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Quoting this post I made in the "specs" thread a while ago and starting new thread because I'm getting real close to pulling the trigger on a new laptop.
Originally Posted by 18psi
BRO'z,
I'm gonna need a new tuning laptop soon. Current aluminum case dell latitude has been glorious these past 2 years, but getting a bit worn and I don't want to wait for the day it finally gives up the ghost.
does anyone know things and stuffs about laptops around here?
mandatory must haves:
-at least 2 USB 3.0 or better ports, that never have problems or issues
-physical, separate mouse buttons. none of that "one piece with the mouse box" crap
-sturdy construction
-backlit keyboard would be pretty nice too
The programs it would run would be Tunerstudio, Megalogviewer HD, and various other programs very similar to those two. So it doesn't need 5 billion gigs of memory, or some insane video card for gaming. Just needs to be really solid and reliable.
What brands do y'all recommend? I've found a couple Lenovo's with physical mouse buttons. I like my current Dell, but the recent latitudes I've looked at absolutely suck. I even tried one, and it was a giant hunk of junk that was heavy, cheaply built, integrated mousepad buttons (hate those with a passion), and generally full of fail.
Budget would be up to about 800-900
So I raised my "budget" to 1500, because I'm getting a LOT of tuning business and this bad boy will be getting serious mileage, so I want it to be tip top, capable of fulfilling my needs, and not break.
The two biggest reasons I'm looking at these two, and specifically at Costco, is because they have the physical mousepad buttons, seem really solid (reviews are pretty stellar too), and Costco offers a 4 year warranty at no charge (if you use their CC to buy one).
Thoughts?
Is there something better out there, for a better deal, or equivalent for much cheaper price?
Is the carbon worth the $500 premium over the T470?
I appreciate the input. I'm comparing every single spec on them now, and it seems like the size/weight and battery is basically all you're paying $500 extra for. I agree with you, kinda hard to justify the carbon.
One of the most important features aside from the mouse buttons that I'll absolutely need, are at least 2 very stable USB connections and a processor that will be able to "keep up" with a tuning program and standalone wideband kit streaming data into the laptop without glitching out, or freezing, or connection funkiness .
Current dell is starting to have a glitchy connection at one of the USB ports after bout 5 minutes of continuous use. it either freezes or starts to cut out or have voltage spikes. I unplug the wideband, re-connect, and it's good for another 5 min.
budget is probably way high, but some of the cars I tune cost 50K+ and the ecu becomes a paperweight if interrupted or computer crashes mid-flash. I don't want to take risks.
some of the programs I use do not work with apple, so that's out. (I love how they're built though, with solid construction and aluminum cases)
I've heard bad things about HP computers. Is it just rumors or................
HP Elitebooks specifically is what he and i were talking about. Model lines don't last long if they're targeted towards business/corporation use....then suck.
Lenovo is also not the company it used to be, but that's another story.
Just stick with business class stuff and you'll be fine. Brand doesn't matter much.
<---- typing this on a Elitebook 8560W that he bought 2 years ago off lease for $400, and is still ludicrously powerful even today for a laptop. (It's not what i'd call portable, but it ***** all over the Lenovos you're considering in terms of power) I think the 84xxP line is the ~14" portable version of what i'm using.
I've used HPs at work for years and like them.
You want the elite books that are aimed at the business market, not the consumer grade crap.
current work machine is an HP Z-book. I7, 32gb ram, 512 SSD and 4K screen. USB3, thunderbolt, it's a beast. I run all kinds of VMs and do some dev work so I need the specs, but you don't need crazy specs for tuning.
it makes me nuts how people over spec the **** out of machines and then don't use a 10th of it... I do a bit of photography on the side and built my last photoshop box for free out of a dumpster and it works great. Any solid machine built in the last 3-5 years will do you fine.
it makes me nuts how people over spec the **** out of machines and then don't use a 10th of it
I'm trying to avoid this, hence the thread. But I also don't want to buy some janky piece of flimsy cheapness that will fall apart, or glitch out, or be unreliable in any way. Half the guys on here tuning MS use ancient prehistoric machines that barely work, and that's actually totally fine for MS, but once you're dealing with expensive cars and very complex OEM ecu's, that's not acceptable.
Like: I don't think I need some balleur screen or video card cause this thing won't be streaming movies, and will not be used for gaming whatsoever. I could care less about speakers.
backlit keyboard is helpful when tuning a car at night, the physical mouse button is basically mandatory, and being able to have really fast and solid/reliable USB port communication is also very important.
I also wish I could run Win7 because it's so simple and basic. (that's actually what I'm running on the current Dell, and it's perfect for what I need).
I would take the extra screen resolution in a heart beat with the carbon laptop. You will find that is probably one of the most important things. It means more tuning screens you can have open and readable.
The problem with buying a cheap computer because you dont need a lot of power, is usually the rest of it is cheap. My macbook air is my favorite tuning computer. You can just install windows on it (in a VM or boot camp) and go to town. Hardware is second to none (or anything i've ever used) and its been dead nuts reliable.
I'm trying to avoid this, hence the thread. But I also don't want to buy some janky piece of flimsy cheapness that will fall apart, or glitch out, or be unreliable in any way. Half the guys on here tuning MS use ancient prehistoric machines that barely work, and that's actually totally fine for MS, but once you're dealing with expensive cars and very complex OEM ecu's, that's not acceptable.
