Hello friends,

I'm looking to purchase a notebook in the next few weeks. I've done a lot of reading, and still can't seem to decide. So here is what I'm looking for... I'd really appreciate your input!

Price range: around $1500 CAD

Desired features: Durability in hardware and case, endurance (4-5 years minimum laptop life), exceptional analytical/scientific software support (I plan on using it for Graduate Studies research, most likely Microbiology or Immunology), file security, decent battery life, don't plan on upgrading

Don't care about: aesthetics of the case or OS, portability/size, screen size/layout (i.e. i don't care if it's widescreen or standard), brand presence/popularity, gaming capabilities

Please suggest any make/model but right now I'm debating between Macbook, Thinkpad T60 or X60 (with Visaperks discount, to make it affordable), or perhaps an Asus. As I mentioned I don't care about aesthetics, but Macbook is there because of OSX. I like the durability of Thinkpad, but how does Macbook compare in durability? Anyway if you have any opinions, as well as other suggestions for laptops, that would be wicked.

Peace,

Myujin

Asus F3JP (ati x1700 vid card)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220142

Asus Z96Js (ati x1600 video card)
http://store.agearnotebooks.com/asusz96j.html (other resellers here on these forums can give you a better deal im sure)

http://store.agearnotebooks.com/154display.html

theres a few that are good choices, Asus its a great build quality


soulsaver

Since this laptop seems to be a big part of your schoolwork I'd say go for the Thinkpad. Lenovo has the same on-site service infrastructure that IBM had. So if something does end up happening to your Laptop you can get it repaired in a day or two without having to ship it off. Plus you can get a 4 year warranty with Accidental damage protection.

If that puts it a bit out of your price range the newer Dell Latitudes are built just as well and have similar support and warranty service (I'm a warranty tech for both IBM and Dell). The newer Latitudes are tanks. I've serviced several D Series that have been dropped and smashed (one had it's hinges ripped completely out) and still booted to Windows just fine. One user here on NBF had photos of a D800 Latitude that was in the middle of a car fire that would still boot up.

Thinkpad T60. Good battery life, reliable, solid.

Considering you're going to be doing microbiology and such I have a good idea that the majority of your time is going to be spent in *nix based utilities for molecule visualisation and such.

If that's the case a MacBook might be a good idea. Macs are being used more and more in the sciences and are able to run pretty much any software that's POSIX compliant and you wouldn't have to do any dual booting to run your visualisation software in one OS and jump into Windows to run MS Word for your papers. Not only that but for any software you use that does require Windows and doesn't have an OS X equivalent, you can install Windows on the new Macs either directly for dual booting or through a virtual machine.

OS X is secure and stable, has great battery life, and a MacBook will be powerful enough to use for the next several years.