I've been rocking my Asus laptop with Windows 7 for about 6 years. Ethernet port is wearing out, power port is wearing out. I'm thinking its time to replace it before I get to a job and I can't power up of connect.

I use CCP, ID, Composer, Lutron on occasion, putty, etc, etc, --

Windows 10 doesn't seem terrible, just wondering if anyone has any preferences, suggestions, or experience with things to consider for a working laptop. I haven't looked at computers in years.

I looked at one last week and realized that even though it was a 17.3incher, it didn't come with SVGA nor Ethernet (RJ45) port. It also only had 2 USB ports and one of them what the new USB-C one.

I'm not brave enough to dump RJ45 connection yet. Way too many jobs where WiFi isn't setup and I need to jack in to do initial setup.
I'm sure USB to Ethernet dongles are out there, but I'm not about to go there, not yet.

All you need is one of these.

[Link: amazon.com]

Lenovo T series!

For everything that you're doing you don't need a powerhouse. I also always buy worklaptops used on eBay. Job sites are not kind to laptops and there is just no reason to spend coin on a fancy machine. I'm still rocking my T430 I bought 3 years ago for $375 bucks. Just replaced the battery a few months ago but it's still kicking!

Find one with an I5 or greater 8Gigs of ram and your life will be ok!

I couldnt be happier with my MS Surface Book. Not just a Surface, but a regular laptop.

Whats your budget?

I guess the budget is relative, don't want to balance a $2000 laptop on a step ladder, but don't want to be cheap and loose time either.

I was hoping to be in the $800 range, but haven't looked enough to see if that is reasonable.

I bought a Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro 3 years ago and it still works. I have even dropped it a couple of times. It was an i5 with 8 gigs or ram and I upgraded the 128 ssd to 512. I will probably get another one in about a year. I spent 1000 3 years ago. I use USB to ethernet dongle and works every time. NO issues.

I just picked up a couple of Acers, cheaper one for the van and a bad boy for me.

8 hundo for the cheaper, 15 hundo for mine

I find laptops that are few years old. Most times I get them for free. I double the ram and put a solid state hard drive in and it works perfect. Solid state is the way to go.

I had a T45 that didn't have enough memory capability (for me) to go past XP, so that's my offline machine for audio recording.

The T420 I've had for a couple of years does everything though I need a Keyspan USB to RS232 adaptor for the occasional MX850 or Prontoid relative.

After I knocked it over and killed the hard drive I had an SSD installed. That's even better!


AND... I hate going slide, slide, slide to move the cursor across the screen and these laptops have the "nipple mouse." Put your finger on it and push sideways; the cursor moves until you let up on the pressure. Screw the mouse pad!

I just replaced mine last night.

Picked-up an Acer F5-573G-77NU for $1299 AUD

7th Gen. i7 7500
8Gb Ram
256Gb m.2 SSD
GeForce 940mx graphics
3xUSB
SD Card reader

Also had an empty slot where I stuck a 1TB Sata for storage.

It's light and plastic-y, but it's gonna do me just fine.

That's a 15 incher, right?

For something that holds up to integration work, I highly recommend Lenovo X or T series. Stay away from consumer grade laptops.

That's right, yep.

Some may want more real estate for programming, but I don't find it an issue.

Overall, a pretty decent little unit.

The MS Surface line, running Windows 10, are really nice. The latest Pro 4 ones have some nice options, so that they can be a tablet or a laptop, and they have a wee little box that acts as a 'dock' that lets quickly plug in and use a regular keyboard, mouse and large monitor when home.