B-school laptop

I use a surface pro.

In battery saver mode I can get 6+ hours out of it using web-based apps.

The limited ports is a hassle so I have a mini-ITX build at home I use for the heavy stuff (photo editing, etc)

Same boat as you guys. Does anyone know if there's really an advantage for having an i7 processor over i5? And 16gb of memory over 8gb? Particularly for excel/finance work. The value doesn't seem to justify the price differences, especially for 2 years of bschool...

You'll be fine with either. Some of those folks that have Surfaces have at home monitors and keyboard as the keyboard can be a bit flimsy if you're doing a lot of modelling or other excel work.

Same boat as well. Read about a lot of problems with the XPS so avoiding that one, haven't looked at the Surface Pro as I'd prefer to use a proper laptop rather than a 2in1. I'm going to buy a Lenovo T470 on student discount, check it out.

And yes I'll be getting i7 and 16gb I would definitely get the RAM for future proofing, processor depends more what you plan to use it for beyond excel and word.

I bought an XPS 13 when I went to MBA like 5 years ago and still use it. If you go down that path, would suggest you look at buying refurb with some serious coupon.

Same boat, but ruled out the Surface Pro because the keyboard is way too flimsy to use it on my lap. If I were you, I'd also consider the HP Spectre x360 (also got stellar reviews), and the newly released Surface Laptop (looks promising).

Wouldn't get a surface unless you have a tower/other computer at home with full monitors/keyboard/mouse/etc when you actually need to grind something out, but for class, the surface is great. If you love traditional keyboards or only want to have one computer, I'd go with the XPS or another ultrabook. They're powerful enough and have enough ports that you can plug in enough shit at home for it to function as a desktop.

Frankly it depends on what you need it to run. Personally I‘m a gamer so I have a gaming desktop at home in case I had to time to play some AAA games, but I also bought an ASUS UX305ua back in college since I had an alienware and needed something more portable and still strong enough.

Finance and Excel work shouldn’t be too cpu intensive, and an integrated gpu would be fine. 8gbs of ram is more than enough unless you’re doing some sas/spss/matlab heavy modeling. Difference between i5 and i7 is minimal especially at lower versions, e.g. 7200u. Both are quard cores.

Some laptops you might want to look into are the ASUS UX series, the Spectre x360, xps 13, Lenovo Yoga, etc. I personally wouldn’t get the Surface Pro since I don’t see myself ever needing the tablet mode, and it’s comparatively underpowered and overpriced over its competitors.

I should note that unless you desperately need and use it, try not to get touchscreen as you would want a matte IPS screen that doesn’t reflect light.

Edit: If money is not much of an issue I would go with the XPS 13 for the thunderbolt, good amount of ssd storage, and the overall sexy sleek look.

most people at my M7 school use lenovo X1 carbons, Dell xps 13s, or macbooks. I personally have an x1 carbon and recommend it highly.

Reliability matters. Macbook ThinkPad and pro laptops are generally safe bets.

No experience with the ones mentioned by OP

Lenovo ruined the Thinkpad when they bought it from IBM. Completely bloated with adware and useless crap.

Dell Latitudes are GOAT for business laptops.

Any thoughts on a MacBook/MacBook Pro? I was thinking of getting a MacBook and installing windows for Excel...

Has anyone seen people using the Lenovo Yoga at b-school? I almost went with the X1 Carbon, but I like the ability to set the yoga up like a tablet.

Not in bschool, but I recently got a Dell XPS 1500 and it rocks. The i7 processor is so fast and has a large amount of storage, I forgot, but I have roughly 100 movies, music, pictures and a lot of school work on it. I would advise against a mac for excel reasons, but overall this is a tier 1 computer I am typing on! Fast, powerful, light, and durable.

If you're into an option that will bear years of abuse, give you i5/i7 intel chips, 8 gigs of ram, FHD screen, 16-17 hour battery, 12.5" FHD screen and other amazing specifications go for the Lenovo Thinkpad X260/270. Make sure that you get the one with the 1920x1080 screen and 6 cell Li-ion add-in (instead of standard 3-cell). This has by far been one of my best life decisions.

Currently use XPS 13 and about to start B-school this fall. Have had no problems so far and consider it the best laptop I've ever had. I can't talk on how the surface laptop is but if your looking for a super light, quick processing and battery life, can't go wrong with the XPS 13. Only thing i don't like is that the camera is on the lower bottom left hand camera of the screen, so Skype sessions could be awkward.

Just finished first year of B-school with an XPS 13 running an i5 processor. Zero problems - highly reliable, great battery life, able to handle financial modeling (in so far as B school goes) with no issue. XPS 13 and Surface were definitely two most popular options in my cohort. Prob can't go wrong, man.

Dell Latitudes or Surface Pro (if you like the tab experience and can't live without it).

If it's just for work, it doesn't really matter too much. Get something that's relatively affordable, NOT so crappy as a chromebook, with a good screen and a large enough hard drive. Any contemporary and mid-priced CPU can handle the level of math you'll do in B-school.

Dell xps 13 has a very small frame, so if your hands are large, you may find it less comfortable typing at length on the keyboard. Also I've heard trackpad issues as compared to the Macbooks.

Just get a Thinkpad and be done with it. 90% chance you'll have a corporate one when you graduate, so get used to it now.

Just roll into class with one of these bad boys...instant booty at the Thursday Night Drinking Club afterwards.

Huge fan of the X1 carbon. Computer works great for any business function, and an added bonus is that for such a thin looking computer they are surprisingly durable. I have dropped mine numerous times, and spilled a full coffee in the keyboard two years ago, still works to this day.

Windows laptops are like US domestic airlines...there's only one viable option...

Lenovo