[AnkurKaushal]

First of all, let me tell about myself; I am a Computer Science student living in Toronto. Most of the time I do programming and do my assignments. Sometimes, I do watch movies and stuff. I currently own a Toshiba Satelite C650 (Core i3-M350; 4GB; 320GB; Intel HD Graphics; Win7HP). Nowadays I am feeling that it is getting a bit old and slow too & I am thinking to replace it with a machine which is fast enough, sturdy, light and will support me for at least 3 years. The brands I have shortlisted till now are Lenovo, Dell or Apple. This time I want to go for a 14" laptop only. I did some research on this too and shortlisted few models as well.

1. Dell Vostro 3450
2. Lenovo ThinkPad T420
3. Lenovo G Series
4. Dell Vostro V131
5. Apple Macbook Pro 13" (Base One)

One thing more, I did compare Apple with all these and Apple seems to be bit old school [in terms of Hardware configuration, No offense to Apple fans ]. Moreover, my budget is around 800-900$ which in case can be expanded if I decide on an Apple. After Sales support is also a priority for me. But saving money would be my first priority. I am looking forward for some suggestions too if possible.
Thanks in advance. Cheers!!!

This post has been edited by AnkurKaushal: 27 March 2012 - 04:22 PM

[LiveBrianD]

Lenovo machines are pretty good. The keyboards, particularly on the thinkpads, are nice, the machines are durable, they have matte screens, and have a nice, plain design. The only thing is that the T420 has an i3 (2.3GHz) and intel graphics, so I'm not sure how much of an upgrade it is from what you have now (it is Sandy Bridge though, and the build quality is definitely better). You might also want to look into the Thinkpad Edge laptops, since they're cheaper (not as durable as the other thinkpads though, but definitely better than most consumer laptops). I don't recommend Dell, as their quality isn't very good in my experience.

[AnkurKaushal]

LiveBrianD, on 27 March 2012 - 04:34 PM, said:

Lenovo machines are pretty good. The keyboards, particularly on the thinkpads, are nice, the machines are durable, they have matte screens, and have a nice, plain design. The only thing is that the T420 has an i3 (2.3GHz) and intel graphics, so I'm not sure how much of an upgrade it is from what you have now (it is Sandy Bridge though, and the build quality is definitely better). You might also want to look into the Thinkpad Edge laptops, since they're cheaper (not as durable as the other thinkpads though, but definitely better than most consumer laptops). I don't recommend Dell, as their quality isn't very good in my experience.

I want at least an i5 this time as i3 is pretty slow sometimes with heavy multitasking.

[LiveBrianD]

I think the Thinkpad Edge E420 and E420s (which can be upgraded to an i5 btw) may be worth looking into. Fyi, it's an absolute ripoff to upgrade to the i5 2540M over, say, the 2450M as far as I can tell - 100MHz more speed, barely any difference there, and vpro, which is for businesses I think (some remote management thing). Another interesting one is the U400 (09932SU). It has a i5 2450M and a radeon 6470M (not great, but a step up from the intel graphics), and it's thinner than the others. Another one is the Z470. By the way, I have a thinkpad x120e and can vouch for Lenovo's build quality (that's one of their business laptops, but it's a lower end one without the rollcage that most of them have).

[waldojim]

LiveBrianD, on 27 March 2012 - 04:34 PM, said:

Lenovo machines are pretty good. The keyboards, particularly on the thinkpads, are nice, the machines are durable, they have matte screens, and have a nice, plain design. The only thing is that the T420 has an i3 (2.3GHz) and intel graphics, so I'm not sure how much of an upgrade it is from what you have now (it is Sandy Bridge though, and the build quality is definitely better). You might also want to look into the Thinkpad Edge laptops, since they're cheaper (not as durable as the other thinkpads though, but definitely better than most consumer laptops). I don't recommend Dell, as their quality isn't very good in my experience.

You do realize that the T420 can take anything up to the i7 26xx series quad core chips, right?

[waldojim]

I am using a W520, and will state that this machine has easily been the best I have owned. Lenovo knows how to make a solid machine.

The T420 should do extremely well. That said, I want to offer up one other option. The Sony SB. I wouldn't buy one again myself because of how Sony customer service treated me, but it is a viable option. They have either an i5 or i7 in their, weigh less than a MBP 13, and offer up more graphics power than any of the machines you listed. At the same time, only the Apple uses a sturdier case and only the Apple has a longer battery life, though not by much.

[AnkurKaushal]

waldojim, on 27 March 2012 - 06:59 PM, said:

I am using a W520, and will state that this machine has easily been the best I have owned. Lenovo knows how to make a solid machine.

The T420 should do extremely well. That said, I want to offer up one other option. The Sony SB. I wouldn't buy one again myself because of how Sony customer service treated me, but it is a viable option. They have either an i5 or i7 in their, weigh less than a MBP 13, and offer up more graphics power than any of the machines you listed. At the same time, only the Apple uses a sturdier case and only the Apple has a longer battery life, though not by much.

What about Dell? How is their after sales support? I am asking because Dell's systems seem to be on pretty much cheaper side. What about their build quality?

[waldojim]

AnkurKaushal, on 27 March 2012 - 07:25 PM, said:

waldojim, on 27 March 2012 - 06:59 PM, said:

I am using a W520, and will state that this machine has easily been the best I have owned. Lenovo knows how to make a solid machine.

The T420 should do extremely well. That said, I want to offer up one other option. The Sony SB. I wouldn't buy one again myself because of how Sony customer service treated me, but it is a viable option. They have either an i5 or i7 in their, weigh less than a MBP 13, and offer up more graphics power than any of the machines you listed. At the same time, only the Apple uses a sturdier case and only the Apple has a longer battery life, though not by much.

