Please help. Buying new laptop for work

[sheryl400]

There are too many out there. I would like a light laptop, not tablet. I want a 14 or 15 inch screen. It most have backlight. I type at night, a lot. I travel a lot. I need something durable. But, basically only for email and using company database and surfing net. Many documents open at once. Has to be fast. Good battery life. Really want windows 7. I would get a Mac with retina display but my whole office uses PC so I need the same OS. I can spend up to $1500 or so. I was looking at Lenovo thinkpad T440 with upgrades like better display and more RAM. What do you suggest?

 

[jaguarskx]

For a light business laptop I generally recommend Lenovo laptops.

The T440s is the ultrabook version of the T440 and starts at 3.6lbs. It has a 1600x900 resolution screen, but can be upgraded to 1920x1080. It only comes with 4GB of RAM and you cannot upgrade it yourself because it is soldered into the laptop. If you want 8GB of RAM, then you need to configure it with 8GB of RAM before purchasing it. This basically applies to all ultrabooks because soldering RAM saves space and weight.

http/shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/t-series/t440s/


A more expensive option is the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon which weighs in at 2.8lbs. I think Bestbuy has this laptop in their stores.

http/shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/x1-carbon/


The ThinkPad Yoga 14 is good for presentations since the keyboard can be folded back until it Yoga becomes a tablet; albeit a heavy tablet at 4.2lbs. There is nothing to configure and you can check it out in person at Bestbuy.

http/shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/yoga-series/yoga-14/

 

[sheryl400]

For a light business laptop I generally recommend Lenovo laptops.

The T440s is the ultrabook version of the T440 and starts at 3.6lbs. It has a 1600x900 resolution screen, but can be upgraded to 1920x1080. It only comes with 4GB of RAM and you cannot upgrade it yourself because it is soldered into the laptop. If you want 8GB of RAM, then you need to configure it with 8GB of RAM before purchasing it. This basically applies to all ultrabooks because soldering RAM saves space and weight.

http/shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/t-series/t440s/


A more expensive option is the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon which weighs in at 2.8lbs. I think Bestbuy has this laptop in their stores.

http/shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/x1-carbon/


The ThinkPad Yoga 14 is good for presentations since the keyboard can be folded back until it Yoga becomes a tablet; albeit a heavy tablet at 4.2lbs. There is nothing to configure and you can check it out in person at Bestbuy.

http/shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/yoga-series/yoga-14/

Please take a look at this link and let me knwo what you think. I wanted SSD and better graphics. I think this may be it.
http/www.amazon.com/dp/B00GJ0X8MW/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1DXMDTNN7N0AW&coliid=I17P201JCZEW76

 

[sheryl400]

OR:
http/www.amazon.com/dp/B00IZJF1CU/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1DXMDTNN7N0AW&coliid=I32OYEK1733KRD&psc=1

http/www.amazon.com/dp/B00J5ZTIF4/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1DXMDTNN7N0AW&coliid=I1F9X11PSA6SW9&psc=1

http/www.amazon.com/dp/B00BU2YX64/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1DXMDTNN7N0AW&coliid=I3MJAE4S1XZWTA&psc=1

I rather not spend the most but which do you think is the best for me? Thanks for you help

For a light business laptop I generally recommend Lenovo laptops.

The T440s is the ultrabook version of the T440 and starts at 3.6lbs. It has a 1600x900 resolution screen, but can be upgraded to 1920x1080. It only comes with 4GB of RAM and you cannot upgrade it yourself because it is soldered into the laptop. If you want 8GB of RAM, then you need to configure it with 8GB of RAM before purchasing it. This basically applies to all ultrabooks because soldering RAM saves space and weight.

http/shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/t-series/t440s/


A more expensive option is the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon which weighs in at 2.8lbs. I think Bestbuy has this laptop in their stores.

http/shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/x1-carbon/


The ThinkPad Yoga 14 is good for presentations since the keyboard can be folded back until it Yoga becomes a tablet; albeit a heavy tablet at 4.2lbs. There is nothing to configure and you can check it out in person at Bestbuy.

http/shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/yoga-series/yoga-14/

 

[jaguarskx]

What will you be doing with the laptop that requires better graphics?

