What is a good Dell laptop

Think a friend, who works at Dell, owns a Lenovo.

We use Lenovo laptops at my office and I work extensively with them. I would hesitate to recommend them.

Personally, I would rather go for a nicely appointed Dell Latitude 7490.

Preferably one without all the bloatware.

I agree with the above - Latitude 5000 or 7000 series, XPS. I have been pleasantly surprised with some of the newer Inspirons. They use to feel a bit creaky and flexy. Lenovo Thinkpad is also nice, agreed. Here are a few more notes to consider when trying to narrow down your choice.

WHAT SIZE DISPLAY WOULD YOU LIKE?

• 13" is nice for portability and travel, but small. May be difficult to use at 1920x1080
• 15" is comfortable; best all 'rounder.
• 17" is handy for multi-tasking, graphics, or if you prefer a large display for extra cushy use of high resolution, like 1920x1080 or higher. At this level the machines are heaviest in comparative weight.

GLOSSY OR MATTE?
Consider whether you want glossy or matte display. I prefer matte. Easier on the eyes, greatly reduced reflections

WHICH SCREEN RESOLUTION ARE YOU MOST COMFORTABLE USING?

• 1920x1080 is fairly common now. Can be a little tight on smaller laptops
• 1600x900 I thought was the best middle ground if full HD wasn't necessary, but rare native display now.
• 1366x768 is comfortable on almost any screen, but limited "real estate", may seem too short, depending on use.

WHAT KIND OF BATTERY LIFE ARE YOU AFTER?
Those Dell Latitudes noted by the guys in the posts above have stupendous battery life.

IS WEIGHT A CONSIDERATION?
Travel with it, have it on your lap? Those 7000 series Latitudes and some XPS machines are made to be thin and light.

PERFORMANCE

• Video - As long as you're not gaming or designing, the onboard Intel display adapter should be fine.
• Disk - Make sure you're getting something with a solid state disk (SSD). I think most at the Latitude, XPS and Lenovo levels have moved from the 2.5" to M.2/NVMe/PCIe, which are even faster than earlier SSDs. Depending on what you're doing, capacities range from 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB, typically. 512GB is the sweet spot here, 256GB is still usable, but you may run out of space if storing photos, video or music locally.
• Processor - Intel Core i5 is the sweet spot for performance and battery life
• Memory - 8GB-16GB is about standard these days. Shoot for 16GB, but 12GB would be acceptable. I'd even go 8GB and upgrade later if it hits all your other points.

CONNECTIVITY

• Need Ethernet?
• A bunch of USB ports?

Laptops these days are coming with fewer ports. USB-C is becoming the standard. On some machines, I've seen two USB-C ports and a single USB 3.0 port. Good news is that there are adapters and convenient small, bus-powered hubs you can use to convert and add additional USB ports and ethernet to those machines that don't ship with them, so don't let that necessarily deter you from a machine that checks all the boxes otherwise.


One I use as a second around the office was a spare that I adopted. It's a modest 15" Latitude E5570 Core i5 dual core with 8GB RAM and 256GB disk. FHD 1920x1080 matte display with the integrated Intel video adapter. Works great for most everything. Fast. The only thing I don't like about the Latitudes is the finish. It picks up fingerprints easily. Sometimes I find the full HD display a little small if I'm using it on my lap and not at a desk, but it's not bad.

Then, there's always the Macbook Pro

Go with a business-class Lenovo. Way more robust machines IMO.
Used to love Dell, but the quality slipped steadily starting over a decade ago (again IMO).

I gave up on Dell after buying one (ca. 2011) that failed 10 days out of warranty.

I now buy used Lenovos from "my IT guy" (a small one-man shop who works out of our old town of Harvard, MA). I use one for the class I teach in Boston (an elderly T430) and another for my LLC/home use (a somewhat more modern T440). These machines are unsexy, but they're fast and rugged.

I am sooo tired of hinge issues on cheap laptops.
Mrs. H's (cheap) Lenovo* currently has one hinge that's hanging by a thread (almost literally).

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* Now, mind you, this cheap Lenovo is of essentially the same class (200 dolla, plastic lappie) as the Dell I mentioned previously -- that said, the Lenovo still works fine, having outlasted the Dell by nigh on five years. The Lenovo's hinge issue is quite recent.

I’ve been using a Lenovo Thinkpad laptop and it’s pretty crappy. I also have a Dell XPS which I really like, and Dell’s customer service has been very good. I have a MacBook Air that I also like, but sometimes Apple drives me crazy.

Yes, Dell Precision is very good. That is what I run as a mobile desktop for solid modeling.

Considered a desktop computer with a wireless keyboard and mouse instead? In my experience they last a whole lot longer than a laptop and can be upgraded easily too.

Easily hooked up to a big screen TV too.

I haven't had a personal laptop for years now. When I'm mobile I just use an iPad or iPhone. For work I'm now on my third high spec HP laptop in two years. The batteries in those things swell up and split the case open. I think some Dells have the same problem.

Battery from OWC
SSD from Samsung
Ram from Crucial

bk