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Okay, I am asking for some recommendations from my fellow IT pros.

When I bought my current laptop in 2012 I needed screen real estate on the go, and some muscle. I bought a refurbished HP DV7. Nice 17" screen, i5 processor, 8GB RAM, 9hr battery and Windows 7 pro. It works great. Still. Recently upgraded to a 256gb SSD, and Windows 10 Pro. Honestly, I wouldn’t even be looking if my needs/wants hadn’t changed as much as they have.

I no longer need my own device to work from home, and I am traveling way more. Typically when I am on the road, I do very little in the way of work on my personal device (more watching movies and such on the plane, and taking care of things at home) but I want the horsepower to work if I need too.

SO, my new requirements are lightweight, with some horsepower with out breaking the bank. I need to carry my work laptop with me when I travel, so weight is definitely a consideration. Preferably an i5 and upgradeable RAM and SSD.

I’m not convinced that the Surface Pro is the way to go. I know a few people who have them, and they say for the weight, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

Discuss away, and thanks for the help.

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Those HP Elitebook 850’s are very lightweight, pack an i5 and you can deck them out with an SSD…

If that’s too expensive i still have a D630 on offer running Windows 10…

*** runs away before someone starts throwing tomatos ***

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Got on a Spiceworks panel and lucked into getting a Lenovo ThinkPad P50s. Tried to dislike it, but it’s light, fast, and good battery life.

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Stay away from the Surfaces if you want to keep what shreds of sanity are left. They are a MAJOR hassle in pretty much every aspect, and not worth the trouble.

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A surface pro is heavy? I don’t think you’re going to find a “laptop” that weighs less…

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I think it was more in reference to screen size and ability to do things with it.

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Question is pretty vague…
Majority of the laptop companies have something in regards to what you are looking for in a machine. It honestly really depends on what company you prefer over others. Then it makes it easier for people to recommend something.

Agree with Carl, the surface is pretty light weight. Our IT department uses one for mobile support and it works pretty great.

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The Lenovo X1 Carbon has been a welcome tool for our traveling sales guy.

Lightweight and packed with features and horsepower.

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Not Apple or Acer… HP, Dell, Lenovo are the prefered, but Apple and Acer are my big no no’s. Everything else is on the table really.

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I had a loaner Lenovo Carbon X1 (the 6600U model) and it was pretty good for the weight. I wasn’t too keen on the 8Gb of RAM but it never really got in the way of being able to do anything. It felt relatively sturdy for a machine of that class.

Unfortunately I’ve never found a Windows laptop as nice as my MacBook Pro is still going strong (if gradually becoming more like the ship of Theseus) and… Well, you can pry my Surface Pro 2 from my cold dead hands :wink:

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I’m moving our travelling personnel onto the Dell XPS13.

So far, good reviews, its got enough power and its a really attractive package. You need a couple of adaptors if you want a wired network connection, or an external display.

I had it sat on the desk next to a 13"macbook pro and I thought it looked at least as nice.

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We use the Surface Pro 3 and 4 here and the only complaint we’ve had from our users is that with the kickstand its hard to use in your lap.

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I’ve had exactly the same feedback from our one surface user.

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I have always rolled with just a minimal laptop and remote into my workstation in the office if I need horsepower.

Recently was given a small laptop that it barely thick enough for a LAN cable, but with the charger, mouse, and other stuff I carry it doesn’t make that much of a difference.

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I’m partial to the HP Envy laptops myself.

I have an Envy 17" laptop with i7 processor.

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Hey @mattscan - Another suggestion I’d throw into the mix here based on the specs you’ve listed is the HP 250 G5 Notebook PC . It weighs in at just over 4 pounds and comes with Core i5. It’s one of our deals right now, so you’d be able to get it for $499.99 (that’s a savings of $300). In addition, we’re also featuring laptops as our Tech Flavor of the Month so there’s a lot of options for you that will help you not break the bank :slight_smile:

Let me know if I can answer any questions for you and good luck in your quest for a new laptop!

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If I am understanding you correctly this is a PERSONAL device you also carry along with your WORK device when traveling. The primary purpose will be to watch movies(?) and basic internet surfacing/stuff.

  1. Are you streaming the movies/content?
  2. If Yes. Why not consider a chromebook? They are extremely light, and have great battery life.

I like Dell/HP and avoid lenovo personally. Do you have a weight range in mind you want to stick to? Lighter laptops with horsepower will run more $$$$$ than something say in the 4-6lb range with equal specs.

I have an HP “Starwars” Laptop as my personal laptop I upgraded with an SSD.

My work device is a Surface 3 pro, and a touch screen chromebook. I also have access to a macbook Pro. I usually am carrying 2-3 of these devices with me whenever I travel. They are in my “work backpack” that goes just about everywhere with me.

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Yes, this is a personal device that I would carry with me. 2.5 -4 lbs is my ideal. I have considered a chromebook, and it’s not entirely out of the running, however at that point I would have to put Linux on it. The main reason why I would not go with a chromebook is that I like to play with VM’s, and I typically do SysAdmin, Network Admin tasks. I’m not sure how that would work with a Chromebook with just Chrome OS.

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I liked my Surface Pro 3. Only reason I got rid of it was because I didn’t need it. (I tend to collect computers)

It was pretty sweet to be able to use a tablet as a desktop computer with that slide-in docking station they have. Plus, it’s a tablet… so its super portable. Makes for a great device to watch a movie on or play a few games, and it gets the job done for work.

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Upgrade ? From an i5? Hell my work laptop is a handed down Latitude E6400, Core 2 Duo. Luckily I rolled my own Debian OS so my memory footprint is about 300mb. I’ll get something newer when a user breaks theirs… unless someone in Lenovo sales is feeling generous…