Good Laptop $500 or less?

The laptop will be mostly for work. It needs to be able to support two monitors.

I need something with an SSD and okay processor. I decided I don't need something too fancy just to work. I can upgrade my PC to play.

What do you guys recommend?

 

bumpp

 

bumpp

 

I don;t know specific models but try HP they have cheap and powerful laptops in your price range.

 

bumpp

 

Why a laptop? If i may ask.

 

Cuz I need a laptop to work on the go wherever I am. I already have a good desktop.

 

bumpp

 

bumpp

 

bumpp

 

Running OSX in a virtual environment will get you sub-par results. You'd have to run it natively on the hardware (hackintosh) to compete with a Macbook. It's not unreasonably difficult, just a little frustrating.

This thinkpad has a mini display and a VGA port, so you'd have support for 2 monitors: http://shop.lenovo.com/ca/en/laptops/thinkpad/w-series/w540/#tab-tech_specs
Right now it's sold out so idk how much it costs, but the other thinkpad models likely have similar I/O.

 

Thanks for the recommendation. That looks like it has some sweet specs. Although it might even be out of the $1300 price-range to get it in new/like-new condition.

I don't need anything fancy inside the virtual environment, that's why I'm going that route. It takes very little computer power to run Sublime Text and other web dev junk. The power would be so after work is over I can game on the laptop too.

 

Your big request that is tricky to fulfil is the two monitor support. I'm guessing that means two external monitors on top of the laptop's monitor. You'll be paying pretty heavy cash to get that type of I/O.

 

I see. My friend says he runs two monitors on his Macbook Pro with no problems.. Might be I have to go with that.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA8S13RE0031

Pretty solid laptop.

Or even better (in my opinion)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA8S13T99389

^ has support for the displays you want.

 

Man are these the prices for quality laptops? I thought $1300 would get a nice one. To get those with 16gb RAM and/or 256gb+ SSD they cost $1,400+

 

That's because that's a gaming laptop. For $1300 you won't get a good graphics card AND a good display AND 2 monitor support AND 16gb of ram AND an SSD. You pick and choose. One of the big reasons why Macbooks have a couple of these things is because they REALLY chince out on the CPU and graphics. PC laptops in that price range generally do not.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834319545

This is a nice one that fits like all your specs. It even has a decent video card. Don't be put off by the 1TB + 8GB SSD - that's a hybrid drive that will use the SSD as an OS loader to shift anything you need loaded quickly automatically. So, something like your boot time would be reduced significantly. I've got a drive like that in my own laptop and it's terrific.

 

You could always just look for a laptop that has a decent GPU and screen and then install a 256gb or even 512gb SSD and 16gb ram yourself, not hard you know...

 

For that pricepoint, look at the MSI laptops. Find the best one closest to your budget, I'm guessing $1300 is like £1300 after taxes in shit for us considering everything over there is cheaper so, you should be able to get a really good laptop for that price. Asus do nice laptops too. This is what i would go with

 

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8657s-clevo-p650re3-p-8678.html

This will beat just about anything in that price range, specs wise.