Re: Laptop recommendations?

**H*@aol.com**

Do your research.  There is an excellent site here   
_http://www.notebookreview.com/_ (http://www.notebookreview.com/)  where  you can see what people 
are buying and ask particular questions in vendor  specific forums.  There's 
also a tool where you can plug in your needs and  get suggestions from 
others on what may fit the bill.  Also check Consumer  Reports latest ratings.

I rely on my laptop(s) for all of my work from writing to photography and I 
 expect them to last three years...which means I purchase a three year  
warranty.   

If most of your needs are word processing you really don't need fast and a  
standard battery should give you a three to four hour run..for a couple of  
years.  Less expensive laptops tend to be heavier but the newest 'ultra'  
models are light and thin...but at your price point not built to hold up the  
much travel and use by multiple users whose handling of the machine will 
vary  greatly.  The best of these at the moment is probably the Lenovo X1 
Carbon  but with a warranty over your budget...but they come with solid state 
drives,  fast processors, 4-6 hour battery life and at under 4 pounds are a 
delight to  travel with.

Dell quality has been on a multi-year spiral downward but that may be a  
shared trait with HP and others at the 'cosumer' level as opposed to business  
laptops. 

I don't think I've spent less than $1400 on a laptop and usually  more.  
After 15+ years of being a Windows and Dell consumer I jumped ship  during the 
summer and now my portable computing is done on a fruit. I'm  now using a 
MacBook Pro with Retina display and my two Dells are now  my backup machines. 

Andrew Messinger
The Hampton Gardener is a  registered trade mark and is published every 
week in The Southampton Press, The  Press The Easthampton Press and online at 
27east.com 

In a message dated 10/2/2012 5:14:32 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
dellis@ahs.org writes:

We are  investigating purchase of a laptop to be shared among our editorial 
staff,  with a budget under $800. Ideally something portable for travel, 
fast and with  lots of memory, decent battery life, and WindowsOS.  Can those 
of you who  use laptops for garden writing/editing offer advice or comments 
on what you  are using?
Thanks,
David
David J. Ellis
Director of Communications  and
Editor of The American Gardener

AMERICAN HORTICULTURAL  SOCIETY
7931 East Boulevard Drive
Alexandria, VA 22308
(703) 768-5700  ext.  122
www.ahs.org
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