4 ms·

Ask HN: best windows laptop

7 points by petervandijck 15y ago

What's the best Windows laptop? Assume price is not an issue, it's moved around a lot. For developing and browsing, mainly.

m0nastic 15y ago
Thinkpad... If portability isn't an issue, than the new W520 or T520. If you don't like lugging around a giant monster, the new X220. Everyone will chime in with a reason to avoid $Manufacturer (for me I avoid Dell and HP), I'm not sure if there's really a consensus.
- petervandijck 15y ago
  ie. this one http://amzn.to/jRWwyx http://amzn.to/jRWwyx? What do you like about the Thinkpad? I dislike the brand, reminds me of crappy company laptops being handed out to me.
  - m0nastic 15y ago
    I like the fact that they seem to be the only well-made laptops anymore. On the inside, pretty much all manufacturers are using the same components (Wifi cards being the only real exception), but Thinkpads have always seemed much better constructed than the equivalent Dells or HP's. There isn't really any PC laptop brand you can buy to escape the "reminds me of crappy company laptops", with the possible exception of Sony. Some point to Vaio's as being the most "Apple-like" PC's. That description can be either positive or negative depending on how you feel about Apple machines. As it is, I've never really liked Sony's manufacturing process for laptops (I've only had 2 over the years though, and it's hard to divorce yourself from personal experience when recommending a brand). For what it's worth, I wouldn't ever buy another non-Thinkpad PC laptop. I've had an Asus, about a dozen Dell's, and a bunch of HP's. They were all giant pieces of shit (Dell's being the worst from a hardware failure perspective). If I get a Thinkpad, I am fairly confident I won't have any issues for at least a bunch of years (my last T series put in a good 6 years of daily use without any issues). As far as I'm concerned, they're the Honda of laptop manufacturers.
    - petervandijck 15y ago
      A Honda.. not bad :)
    - mestudent 15y ago
      I have a samsung qx410 and it is actually of pretty nice quality, and has a good keyboard my only complaint would be the touchpad but most of the time I have a mouse connected or am not using the mouse. HP is absolutely the worst laptop brand I have ever owned, I've known plenty of people with HPs and almost every single laptop has overheated to the point of shutting down the computer and breaking within a year and a half. Thinkpads have the added feature of being pretty compatible with linux, though I think some of the nvidia cards that come with the T series are not compatible yet.
      - dhimes 15y ago
        Anecdotal data counterpoint: I've had three hps in five years- one hard drive crash was the only issue, aside from a keyboard button falling off of one. (Kids have them now and they are doing fine). Currently running two Asus'- a "business" laptop (UL50V) and an eeePC for travel. Both with Ubuntu/Mint linux. The Biz machine is nice, the eeePC is what it is. Boots fast, standby works in ubuntu, etc. Better value than an ipad for my road needs (although the ipad is nice for other things).
  - pkamb 15y ago
    The Trackpoint. You'll learn to love it. And once you do, you'll never buy another brand.
- pasbesoin 15y ago
  From my limited experience, Thinkpads are the only models with consistently good keyboards. (Though I see now they've started to use "chicklet" keyboards in some models; I'm skeptical.) The other factor is a good screen. Pay attention to the parts you will constantly interact with. Spend your "pretty" dollars on a good suit. P.S. Over the past decade, I've found that discrete graphics support has significantly extended the useful life of several acquaintance's laptops. One is on a decade old Dell; still usable for "normal" work -- it just won't play large videos. I don't recommend going a decade, but it works for them and it accentuates my point. This is also from a time when Dell still had good keyboards, and the screen was a good looking, high resolution upgrade.
sorbus 15y ago
What are your criteria for best? Do you want something extremely fast? Do you want ridiculous battery life? Do you want an extremely light and portable machine? Do you prefer large screens or small? Extremely high resolution or the standard (which seems to be around 1366x768)? Extremely high durability, so that you can throw it at walls without worrying? SSDs go without saying, of course, but aren't hard to swap in after buying a machine, so can be ignored somewhat. Using my criteria for all of that, the best windows laptop is probably either Asus's U30Jc or U36Jc. I'm a fan of Asus, though, so that might just be because of that bias.
starter 15y ago
One simple tip: Try to get well built laptops with metal construction. Makes a difference and those tend to be built the best.
- revorad 15y ago
  Can you give some examples?
  - tnorthcutt 15y ago
    HP's ENVY line has an aluminum body (rather than plastic). I have a 14, and find it to be very well made.
revorad 15y ago
I'm also looking for a non-Apple laptop, to run Linux mainly but probably also Windows. I find the whole process of choosing a laptop to be some kind of voodoo science. Everyone seems to have loyalty to some brand X based mostly on personal anecdotes. For example, a lot of people diss Dell. But I've used a Dell inspiron 9400 for many years now and it's been really good. Will I buy Dell again? I don't see why not. I think they sell good cheap computers. In terms of spec, I find that all new computers are good enough now that I can't be bothered to drop more than £500 on one. If I need crazy processing power, it's probably going to be for some web data processing and will just use one of the many cloud services. But currently, my personall challenge is to build a laptop for myself. I posted the other day asking for help on how to go about it - http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2599389 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2599389. I'm really surprised by the lack of know-how about it. So I'm even more motivated to do it. I hope to have something to show for my experiments in the coming weeks.
chrisjsmith 15y ago
If you want anything new, Acer TimelineX + buy an SSD and some more RAM. I've never seen one returned with "issues" and the keyboards and screens are damn good. If you want something old Thinkpad T60.
- revorad 15y ago
  I've never seen the Acer TimelineX (or any Acer) recommended. It's pretty cheap. Have you used one?
  - chrisjsmith 15y ago
    Yes I've actually sold 26 of them now with no complaints or returns in the last 2 years. They are quite cheap but they are actually extremely good quality with 8-10h battery life, very light weight, decent keyboard, decent screen and touchpad. They also just "work" with no driver problems etc. They should not be confused with the other Acer machines which are power sucking junk if you ask me.
    - revorad 15y ago
      I'm finding a few different models - https://www.simplyacer.com/timelinex-sale?gclid=COO0huDQmakCFcRtfAod3yYJxA https://www.simplyacer.com/timelinex-sale?gclid=COO0huDQmakC... Do you recommend any particular one? Do you have an online store?
      - chrisjsmith 15y ago
        Last batch were the 4820T. Before that were 3810TZ. I don't have an online store - these are consultancy sales only.
        revorad 15y ago
        Thanks. I will check them out.
runjake 15y ago
The X200 series are great, the new X220, or a refurb X200/X201. The X220 comes with a trackpad, which is nice, though. I owned an X200 and if I could run a vanilla copy of OS X on it, I'd ditch my MBP in a second. I spent a little time with one of the new T420 models recently and it was superb, as well.
allwein 15y ago
My MacBook Pro is the best windows laptop I've ever used.