Like: I don't think I need some balleur screen or video card cause this thing won't be streaming movies, and will not be used for gaming whatsoever. I could care less about speakers.
backlit keyboard is helpful when tuning a car at night, the physical mouse button is basically mandatory, and being able to have really fast and solid/reliable USB port communication is also very important.
I also wish I could run Win7 because it's so simple and basic. (that's actually what I'm running on the current Dell, and it's perfect for what I need).
go with 6th or 7th gen i5, no less than 16gb Ram, and SSD is a must for speed and durability. In your situation, I'd rather spend money on a whole backup machine than latest and greatest thing, that way if you drop it or has some other issue you can just break the spare one out and get the job done.
IPS is also nice for something that you don't sit right in front of at a desk. Like if your fiddling with a TPS while looking at the screen, youll be able to see it at an angle.
Background: I've been deploying and maintaining Lenovo hardware for the last 8 years to about 250~275 mobile users in the AG industry, and our guys are not exactly gentile on equipment. We replace about 25-30% of our systems annually, so I've got a lot of hands on experience with the Lenovo stuff.
With the X1 Carbon you are paying for thinness, lack of weight and more portability. It's called the "Carbon" because some of the internal structure is made from carbon fiber. The X1 (depending on generations) have some really ******* weird quirks, like proprietary dongles for things like ethernet (because the laptop is physically too thin for an RJ45 port) and ONE USB port, to keep the design clean. Are you looking at a 4th or 5th generation X1 Carbon? They are really nice hardware though, we tend to give them to executives so they can whip out and slap their E ***** on tables at meetings to impress other executives. Then we just end up buying more X1 Carbons. I will say the touchscreen models are really nice and functional with Win10 if you start doing markup things, but the glare on the shiny screen bugs the **** out of me. I think the new 5th gen actually charges through USB-C rather than a traditional power brick, so keep this in mind when you start looking at USB port availability per model. If docking stations are your thing, I wouldn't pick the X1 Carbon. They are really slick and well designed laptops, but we don't consider them to be robust enough for general deployment at their price point.
The T470s is actually our standard deployment laptop right now, I've got 6 of them sitting in storage waiting for users to get their **** together. The "T" series gets its name because the internal structure is all titanium. The T470 is the slightly larger/cheaper brother to the T470s, but internally its all the same hardware. The screens tend to be more matte, and that helps a lot with outdoor visibility, or places where there is a lot of glare and reflection (like in a car.) It also charges with a traditional charger brick, so all your USB ports are actually usable all the time, and it uses a traditional docking station rather than the port replicator the X1 tends to use. Make sure you are getting the T470 with the PCIe-NVMe hard drive if you want speeeeeeeed.
Lenovo has a pretty decent warranty scheme. The "Depot" warranty (IIRC) is the one where you call the number, deal with the script monkey, and they overnight you an empty box with a prepaid shipping label. You put the laptop in the box, fill out the form, affix the provided label and drop it at the UPS/FedEx store. Generally they come back in 48hrs ready to rock. We LOVE this warranty because its been 100% painless for us on the off chance we have to warranty something. Make sure and do some reading about the warranty options on Lenovos website because they do change the terms and names of the warranty tiers from time to time. We don't use the warranties that often, but when we do, we don't have problems.
Also, be warned: GO TOUCH THE GODDAMN TOUCHPAD BEFORE YOU BUY EITHER OF THEM! Lenovo has gone crazy changing the touchpad around the last couple of years and some of our uses cannot stand the new one. Things like multitouch and weird **** like the functionality changing depending on if you tap it, physically push on it or swipe it. Make sure it works the way you think it will work. I personally use the red button mouse thing and disable the pad, but that's just me being a luddite.
Our field guys beat their **** up and need a real dock when they get to the office, so we give them T470. The Executives leave there machines on their desks 98% of the time so we give them X1 Carbons so they can look cool, and have a lighter package when they travel to do Executive Things™
TL;DR: My next work laptop will be an X270, but if there was a gun to my head and I was forced to buy an X1C or T470 with my own money, I'd get the T470
Cannot recommend Lenovo T-series enough. I've had two, a T400 that lasted me 6 years until the chassis just fell apart, and my current T440 which replaced it ~3yrs ago. I paid about $900 for each one. It is my main machine, I don't have a home desktop and I use it in conjunction with a low-end desktop at work. If it up and stopped working tomorrow, I would go buy a T470 or T470s without hesitation.
Yup, after watching more reviews on it, talking with Gordon about it some more, and taking much of the advice on here, and considering costco's warranty (3 year limited manuf warranty + 2 year costco warranty = 5 total years of warranty) I am ordering the T470
Thanks for everyone's input, I really appreciate it.
I bought a lenovo in 2012 that has now served as mobile computer and now as a 'desktop' where it's just connected to external monitors for 99% of its life. It's fantastic. I've been really happy with lenovo's and would probably never buy an HP after some of the crappy experiences I've had with them in the past though it was ages ago. A bunch of dells I went through when looking for computers had really annoying stuttering issues. If I didn't have my surface right now, I'd have bought another lenovo. The surface rocks, but is a bitch to tune with.
TLDR: You'll love the lenovo. Post an update on here once you've used it and let us know what you think! Are you going to get an extended battery?
09-07-2017, 12:19 PM
ITT: Help a n00b find a tuning laptop
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