I guess I didn't mention Dell and Lenovo because I was too focused on the negative aspects of other sites. I think they were actually the first two I looked into, and both are on the shortlist. As Ted mentioned ThinkPad's are pretty durable. We can get pretty much everything we want from them, except the 17" screen, which is available in only one model. I'm probably going to have to back off of that requirement; I'll be docked to a pair of 23" monitors at work anyway so it may not be that bad. Definitely looking for business-class machines.
The thing that bothers us with Dell is bloatware. For example you can't get a system from them WITHOUT some version of Office; we have plenty of office licenses here so it is just one more thing we'd have to install. But outside of Microsoft Select (where you can only get a 'select' number of machines, lol) all vendors include way too much unnecessary/undesired software, not just Dell. Personally I have no problem with HP, my last two notebooks have been from them and I'd buy from them again. Apparently the Controller had major issues with them, and we had an HP server years ago (before I arrived) that didn't perform well. I haven't had any experience with Sony or Toshiba - any comments on those? They like the idea of ultrabooks for the masses, not we would want something a bit more sturdy for the DR team... Thanks for all your input! Lou -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Kurt Wendt Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2012 7:51 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [NF] Business Notebook Recommendations I know that with Dell - they tend to show a lot of side-by-side comparison webpages. Also, AFAIK - you can pretty much pick & choose what you want in a machine. So - theoretically, you can stick with a single Line of laptops - but, then, configure each particular one differently. But, since you mentioned you already did a lot of researching on this - just wondering why Dell didn't "come up on your Radar" - at least Not based upon your comments below... -K- -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Lou Syracuse Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2012 10:40 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [NF] Business Notebook Recommendations We looking for recommendations for business-level notebooks. My company is looking to purchase at least 6 notebooks right away for key personnel as part of our disaster recovery plan. These will be desktop replacements, which will attach to a USB3 docking station when in the office, and the users will take them home with them each night. This is also part of a pilot program where we may buy 20 more notebooks for other managers and key staff members 3 months from now. Here are the requirements I have been given: -MUST ship with Windows 7 Professional. The IT staff doesn't want to deal with in-place upgrades on each laptop. We are not planning to upgrade to Windows 8 any time soon (who is?) -At least 1 USB3 port required for docking station, which will drive dual monitors in the office. IT has already picked out the docking station. -One vendor. One product line if at all possible. Most of the machines will be identical, but not all. See below... -Most machines will probably be lower-level i5's with 15" monitors, good/better battery life, average specs. Being able to take to meetings and not take up the Entire conference table is important. -One will be a little higher up the food chain, probably with a 15" monitor, 2 hard drives preferred(primary SSD would be awesome), good battery life. Must boot quickly. Mobility is important here too. -One MEGA machine, i7 processor, at least 8GB RAM (the more the better), 2 hard drives preferred(primary SSD would be awesome), no 5400 RPM drives, 17" monitor. Processing power is more important than battery life. Mobility not so important. Yes, the latter machine will be for me. LOL The two sticking points seem to be i7/17" monitor combination and Windows 7 Pro. We have been suggested to avoid HP, who unfortunetely makes a LOT of i7 17" notebooks, so I may have to go down to a 15" screen as well. I know it is a lot... I spent a couple of hours looking at sites last night and was a bit disappointed at what I saw. The redesign of the Asus site is terrible and needs a redesign - no way to compare features, just look at one system at a time based on product number (which has no meaning to the user). Sorting through options at PCMall and NewEgg wasn't much better... As always, your thoughts are greatly appreciated! Lou --- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts --- multipart/alternative text/plain (text body -- kept) text/html --- [excessive quoting removed by server] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/0bac2c1927422843b2c121c8b41684af4826e...@dfw1mbx24.mex07a.mlsrvr.com ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
