New laptop, R15K budget. Suggestions please?

AstroTurf

AstroTurf

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Hi,

One of our managers had his laptop stolen out his car last night (not made a backup since beginning 2011 as "it takes to long" but anyway).

What nice n fast, reliable laptop with a decent battery life, built in 3G and all the rest would you suggest for around R15 to R17K?
He wants it by tomorrow night but our Managing Director informed me that I am in no hurry to get it to him.

Any local sites or suggestions are welcome.

Thank you in advance.

Sean
 
abzo said:
Does he want a gaming laptop?
Click to expand...

He wants a laptop that will last him 5 to 7 years and will be able to handle everything from RAW images to design/photoshop type software/viewers.

Price will have to include office and a relatively large bag (as he travels onehelluvalot).

battery life is quite important as he spends hours at airport terminals waiting for flights.
 
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11762629&whse=BC&Ne=5000001+4000000&eCat=BC|84|56670&N=4047229Umm, most laptops are usuable for about 3 years.

SARS also agrees with this timeframe:

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/440939-Depreciation-on-laptops

In 5-7 years the laptop will be struggling a lot with the software that it is going to be available at the time, no matter how well it has been looked after.

That being said, these are the specs you can look out for. I helped a friend in the US buy this machine when it was on special last weekend for $999:

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Produc...Ne=5000001+4000000&eCat=BC|84|56670&N=4047229
 
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AstroTurf said:
His last laptop lasted him 7 years, It took me about 3 months to convince him it's time to upgrade.
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Good luck with that. :D

I also get to do with clients from time to time that expect me to wave my magic wand and then get their 'brand new' systems from 2002 up to speed.

If you then try and explain that it is too old, they take it as a personal insult.

Have you checked out the system in my previous post? That one should last quite a while if you are able to source it here.
 
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Roadrunner said:
Good luck with that. :D

I also get to do with clients from time to time that expect me to wave my magic wand and then get their 'brand new' systems from 2002 up to speed.

If you then try and explain that it is too old, they take it as a personal insult.

Have you checked out the system in my previous post? That one should last quite a while if you are able to source it here.
Click to expand...

lol, I have a toppie I help out with his office machines from time to time (charge him something silly like R100 an hour).
Oldest machine he has is celeron 300 running xp with 256meg ram.
does not understand when I say it's time to upgrade the thing, I can't make it go faster without replacing just about everything in it.
 
R11,841
Dell XPS 15 L502
laptop direct :) should last u quite a while
 
who makes back-ups?

go for a dell with 3 year on site warranty
 
Just keep in mind that Dell's call centre is in India with no local technical centre. They contract out the repair work to local companies like Unisys.

Took me two months to get a very peculiar (to say the least) issue sorted out recently with a laptop which turned out to be a (sort of) faulty hard drive. If they had a technical centre in SA, it would have taken all of 10 minutes to do the same thing.
 
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technically dell has a local tech center, u get routed from india to either our or the irish tech center.... it works pretty well actually my company only gets dell laptops
 
shock3d said:
technically dell has a local tech center, u get routed from india to either our or the irish tech center.... it works pretty well actually my company only gets dell laptops
Click to expand...

So what you are saying is that they lied to me when I asked them where I could take the laptop to have it repaired at the beginning of that struggle?

The next business day warranty has expired, but it was still under the normal guarantee for two years, so I was willing to take it to the tech center if they could tell me where it was.

This problem was so unusual that I wanted to speak to a technician face to face, but the call center was unable to tell me where I could go to do this.

@OP: Sorry for derailing the thread. :D
 
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mmm not sure if they have a physical walk in customer center, bt they got a building in gauteng somewhere they should also have "partners" where you can take your laptop and such.....
 
Might be worth taking a look a mecer notebooks, a 17" i7 Ivybridge notebook will only set you back around 10k.

Pm me if you need more details:)
 
Ipwn 4 said:
Might be worth taking a look a mecer notebooks, a 17" i7 Ivybridge notebook will only set you back around 10k.

Pm me if you need more details:)
Click to expand...

He tends to prefer the smaller screens, 14" or so (due to travel).
 
AstroTurf said:
He tends to prefer the smaller screens, 14" or so (due to travel).
Click to expand...

Then you are going to spend a whole lot more for a lot less:D considering the lifespan of his previous notebook it might be worth going all out and getting a top of the range ultra book.
 
if he needs windows.. check out the Asus Zenbook range.. pretty good overall.. also the HP spectre.

otherwise macbook Air
 
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