My firm just informed me that they're giving me $1,200 (give or take) to buy a laptop. The one catch is that the entire hard drive must be encrypted, so any software I have to buy to do that must come out of the $1,200. I can also add a docking station into the total price, but any external monitor has to come out of my pocket. At home, I'll probably stick it on a docking station and use external monitor/keyboard/mouse, but I'll use the laptop regularly when I travel, so I don't want to go too small with the screen.

I don't do much (any) gaming, so I just need something that can be a good desktop-standin for the next few years for productivity work (MSOffice, etc.). No need to buy software, as my firm provides what I need there.

What would you recommend? Any brands you recommend? Or suggest I stay away from?

I haven't bought a new computer for 5 years or so here, so I can use suggestions. Thanks in advance, OC.

To be perfectly honest, if I were you, I'd find someone who builds laptops. Guarantee they could get you exactly what you need while staying within your budget MUCH more easily than a purchased out-of-the-box model.

I am a big fan of ASUS.

Do you want a dedicated graphics card at all? Or is battery life more important to you?

Custom made might make sense, but I would guess you just need to replace whatever hard drive comes stock with an off-market one with encryption tech. Might seem like a waste, but with hard drives that come stock worth maybe $100 I don't know you'd get as much value out of a custom build (unless you do it yourself).

$1200 is more than sufficient if you don't need the latest tech (and even then) or a ton of power/graphics for gaming. My only advice would be don't waste your money on a docking station. Just check that you'll have enough USB ports to hook up an external monitor and keyboard, possibly a mouse and printer connection if need be. I have no problem plugging in a couple USB cables to my laptop in lieu of a docking station.

EDIT: Seems like hard drive encryption is generally done with software. No idea what to use or how much it costs. I'd say look at Dell, HP, Asus and even Lenovo/Thinkpad if you're more mid-tier on tech.

Custom made probably isn't an option, unless there's a large and well-established custom laptop maker in the MKE area. I have to get this reimbursed, so ordering through Best Buy/Amazon/NewEgg/something reputable would make things easier when it comes to accounting. I don't think our accounting people would probably look too favorably on the idea of having a custom made laptop, even if it made a ton of sense. Frustrating, but I probably have to go through a larger entity just to avoid the headache.

No gaming, so I don't need a ton of power/graphics.

The docking station is probably nice for desktop space. My home office setup is ready for a traditional desktop (spot for monitor, pull-out keyboard, etc.), so my ideal to save desk space is just to plug this in under the desk and forget about it unless I'm traveling.

I like these because they have USB 3.0 and the I7 processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=34-220-765&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&PageSize=10&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo

http://www.amazon.com/N53JQ-XV1-15-6-Inch-Versatile-Entertainment-Aluminum/dp/B00492C6T8/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1297376576&sr=1-1

I'd buy a MAC, problem solved.

As a Mac guy I'll recommend the following:
13" Macbook Pro - $1139
MacKeeper basic license - $38

LOL @ past two suggestions. He'd probably want a useful machine that doesn't break the bank.

LOL OK

I will say this...those new macs(I believe they have the I5) look pretty damn impressive, but the price is just too damn rich for my blood.

wes_mantooth;673692 wrote:I will say this...those new macs(I believe they have the I5) look pretty damn impressive, but the price is just too damn rich for my blood.

I have the 15" i5. 'Twas free, too.

justincredible;673695 wrote:I have the 15" i5. 'Twas free, too.

You can die!!

Sooooooooo that is what you bought with Art Modell's V CASH.

I hear the i7's run hot (not a little warm, HOT), it you actually intend to use this on your lap.

As always, better value in PC's, but that Mac is a solid machine if you want to overpay for brand name. $1200 is really a pretty nice budget that can get you a very good machine.

