If you were going to buy a hooked-up laptop with all the bells and whistles - which one would you buy? 

I personally really like Linux...depending on what you want to spend you can get a fully decked out laptop from system76 for around 700 or a little lower 

Go for a commercial version v consumer version. My IT folks say that your average consumer hard drive is meant to last about a year (the basic warranty period) because they want to sell you another. Commercial versions are meant to last 3 years minimum because they want to keep the business contracts. 

Easy - for a totally hooked up laptop I'd get the new MacBook Pro 15" w/Retina display.

http://www.macrumors.com/2012/06/14/roundup-of-retina-macbook-pro-reviews/

There are often $100 off deals at the exchange on new macs, in addition to the already discounted military price. 

Thanks for the advice all. :) 

For what its worth, I always ask people what they intend to do with the system before I suggest one.

You have no idea how many people ask me if buying a $1500 laptop is a good idea. Then when I ask what they will be using the system for, plenty of times the answer is: Facebook and browsing online.

So ask yourself what you need or want it for, now and in the future, then look for a system that fills those needs and wants. If you are never going to play graphic intensive games or watch a lot of movies, you may not need a computer with a screaming graphics setup. But you may want a larger screen size in exchange. Same goes for hard drive size and whatnot, if you don't store tons of stuff on your machine, you may not need a system with a 500GB+ drive in it.

Anyway, just my $0.02 

I agree with you dudewheresmytruck, but it sounds like she was asking whats is the most decked out laptop you'd consider buying :)

I'm partial to macs.. I started using them about 10 years ago and haven't gone back. They don't seem to get bogged down/slower over time as you install more and more applications, and I don't have to worry about viruses/malware like I used to. I don't have any illusions about macs being particularly safer, its just the bad guys tend to go for PCs because there are so many more of them out there.

I work with computers for a living so I like not having to mess much with my personal computer - having one company make everything (Operating System and hardware) makes my life a breeze.

Also, they have really high resale values... Whenever I go to upgrade and sell my old computer, I'm blown away by what I can get sell them for. 

but it sounds like she was asking whats is the most decked out laptop you'd consider buying :)

I don't disagree at all with what you are saying, I just wanted to chime in about buying stuff that you don't need or want. The OP made it sound like she may be looking to purchase a laptop, so I assumed (perhaps wrongly) that she was looking for input to help make a decision. 

I always ask people what they intend to do with the system before I suggest one.

Good call.

it sounds like she was asking whats is the most decked out laptop you'd consider buying

True I did.

I assumed (perhaps wrongly) that she was looking for input to help make a decision.

True again. :)

I'm not a MAC user so I probably wouldn't look at those even though I understand they are superior.

We would NOT be using it for gaming. Mainly internet usage and document production. So I suppose storage space and good graphics would be a plus. Also, long lasting battery and good WiFi. I know NOTHING about WiFi since my stand alone is hooked into a line with TWC. I definitely need to get us with it on the WiFi end. Something that travels - can't you plug something into your PC that does that?

Something that holds a lot of pictures...can do presentations (need the entire MS Office suite).

How's that for more details? 

You'll want something with about a 500gb hard drive, lots of RAM, and decent processing power. Most laptops now come with a wireless card already installed. Depending on where you buy, you can have MS Office already installed. And you should get one with a number pad, since it makes typing with numbers a bajillion times easier. :) Most manufacturer websites will let you build your own laptop, and choose what you need. I like Sony, but HPs, I've been told, are incredibly durable. Mine's some under-the-radar company that probably no one has heard of. 

This is THE forum to ask for laptop buying advice:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/what-notebook-should-i-buy/

I'd checkout the whole site, they have lots of reviews, a buyer's guide, etc..

I am partial to this new catagory of laptops called "ultrabooks" - light weight, longer batter life - read up on them and see if they are appealing to you. Some are very mac-like in design, but PC prices and they run Windows :)

I got a flyer in the mail today from MCX - 10% off computers/electronics at the exchange June 27 - July 4

I've also received a 10% off computers/electronics coupon by signing up for their email list, there are boxes around the store to sign up. 

I got a flyer in the mail today from MCX - 10% off computers/electronics at the exchange June 27 - July 4

I've also received a 10% off computers/electronics coupon by signing up for their email list, there are boxes around the store to sign up.

Same here!! 

One other thing.. I always get accidental damage coverage on laptops - sometimes through the manufacturer, the reseller, or through USAA. Its usually not a matter of "if" but "when". I spilled water on my last laptop, USAA replaced it.

And backups! Laptop hard drives aren't as robust as desktop hard drives. Plus laptops are more apt to walk off or get lost.

