Please help me to choose a laptop for bossman.

April 22, 2009 9:27 AM

I am trying to find my boss a work laptop in the $750 to $950 range.

He is a residential painter who will have the laptop on the job, but it will be in his truck, so he doesn't need a Toughbook, but something that's a bit more durable than your average notebook would be good.

Main usage will be:

office/record type stuff
fantasy football
online poker
zune music stuff

Preferences I have picked up from him:

Solid feel
Biggish screen (15in+)
Comfortable large size keyboard (he's got big hands, a netbook is out!)

He won't be using it for very intensive stuff, so speed isn't a huge issue, but he doesn't like waiting for his browser to open, etc... He is savvy with windows XP, so that would be a bonus, or at least have components that are well supported under XP so I can downgrade it myself. Vista would probably just frustrate him with its speed anyways.

If you have a suggestion for something that you think would fit his needs well, but is out of the price range, I'll suggest it to him and let him choose for himself, but I'd appreciate it if you tried to find stuff in bounds.

So thanks in advance everyone, and till then, I'm off to cruise newegg and see what I can dig up.

posted by jellywerker to computers & internet (8 comments total)

Thinkpad T-series with an SSD drive.
posted by odinsdream at 9:30 AM on April 22

I should also add, a screen that isn't horrendous to read outdoors would be a plus, is this limited to just a non-glossy screen though or are their other options that make a screen easier to read outside?
posted by jellywerker at 9:31 AM on April 22

Ooh, the T-Series is apparently on sale currently. I do prefer the Lenovo's myself for business laptops, but figured any decent ones would be out of his range. I'll definitely add that to the list. Thanks.
posted by jellywerker at 9:34 AM on April 22

From another which-laptop thread, be sure to check out the Lenovo Outlet for significant discounts on as-new and refurbished models.
posted by odinsdream at 9:41 AM on April 22

Wow, the lenovo outlet brought up some excellent possibilities. I am leaning towards telling him to get a refurb t500 for about $850. 15.4in screen, businesslike, spill protection on the keyboard (supposedly, is this still a thinkpad feature?) and from hands on with the lenovos they tend to be sturdy.

Any thoughts on the keyboards on the t500's?

<3 Metafilter.
posted by jellywerker at 9:53 AM on April 22

All of the Thinkpad keyboards have equivalent key-click-feel to them. Double-check the physical dimensions and key layout if you're concerned.
posted by odinsdream at 10:20 AM on April 22

Dell Latitude.
posted by SirStan at 11:25 AM on April 22

Oop. We still get all our Latitude E5500's with XP from Dell.
posted by SirStan at 11:25 AM on April 22