7 points by petervandijck 15y ago

What's the best Windows laptop? Assume price is not an issue, it's moved around a lot. For developing and browsing, mainly.

m0nastic 15y ago

Thinkpad... If portability isn't an issue, than the new W520 or T520. If you don't like lugging around a giant monster, the new X220. Everyone will chime in with a reason to avoid $Manufacturer (for me I avoid Dell and HP), I'm not sure if there's really a consensus.

petervandijck 15y ago
ie. this one http://amzn.to/jRWwyx http://amzn.to/jRWwyx? What do you like about the Thinkpad? I dislike the brand, reminds me of crappy company laptops being handed out to me.
- m0nastic 15y ago
  I like the fact that they seem to be the only well-made laptops anymore. On the inside, pretty much all manufacturers are using the same components (Wifi cards being the only real exception), but Thinkpads have always seemed much better constructed than the equivalent Dells or HP's. There isn't really any PC laptop brand you can buy to escape the "reminds me of crappy company laptops", with the possible exception of Sony. Some point to Vaio's as being the most "Apple-like" PC's. That description can be either positive or negative depending on how you feel about Apple machines. As it is, I've never really liked Sony's manufacturing process for laptops (I've only had 2 over the years though, and it's hard to divorce yourself from personal experience when recommending a brand). For what it's worth, I wouldn't ever buy another non-Thinkpad PC laptop. I've had an Asus, about a dozen Dell's, and a bunch of HP's. They were all giant pieces of shit (Dell's being the worst from a hardware failure perspective). If I get a Thinkpad, I am fairly confident I won't have any issues for at least a bunch of years (my last T series put in a good 6 years of daily use without any issues). As far as I'm concerned, they're the Honda of laptop manufacturers.
  - petervandijck 15y ago
    A Honda.. not bad :)
  - mestudent 15y ago
    I have a samsung qx410 and it is actually of pretty nice quality, and has a good keyboard my only complaint would be the touchpad but most of the time I have a mouse connected or am not using the mouse. HP is absolutely the worst laptop brand I have ever owned, I've known plenty of people with HPs and almost every single laptop has overheated to the point of shutting down the computer and breaking within a year and a half. Thinkpads have the added feature of being pretty compatible with linux, though I think some of the nvidia cards that come with the T series are not compatible yet.
    - dhimes 15y ago
      Anecdotal data counterpoint: I've had three hps in five years- one hard drive crash was the only issue, aside from a keyboard button falling off of one. (Kids have them now and they are doing fine). Currently running two Asus'- a "business" laptop (UL50V) and an eeePC for travel. Both with Ubuntu/Mint linux. The Biz machine is nice, the eeePC is what it is. Boots fast, standby works in ubuntu, etc. Better value than an ipad for my road needs (although the ipad is nice for other things).
- pkamb 15y ago
  The Trackpoint. You'll learn to love it. And once you do, you'll never buy another brand.
pasbesoin 15y ago
From my limited experience, Thinkpads are the only models with consistently good keyboards. (Though I see now they've started to use "chicklet" keyboards in some models; I'm skeptical.) The other factor is a good screen. Pay attention to the parts you will constantly interact with. Spend your "pretty" dollars on a good suit. P.S. Over the past decade, I've found that discrete graphics support has significantly extended the useful life of several acquaintance's laptops. One is on a decade old Dell; still usable for "normal" work -- it just won't play large videos. I don't recommend going a decade, but it works for them and it accentuates my point. This is also from a time when Dell still had good keyboards, and the screen was a good looking, high resolution upgrade.