I use this service for my backups:

http://www.backblaze.com/

Mainly because its run by a bunch of serious geeks who like discussing the inner workings of their service... I like knowing the gory details of whats happening to my data.

I also like that they will ship me my data on DVDs should my hard drive fail; I once tried to restore via Carbonite and it took weeks to download all of my data. 

I've never backed anything up lol. Ever. 

Good advice on USAA - thanks!! Thanks for the websites too!! 

I backup my work computer, personal computer, wife's computer to an external hard drive AND I also back everything up to the internet should our home burn down, external HD stolen, etc :)

I've seen too many people get burned by not backing up :)

My backups have come in handy a few times over the years - like when I spilled water on my laptop last summer. Was able to restore everything to the new one in no time! 

We always purchase the Business machines/commercial configuration with the 3 year warranties and Accidental Damage Protection (ADP) for our notebooks at the school district as well, it's mandatory. 

Anyone have an opinion on Dell? I've always had good luck with them at work and home; laptops and stand alones. But my newest is 4 years old now... 

So far had no luck with Dell products. Gone 0 for 2 so far...both had dead hard drives just past the warranty time frame. Actually recently replaced the stock HDD in my Dell I'm using at the moment...won't buy one again 

I am not impressed with what Dell has been producing in the last few years ( I cant speak for the XPS line, don't know anyone that has one) But members of my family have them, and the batteries crap out pretty fast. They also seem overpriced for what you get. But that's just my opinion. 

I am not impressed with what Dell has been producing in the last few years

What she said!

We have had HP's and Toshiba so far so good. 

I used to work for a University that had an exclusive contract with Dell and we bought them by the thousands. Dell (and others) use cheap low end components in a race to the bottom to see who could sell the least expensive computers.

They basically knowingly sold millions of faulty "business class" computers and then it was like pulling teeth trying to get them to do anything about it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/technology/29dell.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Meanwhile we had hundreds of computers crashing randomly or failing to boot until the whistle was blown on what was going on - only then did the spare parts start flowing in.

I've not bought anything work related from Dell since then - I don't like how they handled the situation.

We had another problem where we were experiencing extremely high rates of failures with a certain 7200 rpm Hitachi laptop HD in Dell D600 laptops - again, it was ridiculously difficult to get them to acknowledge the problem and preemptively replace these hard drives.

Oh, and I forgot the whole issue with Nvidia G84/G86 GPU failures.. again, they would only replace when it failed despite the known manufacturing flaw. All of these laptops would fail prematurely and they wouldn't fix them prior to failure - hoping they would die just outside the warranty period. Meanwhile other manufacturers were replacing them all since Nvidia was picking up the full cost anyways!

I'm sure not all Dells are bad, but it has not been my experience that they put high quality, reliable components into their computers. They pick whoever is cheapest.

I've been much happier with IBM (now Lenovo) Thinkpads on the PC side of things. 

How do you all feel about any of the refurbished products available? 

What she said!
????!!!!

Do I sound that feminine? 

How do you all feel about any of the refurbished products available?

I have never purchased a refurbished unit, kind of afraid it will die once the limited warranty is up. Are you looking at a refurb for budget reasons? It is much easier to suggest something if we know what your price ceiling is. 

What she said!
????!!!!

Do I sound that feminine?


bawhahahaha....

Are you looking at a refurb for budget reasons?

Not particularly but if I can get a good one for less why spend more. I've experienced refurbished products through working situations and they usually worked pretty well. But then again I wasn't the one who had to fix them if something went wrong so I have no idea about the warranties and what not.

My price ceiling? I would think $500 or less would be reasonable for a good computer. My needs aren't as great as most. I just want something dependable that isn't going to cause life issues for me lol. 

If you are just going to be using it for light duty, I think $500 is more than enough for a decent system.

I have used lots of Acer's (I still have one) and I can't complain about dependability. And they are relatively inexpensive for the specs you get.

HP Probook

You may be able to find this cheaper someplace else, but this has 4Gigs of RAM, 500Gig HDD, full size spill resistant keyboard, and it uses the Intel i3 CPU. Right now its on sale for $449.00 from $549.00 

I would think $500 or less would be reasonable for a good computer.

You should hang out on the fatwallet.com or slickdeals.net forums and see what those folks consider a great deal - so you can get the best laptop for your money.

You can also sort the laptops on amazon by price and give it a certain star rating - see what laptops are well liked in your price range 

If I was to buy a dream rig for gaming (like I have time for that anymore) I would probably get one of these

Falcon Northwest

But the $5K price tag to get it built the way I want it is kind of out of my budget.
But it would have dual HDD, i7 990X processor, dual video cards, and 24GB of ram :) 

FINALLY picked one :)