Emailing, accessing / using databases and surfing the internet does not require powerful graphics. The W540 is a workstation laptop, powerful, but expensive. You generally do not need quad core CPU for your needs.

 

[sheryl400]

I thought to watch movies. I read that the lower resolution is bad. I don't use it for that too much but sometimes. I don;t want to have to get a new one for a long time. If you think it is overkill, I defer to you then. why spend more? Basically I have read too much I think.so,
I want fast, windows 7, backlight and good keyboard, relatively light, 14 o 15 inch screen and durable.No issues when lots of windows are open. I will defer to your expertise.

What will you be doing with the laptop that requires better graphics?

Emailing, accessing / using databases and surfing the internet does not require powerful graphics. The W540 is a workstation laptop, powerful, but expensive. You generally do not need quad core CPU for your needs.

 

[jaguarskx]

The laptops I recommended should suit your needs without any issues. You do not need a graphics card to watch movies. The ThinkPad Yoga 14 does have a dedicated graphics card though.

A quad core CPU is overkill for what you want to do unless you are going to be data mining a very large database on a regular basis.

What MacBook do you have and what do you feel about its performance?

 

[sheryl400]

I don't. My son, the prince, has the best Mac out there. He spent over $3K. He insists I should get one as his screen is pristine and it is so fast but he is spoiled. Hey, he paid for it. I jsut tend to get a new laptop every year or two and that is ridicuous so I wanted something to last this time. Such a hassle transferring everyhting over. I want what I wrote in last email, that's it. Nothing much. I can save on our server so I don't even need much storage but I need Office and the basic work stuff on there. I don't need a hybrid though either and I really want win. 7.

The laptops I recommended should suit your needs without any issues. You do not need a graphics card to watch movies. The ThinkPad Yoga 14 does have a dedicated graphics card though.

A quad core CPU is overkill for what you want to do unless you are going to be data mining a very large database on a regular basis.

What MacBook do you have and what do you feel about its performance?

 

[jaguarskx]

Well then it boils down to the ThinkPad T440s or the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. The Intel Core i5 CPU that they come with should be more than enough for what you want to do and they are pretty light so if you need to fly around for business trips then you have less weight to drag around with you. I do recommend you order them with 8GB since you cannot upgrade them yourself.

They both come with a 1600x900 resolution as standard. The T440s can be upgraded to 1920x1080 for $120. The X1 Carbon has no option for a 1920x1080 screen, it jumps to 2560x1440 resolution so it makes text look really small. Scaling can help make text bigger, but I generally do not recommend that $150 upgrade.

I do recommend you go to Bestbuy (if that is convenient) see if they have they have the T440s or X1 Carbon on display. At worse you can look at the ThinkPad Yoga 14 to determine if text on a 14" 1920x1080 resolution screen is easy enough for you to read. If not, then stick with the standard 1600x900 screen.

Below are reviews for the two laptops. Between them I would go with the T440s because of the more traditional keyboard layout.

ThinkPad X1 Carbon
https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvM3ow-X1a8

ThinkPad T440s
https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6GvbQPwJuo

 

[jaguarskx]

Just in case you did not know none of the laptops mentioned in this thread has a DVD drive.

If you want a laptop that has a DVD drive, then consider the ThinkPad T440p which weighs in at 4.1lbs. I do recommend that you upgrade the CPU to the i5-4200m ($50) and upgrade the screen resolution to 1600x900 or 1920x1080. It only comes with 4GB of RAM, but you can install another 4GB of RAM by yourself in this laptop, or simply order it with 8GB of RAM.

http/shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/t-series/?menu-id=thinkpad_t


Here's a user review; it is rather long at 37 minutes:
https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOu4xpXhMnQ