Thanks for responding again. I only fly a few times a year, but I'm trying to find something somewhat mobile/portable to get me away from my desk when plausible as well. Outside of that, it may be something I'll take to class. As of current though, I have gotten through college just fine without a laptop (just an added fluff at this point, I guess).
I won't really be docking anything - and I don't use premiere as much as I'd like to. So rendering on-the-fly is somewhat impractical. Photoshop for web design / development is about as far as it goes outside of the occasional premiere use. My wife does do some work in After Effects though, so it would be nice to be able to give her an alternative as opposed to using my desktop - or vice versa.
My desktop workstation is pretty much a gaming rig, but I'm not what you'd probably consider a gamer. BF4 and GTAV are the extent of the most recent games I have played and that was months ago.
My main concern is just having something that will last a few years (hopefully), has a decent/solid build quality, and can multitask well on-the-go. Things like 1-2 linux vm's, visual studio, and photoshop are daily activities for me. This all happens at once on my desktop, but having all of these open with no throttling would probably just be fluff or an added bonus (would be nice though).
I like the idea of the w520, but they seem a bit aged and not too practical to travel with. Again, outside of traveling would be the occasional lugging it around to class, trips. The size/weight is fine it seems and I really like the build, but the AC adapter seems much. Normally, this is fine, but if traveling, it seems a bit much for light/moderate lap use. Of course, when I'm not traveling, this box will pretty much on a desk (not docked and I don't use CAD. Adobe CS6 only). I really like the w550s, but it is a bit out of range right now - and possibly overkill for someone who isn't doing cad work/3d modeling.
My current laptop is a mere 2gb asus r503u that I can't do much with. It bogs down just opening word, but its semi-tolerable.
y50 w/ 4700 hq, 16gb, and a ded graphics card seems really appealing for the price. Durability is the only thing that concerns me (and not being able to replace much).
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-Gami...-W8-HP-1656-/281726065883?hash=item41982e9cdb
a w520 similar to the specs I have been eyeballing (I'm looking for at least 16gb - or at least upgrading to it):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-Thin...B-/181816208767?ssPageName=ADME:L😛MR:US:1123 and
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LENOVO-Y50-...touchscreen-/261877780395?hash=item3cf921cfab
t450s (pushing budget again, but if its worth it - i may consider it):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-T450...Win-8-1-Pro-/281758611727?hash=item419a1f390f
Asus: n550 (Looks like a nice machine, but my last/current ASUS has a touchpad that is almost unusable and a keyboard that is annoying to type on. Other than that and the really bad/aged hardware, it isn't too bad).
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ASUS-N550JV...374?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1ea180006e The w530, t450s, and etc, all seem to fit in this range as well, I think (budget wise). w520 being the cheapest probably? (Edit: scratch that, seems the w540 is a bit outside of my budget - nearing $1k or more)
I'm trying to keep my budget under 600, but for the right price and build/machine, I'm willing to go a bit higher. The y510p I've also read a few good things about as well. One of the these I have come across that doesn't seem too bad:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/171865010154?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
Note: I realize that these are pretty much different laptops, but I'm kind of stuck in the middle between choosing with them. I'm afraid a mobile workstation might be too specific or overkill for some of my needs (like not using CAD or doing 3d rendering) - and some of the newer tech seems to be catching up or surpassing it a bit. Regardless of the case, I can probably do a good amount of heavy load work via RDP.
Matte vs Glossy is a toss-up as I've never owned a glossy screen - and I'm not to keen with laptops for this very reason of never seeming to find what I actually need. I usually just pick up a shitty one until I run it into the ground. It may be time to actually try something that is worth it to regain my trust in them.
I've looked into macbooks and have heard great things about them, but they are a bit too pricey for me and I'm against the idea of not being able to open it to fix anything. Not to mention, I have a hackintosh for anything mac osx related I may need to work on - which is almost never, but the built-in terminal features on a mainstream OS is relieving at times.
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