looking for a laptop for a consultant

[Ensign]

Trying to help a friend who does a decent amount of consulting work find a new laptop. He's coming from an ACER Aspire with:

-Intel core i5 430M processor 2.26 GHz,3MB L3 cache
-15.6 HD LED LCD
-4 GB DDR3 Memory

He would like at least similar specs (definitely same screen size). He was looking to spend around $500, but I suggested that laptops in that price range probably aren't durable/rugged enough for frequent transport.

Any recommendations for something even close to that price range? I'm thinking you'd probably have to get up to $750 or so for something more durable. On a side note, is it even possible to get one with Windows 7 still?

Thanks!

 

[TheStu]

Why does he need a new one? And what kind of consulting are we talking about?

 

[Ensign]

Why does he need a new one? And what kind of consulting are we talking about?

He said that sometimes he picks it up and it will shut down or sometimes it will shut down just sitting there. Also, apparently has issues printing or playing internet radio unless he reboots. A couple times during a busy day, it gets hung up loading a large word or pdf doc.

He travels around to different companies and has meetings with people in offices and brings the laptop to do work on it.

Thanks.

 

[TheStu]

He said that sometimes he picks it up and it will shut down or sometimes it will shut down just sitting there. Also, apparently has issues printing or playing internet radio unless he reboots. A couple times during a busy day, it gets hung up loading a large word or pdf doc.

He travels around to different companies and has meetings with people in offices and brings the laptop to do work on it.

Thanks.

You could look at Dell or HP's business machines. Tend to hold up better to that sort of thing. Dell Outlet would be a good place to look to try to get a good deal.

 

[Ensign]

You could look at Dell or HP's business machines. Tend to hold up better to that sort of thing. Dell Outlet would be a good place to look to try to get a good deal.

Thanks for the suggestions. I apologize for my ignorance, but how do you exactly distinguish between the business and non-business machines?

 

[MarkLuvsCS]

http://outlet.lenovo.com

They sometimes have some pretty good deals and they have some pretty solid filtering options.

 

[TheStu]

Thanks for the suggestions. I apologize for my ignorance, but how do you exactly distinguish between the business and non-business machines?

On Dell's website, you would be looking for the machines listed under 'Home & Small Business'. The Vostro & Latitude lines of machines. The Vostros are usually more affordable.

 

[JWade]

right now delloutlet has a 20% off their e6430 laittudes (20% is posted on their twitter account)

 

[holden j caufield]

I like lenovo thinkpad lor toshiba tecra ines. They are built especially for business and way sturdier than the consumer ones. Also don't get the HD 1366 x 768 resolution. I've not met one user under 50 in all our division that like that resolution. Save for some of the 50 and over crowd that like that resolution so they can read things better. You can be way more productive with 1600 x 900 or 1920 x 1080.