewing angles. I would settle for a high quality TN if it had good viewing angles.

-A very good keyboard. I basically typing for a living, type for school and am a writer, so I need a keyboard that's not going to make me want to kill myself. I'm a touch typist.

These are both fairly subjective things, so while I've read 80000000 reviews, I'm still trying to find a system that will match these things well. If you have any recommendations I'd love to hear them. In particular I've been looking at machines like the Thinkpad T430 (with the upgraded display), Sony Vaio S15, Zenbook Prime, Ideapad Yoga. It's hard to get a handle on keyboard quality though, so any experiences would be great to hear.

[Jughead Spock]

IBM/Lenovo are long famous for their quality keyboards. They don't offer a ton of IPS displays yet though, at least last I looked.

Obviously typing 'touch' is a personal preference. But if I were buying a laptop right now based on the little requirements you list here, I'd probably go with one of the ASUS Zenbooks (UX31A or UX32VD, depending on budget) or the Yoga just because it's so freaking cool. (And gets great reviews).

[Marc Vaughan]

If you're not 100% anti-apple consider one of their laptops imho - the build quality is awesome and they're reliable as anything ...

(you can also dual boot them with windows if you really want to)

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

If you're not 100% anti-apple consider one of their laptops imho - the build quality is awesome and they're reliable as anything ...

(you can also dual boot them with windows if you really want to)

Second this.

If you are willing to hit that price range, I'd go with a 13-inch MacBook Pro.

If you are already enrolled in classes, you can usually get a discount from their website with an .edu email address, I believe.

[Autumn]

I've considered the Mac, definitely. However, when you add in the cost of the Windows OS also, it ups that price. And I've also read that the performance and battery life take a real hit when you're running Windows. So that's scared me off. But that is the kind of build quality I'm interested in.

[Autumn]

Originally Posted by Jughead Spock

IBM/Lenovo are long famous for their quality keyboards. They don't offer a ton of IPS displays yet though, at least last I looked.

Obviously typing 'touch' is a personal preference. But if I were buying a laptop right now based on the little requirements you list here, I'd probably go with one of the ASUS Zenbooks (UX31A or UX32VD, depending on budget) or the Yoga just because it's so freaking cool. (And gets great reviews).

Have you typed on any of those Jug? Those are definitely three I've looked closely at.

[stevew]

If you go the Mac route, you can usually get Windows for really cheap through your school.

[Jughead Spock]

The Zenbooks, yes. Haven't touched a Yoga yet. The Zenbooks are nice (also a touch typist). Pretty solid.

[stevew]

I have no idea if this deal is beatable, but

Lenovo IdeaPad® Yoga 13 Ultrabook | Staples®

it's 999, plus you can use Coupon code 70847 to save 75$

and they are offering https://tradeuptotouch.com/tablet/qualifying-purchases if you have an old POS laptop you want to dump for like a 100$ gift card.

[Autumn]

Thanks, Steve, that's an interesting deal.

I'm looking hard at the Thinkpad T530 or the Sony Vaio S15 right now. I'd grab the Thinkpad if it was a bit lighter. Or the Sony if I was more confident about the keyboard. I'm going to see if I can get my hands on each of these to check them out.