Who makes a good, reliable Windows laptop these days?

Question

Dang: you know how, sometimes, being the most technologically inclined person in your office automatically makes you the expert on Which Laptop Someone Should Buy? Well, that's the situation I find myself in, and I'd like to give people who ask good advice, rather than sending them into a Googly wilderness full of garbage eshoppingcompare.biz-type sites.

Here are the requirements for the laptop in order of importance (#1 is mandatory):

1. Windows 7
2. Reliable hardware
3. Comes with a full (not trial) copy of Office 2007 or can have one tacked on during the ordering process, for less than the cost of a brand-new copy of Office
4. Costs less than $1000
5. Doesn't need to be de-gunked on arrival

Can anyone recommend a good laptop that hits at least a couple of those points?

Answer 1

I would recommend a Lenovo Thinkpad laptop.

1. Windows 7: Yes
   
2. Reliable hardware: Yes. They have a very solid and durable build.
   
3. Full copy Office 2007: Not by default.
   
4. Costs less than $1000: The base prices are generally under $1000, but depending on what you want in it you might go a little bit over.
   
5. Doesn't need to be de-gunked on arrival: My Thinkpad came with a lot of crap on it so you would likely need to decrapify.

Answer 2

I fall into that category of "most knowledgeable computer guy" in many different circles. I send everyone to Dell, and tell them to get the biggest warranty they can afford, as long as it includes accidental damage protection.

Answer 3

Doesn't need to be de-gunked on arrival

if you mean 'de-crapified', i recommend a Dell business laptop (as opposed to their consumer laptop, the business machines come without the "bloat"), their laptops are pretty reliable and rock-solid workhorses. of course you will have to allow for a significant price hike if you want "a full (not trial) copy of Office 2007".

Answer 4

I would (seriously) go for an Apple MacBook...

1. Windows 7: Yes with Parallels or VMware Fusion
2. Reliable hardware: Yes
3. Comes with a full (not trial) copy of Office 2007 or can have one tacked on during the ordering process, for less than the cost of a brand-new copy of Office: No, but you can try OpenOffice
4. Costs less than $1000: Apparently starting at $999
5. Doesn't need to be de-gunked on arrival: Definite Yes

If this is not an option for you, I would also go for Lenovo, in the hope they did not throw out all the quality IBM built up in the past...

By the way, requirement 3 and 5 are contradicting each other, in my opinion. When you have preinstalled such things as MS Office, you surely have tons of other "cool things" on there as well...

Answer 5

In these areas I would recommend HP and Fujitsu Siemens ... don't know how are things at your end.