Which Computer Is The Best?
Being in the technology industry, I’ve often been asked for recommendations on various types of electronics – from PC’s to tablets to Blu Ray players. Sometimes I’m just asked what computer I buy because it must be the best. Before I give my own opinions, I’d like to take a step back and review a few certain facts.
Setting Standards
First, all electronics are made from the same components – more or less. You have to expect that it’s not going to last forever, and it will more than likely fail at a very inopportune time – see my post on data backup to make this less painful. Any computer component can fail at any time and you won’t magically find that one model that is guaranteed to never die.
Second, we have to consider the risk/revenue ratio for the vendor. If you purchase your PC new, every vendor has to comply with the legally required one year warranty. They CAN however, set the terms of that warranty and in some cases it just barely qualifies. Nobody likes sending their laptop out for three-week shipping, only to have some random part replaced that was just lying around as a “known-good” part, then sending back over another three-week shipping label. Unfortunately, this happens more often than not.
Also note, the “extended warranty” or “protection plan” that is usually offered with purchase from Best Buy, Wal Mart or others, is through the retailer – NOT the vendor. Since it’s all too common that the exact scenario above is how your warranty is handled, I typically recommend getting the retailer plan if feasible. The even better option though, would be the expedited support plans from purchasing directly from the vendor.
Business Computers
Now the contrast to the scenario above is to go for business computers. A lot of the big names like Dell, Lenovo, HP, etc. have nice profitable contracts with a lot of enterprise-level customers and those customers buy A LOT of computers from them. They also usually purchase some sort of support plan that includes next-day on-site repair for the machine – because you know, the CEO can’t be bothered to send off his laptop for a month.
Now let’s think about that for a second. Not only does the expedited shipping of the part cost some money but they also have to pay for the technician’s time to repair the machine. That is a significantly higher cost than the scenario that involves shipping to the depot and back. As you might imagine, there is typically a lot better quality control over the machines that tend to ship out with these support plans than not. This is by no means a solid algorithm for purchasing, but it is something I usually take into consideration.
Here are just a few for you to look at:
Gaming Computers
Support-wise, all of the above have gaming options. If you are a student that also likes to play games, it may be in your best interest to slap on that next-day support plan on whichever one you like. Other popular options include MSI and Razer, or you can check out a specialty vendor like Xotic or Origin.
Apple Computers
Okay I have to mention these because you know I’ll be approached by those people who are basically Apple evangelists. I have owned a Macbook Pro in the past and I can say they have very good quality, nice computers.
However, you really have to think about what you are doing with your machine before deciding to jump on the hype train. Apple computers are very good design machines, have fairly powerful hardware, and are essential if you are developing iPhone apps. They do not integrate well with primarily Microsoft environments, at least without some work.
Chromebooks and Linux Computers
Chromebooks and Linux computers are commonly found in schools in this day and age and there is a market for them with people who do not use their computer for much more than web browsing. They can be powerful development machines too though, again – know your use.
In addition to many of the same big names selling Chromebooks and having the ability to install Linux on just about any of them (yes, including the Macbook) I also want to plug two vendors that specifically sell Linux laptops, though if you want you can still install Windows on them:
Conclusion
So you see, I don’t really have a brand that I recommend, because there is no real difference as they all have budget and premium options. Some people have anecdotal experiences with certain brands, and they have the right to their opinion on the matter. What is more important to me is that I like the look and feel of the machine that I’m spending my money on. I have to have a keyboard that isn’t a chore to type on. For these reasons, I tend to gravitate toward the Lenovo Thinkpad T series or Dell Latitude 5000 or 7000 series (though I have certainly looked at the XPS), but I’m not married to either of them.
In the end though – my best advice is to shop around and if possible, take the machine for a test run. Most local retailers are going to have their inventory on display and you have to be happy with a device that you are going to be relying so much on. It has to be comfortable in relation to the amount of time you are going to spend using it. So I say go on in, browse Reddit or your favorite news site, Youtube or any website you don’t have to log into (remember, it’s a public machine). Open up a word processor and pretend to type out a very important email. Just be satisfied with it before you purchase. You might even get lucky and get a discount on the display model if inventory is out – just be sure to sanitize it properly. Many larger online retailers also have good return policies so that might be worth considering before your eventual purchase.