best laptop for my tech case

[Catch]

I've been researching laptops for some time, trying to find something that's light enough to keep in my tech bag (a bum knee makes me watch what I haul up and down stairs) and powerful enough to keep me happy--with a reasonably affordable price tag and a good selection of ports. (I've given up on finding a USB 3.0 laptop.)

When MAXIMUMPC gave the Toshiba Portege R700 a Kick Ass! award, I paid attention. (It has a port replicator with USB 3.0.)

I've never had a Toshiba laptop before (and the model I'm looking at is the S133* Core i7 with 120GB SSD and around $1600), so here're my questions:

Does anyone have an R700/705?
What do you think of Toshiba quality? tech support?
Should I get a cheaper model R700 (i3 or i5 with SATA HD) and just plan to replace it in 2-3 years? (I've had my current HP laptop for 5+ years.)

Thanks.

 

[jvcomputerservice]

Macbook air

"trying to find something that's light enough to keep in my tech bag"


take a look a the new Macbook air version 2. it just came out three days ago.

Im sure you can install Windows and ubuntu.




Theres a new 11 inches version for $ 999

1.4 GHz Core Duo
2 GB of RAM
64 GB Flas Storage

 

[ATTech]

powerful enough to keep me happy

Doing what?

If you're look to get it for purely "tech case" reasons, then you don't need much power. If on the other hand, you want to game on it, edit videos or draw CAD designs, then you're certainly going to want to look for power.

I only use my netbook for school and tech purposes, and have been perfectly content with it. I upgraded the memory to 2GB and installed an SSD and the thing flies, even with the Atom.

 

[Rodrick]

"trying to find something that's light enough to keep in my tech bag"


take a look a the new Macbook air version 2. it just came out three days ago.

Im sure you can install Windows and ubuntu.




Theres a new 11 inches version for $ 999

1.4 GHz Core Duo
2 GB of RAM
64 GB Flas Storage

Only problem with it is the lack of ports from what I saw at the announcement.

 

[Catch]

jv: It looks great, but I need my right click. If I got a Mac, I'd probably keep it Mac OS. Great suggestion though.

ATTech: Will I be doing CAD or videos? Probably not--I have a desktop and big screen for that, so I take your point. (Although I wouldn't mind the possibility of a little light gaming--but again, not a deal breaker.) So you're saying an i3 or i5 will do me, or even less. I'd like enough graphics power to run a projector, and as far as I know a netbook won't do that. (I may give classes in the future.)

What about the Toshiba brand? Any comments?

I've carried an XP laptop as a tech. Any comments on using Windows 7? (I think network troubleshooting may be easier with XP, but that may be because I've used XP for so many more years.)

 

[MLCS]

Yeah... only $999... for basically a netbook? Serious? You would pay that much money just because it has a bitten off apple logo on it?

 

[jvcomputerservice]

Yeah... only $999... for basically a netbook? Serious? You would pay that much money just because it has a bitten off apple logo on it?

NO, i would not pay that much money for the logo.

Think it this way.

this is a really portable laptop.

you can install windows and your programs on it.

some people have intall ubuntu on it (big +)

The only time that i used a mac was on high school. So i so I definitely want and need to increase my knowledge on this OS

You are right Rodrick:
"Only problem with it is the lack of ports from what I saw at the announcement."

 

[16k_zx81]

thats a bucketload of cash to pay for something thats for use on site. As others have said, if you need the power for specific purposes then thats whats required. If its just for tech work then I dont really see the point in spending that amount. We repair laptops and my work machine is usually whatever Ive picked up cheap through that. I like that Im not worried about the thing being stolen out of my car and its no big hassle if it gets dropped or scratched. But maybe thats just me

As far as Toshiba build quality goes, they got second in the Square Trade laptop reliability study. Personally I like them and find them generally very reliable.

 

[martyta]

Dell M1210

I use a dell m1210 it is almost a netbook but it has a DVD rom and other features of a full size laptop. A customer gave it to me because the GPU went out on the motherboard and they did not want to pay for a new MB. I read about people "baking laptop motherboards at 375 for 8 mins in an oven so i tried it and it fired right up. Video did go back out after a few months but I discovered that the fan was not working so I hit the back of the GPU with my butane soldering iron(without the tip on) replaced the fan and it has been running strong for a little over a year now

 

[Catch]

Thanks, 16K, for the report on Toshiba quality. That's what I wanted to know. All of the laptops I've picked up through work are too big and too heavy to keep in my tech bag (GD bad knee). I hate leaving a laptop in my trunk in the heat of summer and even more the cold of winter--which is why I swore the next one would be light enough to carry everywhere.

Am I alone in thinking extreme temperature changes are bad for a laptop, when you don't have time to let it warm up before use?

You have a point, though: "thats a bucketload of cash to pay for something thats for use on site."

MartyTa: the m1210 looks great--and cooking the motherboard, I have a laptop I'm going to try that on. Thanks!

 

[Paul Rodgers]

Thanks, 16K, for the report on Toshiba quality. That's what I wanted to know. All of the laptops I've picked up through work are too big and too heavy to keep in my tech bag (GD bad knee). I hate leaving a laptop in my trunk in the heat of summer and even more the cold of winter--which is why I swore the next one would be light enough to carry everywhere.

Am I alone in thinking extreme temperature changes are bad for a laptop, when you don't have time to let it warm up before use?

You have a point, though: "thats a bucketload of cash to pay for something thats for use on site."

MartyTa: the m1210 looks great--and cooking the motherboard, I have a laptop I'm going to try that on. Thanks!

Extreme temperature changes are bad for any electronics.

 

[badkinsdesigns]

I would second the idea of a netbook. Most have a vga out so as long as you have a projector that doesn't just support dvi you should be good to go. Plusses are you cannot beat the price and you cannot beat the portability. The only real minus for tech work is no CD drive, but to me this is no problem, and in general I think is becoming less and less of an issue.

I use an MSI Wind, with ram upgraded to 2 gigs, I have done the SSD upgrade but this is defintely sometihng I want to do. And I dual boot ubuntu and XP Home.

 

[techguyforyou]

As others have stated, I think a netbook would be your best bet. They are usually pretty cheap and extremely portable, and you can find portable software to use from usb for alot of programs now.

I'm currently thinking of buying a netbook for this same purpose.

 

[geek12]

My opinion is that Toshiba laptops are quality but expensive.

 

[Scoobaru]

Like a lot of people I used to just upgrade my lappy through buying and selling. I did get very lucky on one deal where I bought a 17" Mac Book Pro very cheaply. After repairs and upgrades it had cost me a total of £300. I sold it for £900!

With the profit I then bought a very nice Samsung R510 and that is what I'm using to type this. Like you I decided to cut down on size and weight.

My first machine was a Dell Mini 9 with 2Gb RAM and a 32GB SSD which to be fair has been more than adequate plus an external 160GB HDD. My only gripes with this is that I've always struggled with the small keyboard.

I've just purchased an Acer One and upgraded the RAM to 2GB but with a 10.1 screen, 160GB HDD and DC Atom and a bigger easier to use keyboard it's ideal for on-site requirements.
This side of the pond total cost for the Acer was under £200.

So far it has proved to be exceptional, my only criticism is that there is no HDMI port but other than that it's a steal.

Forgot to mention I run Win7 Pro on all my machines and have no issues.

HTH

Andrew