What about Dell? How is their after sales support? I am asking because Dell's systems seem to be on pretty much cheaper side. What about their build quality?

I don't have a good answer for you. I don't own Dells as I never cared for the machines.

[LiveBrianD]

waldojim, on 27 March 2012 - 06:59 PM, said:

I am using a W520, and will state that this machine has easily been the best I have owned. Lenovo knows how to make a solid machine.

The T420 should do extremely well. That said, I want to offer up one other option. The Sony SB. I wouldn't buy one again myself because of how Sony customer service treated me, but it is a viable option. They have either an i5 or i7 in their, weigh less than a MBP 13, and offer up more graphics power than any of the machines you listed. At the same time, only the Apple uses a sturdier case and only the Apple has a longer battery life, though not by much.

The problem with the T420 is that, once you upgrade the hard drive, it gets a bit too expensive for his budget. (unless he expands it) Still, those are very well built machines.

This post has been edited by LiveBrianD: 27 March 2012 - 07:48 PM

[AnkurKaushal]

waldojim, on 27 March 2012 - 07:34 PM, said:

AnkurKaushal, on 27 March 2012 - 07:25 PM, said:

waldojim, on 27 March 2012 - 06:59 PM, said:

I am using a W520, and will state that this machine has easily been the best I have owned. Lenovo knows how to make a solid machine.

The T420 should do extremely well. That said, I want to offer up one other option. The Sony SB. I wouldn't buy one again myself because of how Sony customer service treated me, but it is a viable option. They have either an i5 or i7 in their, weigh less than a MBP 13, and offer up more graphics power than any of the machines you listed. At the same time, only the Apple uses a sturdier case and only the Apple has a longer battery life, though not by much.

What about Dell? How is their after sales support? I am asking because Dell's systems seem to be on pretty much cheaper side. What about their build quality?

I don't have a good answer for you. I don't own Dells as I never cared for the machines.

I have heard too, their build quality is not so good.
And yes, What about Lenovo G Series? Are they good?

[LiveBrianD]

AnkurKaushal, on 27 March 2012 - 07:25 PM, said:

What about Dell? How is their after sales support? I am asking because Dell's systems seem to be on pretty much cheaper side. What about their build quality?

From my experience, Dell=Hell. My grandfather has one, a dimension E310 from 2006, and it's a piece of junk. It was full of bloatware, the case made buzzing noises (until he shoved a wooden dowel in the side of it, which seems to have worked), the included monitor started developing horizontal lines after a few years of use, the wireless keyboard recently died... Oh, and my parents use Dell machines for work and aren't very happy with them. I'm not recommending dell anymore, period. I don't know how their support is.

[AnkurKaushal]

LiveBrianD, on 27 March 2012 - 07:46 PM, said:

AnkurKaushal, on 27 March 2012 - 07:25 PM, said:

What about Dell? How is their after sales support? I am asking because Dell's systems seem to be on pretty much cheaper side. What about their build quality?

From my experience, Dell=Hell. My grandfather has one, a dimension E310 from 2006, and it's a piece of junk. It was full of bloatware, the case made buzzing noises (until he shoved a wooden dowel in the side of it, which seems to have worked), the included monitor started developing horizontal lines after a few years of use, the wireless keyboard recently died... Oh, and my parents use Dell machines for work and aren't very happy with them. I'm not recommending dell anymore, period. I don't know how their support is.

What about Lenovo's G Series?

[AnkurKaushal]

AnkurKaushal, on 27 March 2012 - 07:48 PM, said:

LiveBrianD, on 27 March 2012 - 07:46 PM, said:

AnkurKaushal, on 27 March 2012 - 07:25 PM, said:

What about Dell? How is their after sales support? I am asking because Dell's systems seem to be on pretty much cheaper side. What about their build quality?

From my experience, Dell=Hell. My grandfather has one, a dimension E310 from 2006, and it's a piece of junk. It was full of bloatware, the case made buzzing noises (until he shoved a wooden dowel in the side of it, which seems to have worked), the included monitor started developing horizontal lines after a few years of use, the wireless keyboard recently died... Oh, and my parents use Dell machines for work and aren't very happy with them. I'm not recommending dell anymore, period. I don't know how their support is.

What about Lenovo's G Series?

I was thinking of including HP too. But I am not sure, if HP is going to continue the PC business.

[LiveBrianD]

HP already decided that they were going to continue the PC business a while ago. Their laptops aren't great - some of them tend to run warm and aren't well built. For instance, I know a guy with one that died after 1.5 years of overheating. I imagine lenovo's G series are ok, but not great (that's a pretty basic line).

[waldojim]

AnkurKaushal, on 27 March 2012 - 07:44 PM, said:

I have heard too, their build quality is not so good.
And yes, What about Lenovo G Series? Are they good?

A friend of mine bought a 17" G series machine for his wife, so far no complaints. Last I heard it runs extremely cool, and the display was more then adequate for them. Beyond that I don't know. Most of Lenovos machines, even the home series, are built well. I got my wife a Z575 (I think - I would have to double check). Even with an AMD @ 3Ghz that machine never gets warm. It was under $500, and has aluminum decking, a top quality keyboard, decent cooling, and solid build. What more could be asked? If you do decide buy a machine from Lenovo, let me know. I will give you the name, number, and email address with an agent I worked with. I get NOTHING for passing on his name. But he saved my about $300 buying my W520, and was a terrific help when UPS stole it. So far, Lenovo has been a pleasure to do business with.

Lastly, look into the Edge series. You get the ThinkPad quality gear, with a more stylish machine, and a better price!

This post has been edited by waldojim: 28 March 2012 - 12:43 AM

[AnkurKaushal]

Well, I am almost decided on T series, may go for T420 or G series.

[alishathomaz]

the ThinkPad T420 should be at the top of your list..