Professional/SME Laptop

LCBXX

LCBXX

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My wife needs to buy a laptop for her new insurance job without it breaking the bank. Her basic requirements are as follows:
CPU: Core i5 or similar
RAM: 4GB
HDD: Not important
OS: Windows 7/8 Professional
Keyboard: Must have numeric pad
Display: 15.6"
Connectivity: The usual wuth built-in 3G
Warranty: On-site/Next Business day, 1 year or longer

The HP ProBook 4540s comes in quite strongly on this front but the carry-in warranty is a put-off. I've been a Dell convert for the longest time due to their on-site next business day warranty approach but I do see that big retailers (Game, Incredible, etc) also offer these on a sub-contracting basis with IT-Support Vendors (no experience with how these perform, however).
 
Call these guys and see if they have any i5 machines. You should be able to find one with balance of warranty on. Just bear in mind that these are mostly refurbished machines so battery life will probably be crap. They do new and out-of-box also.


http://www.universedirect.co.za/
 
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I'd go with Dell, as per your preference. Their after-sales service is excellent, if you want peace-of-mind.
 
FlatspinZA said:
I'd go with Dell, as per your preference. Their after-sales service is excellent, if you want peace-of-mind.
Click to expand...

I've just got an email for Inspiron i5 on special at Universe Direct, still with 2 year NBD warranty, screen only 14" though
 
Lenovo Thinkpads all the way, the Edge series should fit into your requirements or otherwise the T series.
 
Go with the Dell entry level Vostro. You can get the I5 for about R5999

Incredible has them at surprisingly low prices. If a home OS on an option,the insperon is going for under 4K...
 
I can sell you a brand new one for R9999. R1,000 less than Incredible Connection.
Add R800 for 3 year next business day Warranty.

HP ProBook 4540s (3G, 750GB HDD, Predownloaded to Windows 7 Pro)
 
Most definitely agree with the dell supporters and anyone who has ever had to use their warranty would say the same thing... Awesome after sales support... When you say SME, that is something that is crucial isnt it?

Check this one out:

http://www.compulutions.co.za/indic...gb+1x4gb_d6365099c4abc2dda04c352fd0c32c49.php

The new 3xxx series are awesome but for that price... I'd rather look at a Latitude, much better build quality on those machines!
 
Dell. purely for the next day service they provide at your premises. If Lenovo had the same service I would say go Lenovo but they dont have the same service dell has.
 
Hi guys,
We have chucked out the HP ProBook 4540s on favor of either the following 2 laptops as both have 2 year warranties:
Samsung NP300E5E A06ZA - 2 Year carry in warranty but we live 5km from the Roodepoort Service Centre so it is not a big issue
Gigabyte Q1542N - 2 Year collect and repair warranty; it is not on-site like that offered by Dell. Then again, Midrand is not that far away, provided they can repair it there as well.

I am not too familiar with the Gigabyte Notebook brand. We checked out the Sammy at the local Samsung Showcase store and looks rather professional, apart from the fake-aluminium look. In general both Notebooks offer very nice bang for the buck.

Thoughts?
 
Wife eventually bought a Lenovo G580 i5 3230M with 6GB RAM, which included Office 365 Home Premium (1-Year) and a 2-Year on-site warranty from Makro for R6000. It did have an awful lot of bloatware on which I suppose helps keep the price down. Looks rather sleek and, like any Lenovo, it is well built. 860megs of Windows 8 Updates later and it was ready to go.
 
Why an i5 though? That's overkill for office related programs, I would rather go i3 and pop an SSD in that laptop.

Didn't notice how old the thread was.. :o awesome laptop for the price, If you wife wants to make it easier to use you can try classic shell or Start8 to replace the start menu to a Windows 7 one. I personally like Start8 though, more features and it's easier to setup and customize, it cost $5 though.
 
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