sorbus 15y ago

What are your criteria for best? Do you want something extremely fast? Do you want ridiculous battery life? Do you want an extremely light and portable machine? Do you prefer large screens or small? Extremely high resolution or the standard (which seems to be around 1366x768)? Extremely high durability, so that you can throw it at walls without worrying? SSDs go without saying, of course, but aren't hard to swap in after buying a machine, so can be ignored somewhat. Using my criteria for all of that, the best windows laptop is probably either Asus's U30Jc or U36Jc. I'm a fan of Asus, though, so that might just be because of that bias.

starter 15y ago

One simple tip: Try to get well built laptops with metal construction. Makes a difference and those tend to be built the best.

revorad 15y ago
Can you give some examples?
- tnorthcutt 15y ago
  HP's ENVY line has an aluminum body (rather than plastic). I have a 14, and find it to be very well made.

revorad 15y ago

I'm also looking for a non-Apple laptop, to run Linux mainly but probably also Windows. I find the whole process of choosing a laptop to be some kind of voodoo science. Everyone seems to have loyalty to some brand X based mostly on personal anecdotes. For example, a lot of people diss Dell. But I've used a Dell inspiron 9400 for many years now and it's been really good. Will I buy Dell again? I don't see why not. I think they sell good cheap computers. In terms of spec, I find that all new computers are good enough now that I can't be bothered to drop more than £500 on one. If I need crazy processing power, it's probably going to be for some web data processing and will just use one of the many cloud services. But currently, my personall challenge is to build a laptop for myself. I posted the other day asking for help on how to go about it - http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2599389 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2599389. I'm really surprised by the lack of know-how about it. So I'm even more motivated to do it. I hope to have something to show for my experiments in the coming weeks.

chrisjsmith 15y ago

If you want anything new, Acer TimelineX + buy an SSD and some more RAM. I've never seen one returned with "issues" and the keyboards and screens are damn good. If you want something old Thinkpad T60.

revorad 15y ago
I've never seen the Acer TimelineX (or any Acer) recommended. It's pretty cheap. Have you used one?
- chrisjsmith 15y ago
  Yes I've actually sold 26 of them now with no complaints or returns in the last 2 years. They are quite cheap but they are actually extremely good quality with 8-10h battery life, very light weight, decent keyboard, decent screen and touchpad. They also just "work" with no driver problems etc. They should not be confused with the other Acer machines which are power sucking junk if you ask me.
  - revorad 15y ago
    I'm finding a few different models - https://www.simplyacer.com/timelinex-sale?gclid=COO0huDQmakCFcRtfAod3yYJxA https://www.simplyacer.com/timelinex-sale?gclid=COO0huDQmakC... Do you recommend any particular one? Do you have an online store?
    - chrisjsmith 15y ago
      Last batch were the 4820T. Before that were 3810TZ. I don't have an online store - these are consultancy sales only.
      - revorad 15y ago
        Thanks. I will check them out.

runjake 15y ago

The X200 series are great, the new X220, or a refurb X200/X201. The X220 comes with a trackpad, which is nice, though. I owned an X200 and if I could run a vanilla copy of OS X on it, I'd ditch my MBP in a second. I spent a little time with one of the new T420 models recently and it was superb, as well.

allwein 15y ago

My MacBook Pro is the best windows laptop I've ever used.