^^^Well...they must considering that it seems like all the deals on newegg include a laptop cooling mat...lol

I'm leaning toward a Toshiba Satellite L650-BT2N15:

• Intel® Core™ i5-560M Processor 2.66 GHz (3.2 GHz with Turbo Boost Technology), 3MB L3 Cache
• 6GB DDR3 1066MHz SDRAM (4096MB+2048MB)
• 500GB HDD (5400rpm, Serial ATA)

$839, so not too expensive at all. One question: the Toshiba website says the native resolution is 1366x768. If I hooked up and used an external monitor, the lower native resolution for the laptop wouldn't be an issue, correct? It would only be the monitor resolution that mattered? Just wanting to confirm before I buy.

If I come in under the dollar limit, I can use the extra money to buy a new cell phone or tablet, so I don't have to push the $1200 if I don't need to.

fan_from_texas;673870 wrote:I'm leaning toward a Toshiba Satellite L650-BT2N15:

• Intel® Core™ i5-560M Processor 2.66 GHz (3.2 GHz with Turbo Boost Technology), 3MB L3 Cache
• 6GB DDR3 1066MHz SDRAM (4096MB+2048MB)
• 500GB HDD (5400rpm, Serial ATA)

$839, so not too expensive at all. One question: the Toshiba website says the native resolution is 1366x768. If I hooked up and used an external monitor, the lower native resolution for the laptop wouldn't be an issue, correct? It would only be the monitor resolution that mattered? Just wanting to confirm before I buy.

If I come in under the dollar limit, I can use the extra money to buy a new cell phone or tablet, so I don't have to push the $1200 if I don't need to.

As long as you're getting a new laptop, it will probably come with up-to-date graphic specs and such, which means that a bigger monitor shouldn't have resolution issues. I have a two-year old HP laptop with a 12" screen that gets a default 1280x800, but it shows up great on my 23" monitor.

You should be fine, and to be perfectly honest, there is no reason to spend so much extra just to get a Mac. There's really no advantage or disadvantage either way anymore between Macs and PCs (unless you want to be able to edit registry settings, which Macs don't let you do).

fan_from_texas;673870 wrote:I'm leaning toward a Toshiba Satellite L650-BT2N15:

Looks pretty good if that works for you. Toshiba's are good machines. Only other thing is I'd recommend going with the 64-bit Win7, but probably not a deal breaker.

gut, why the 64-bit?

I'm on a Toshiba L655, i3, 2.27GHz, 4GB RAM, 64-bit Windows 7. My only complaint is the audio, speakers are awful, even polk audio external speakers sound shitty.

O-Trap;673943 wrote:gut, why the 64-bit?

Gives you some room for upgrading RAM past 4GB.

ffm, As for the monitor question it should run independently. In other words, when you plug in the monitor, the computer will say "Hey, there's a new display present. What is it's ideal resolution?" and then automatically set itself to that resolution (or at least enable you to set it to the ideal resolution). It can and probably will exceed the stock 1366x768

O-Trap;673943 wrote:gut, why the 64-bit?

I don't know about upgrading the ram part, but it does allow the utilization of more ram for some programs such as Excel (limited to 1.5gigs on 32-bit machines). And just common sense that it would probably delay obsolescence a bit longer. 64-bit is probably a bigger deal for the quad-core machines out there, as the it's just better for multi-threading, which is probably irrelevant to the dual-core machine he is looking at.

Reminds me he'd also need to check if his IT supports 64-bit (most probably don't, kind of a big jump for enterprise), so there could be a compatibility issue there. Doubtful, as my 64-bit Win7 can still run Office 32-bit. The choice between 32 and 64-bit Win7 with the machine is usually free, and it's worth checking into. Although if you get this from Best Buy it's probably 32-bit and you're probably stuck with it, which again is not a deal breaker.

i look into this HP they can build what you want also http://www.hp.com/#Product

gut;674017 wrote:Reminds me he'd also need to check if his IT supports 64-bit (most probably don't, kind of a big jump for enterprise), so there could be a compatibility issue there. Doubtful, as my 64-bit Win7 can still run Office 32-bit. The choice between 32 and 64-bit Win7 with the machine is usually free, and it's worth checking into. Although if you get this from Best Buy it's probably 32-bit and you're probably stuck with it, which again is not a deal breaker.

This is what I was after. Our IT where I work doesn't support it.