I've really enjoyed my Macs. Even if you don't want to run OS X, you can still but Linux, BSD, or Windows on there with little difficulty. If the price is too high, there are great deals on refurbished models: http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac The hardware is a solid performer, and they machines are rugged, especially the unibody models that are standard for the last 3-4 years. ----- Eric F Crist On Nov 8, 2012, at 20:57:10, Michael Moore <stuporglue at gmail.com> wrote: > I'm looking for a good PC laptop. I currently have an order in with > Lenovo for a W530, but they say it's going to take 3 months to ship. > If I can find something comparable I'll cancel my order with them. > > The Thinkpad was $1450 and I've got a firm max budget of $1500. I'm > eligible for student discounts which might help. > > I have 3 must-have features in order of importance: > > 1) Something Durable > I've had Thinkpads in the past and they seem to take a beating. I > currently have a 1-year old HP Pavilion that you'd think was 90. Some > keys aren't working, the fan is always running at high, and the hinges > have been replaced once under warranty and will need it again soon. > > Are there other lines of laptops with good reputations for being > sturdy? Should I just wait it out to get the Thinkpad? > > I had to go for the cheap option time and it didn't last. This time > I'd like to buy quality and not need to replace it in 12 months. > > 2) High resolution screen > The W530 I ordered has a "FHD" (1920x1080) screen. I wouldn't want to go lower. > > 3) 14-16 inch form factor > > Two nice-to-have features: > > 1) 8 gigs of RAM or more > 2) Quad-core i7 > > And of course, it should be somewhat compatible with Linux. I'm happy > fighting with it if I have to to make it work. > > Thanks, > Michael Moore > _______________________________________________ > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list