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Begining my hunt for a laptop for college.

Hyperlite

Hyperlite

Diamond Member
I'll be buying a laptop for college in 6 months or so, and i'd like to start hunting aroud so i can make an educated decision when the time comes. I'd like something at around $2000, preferably in a 15" package. What i really want is something with the power of a dell 9300, but in a 15" package...17" is just too big to lug around campus.
 
I have never heard anything about:

1- Nvidia 6900
2 - Xps Gen 3

Also, any know when Dell is expected to refresh their line up? I am guessing next year. Am I right?
 
that was my point...if dell is on the Gen2 XPS for example, i would venture to guess there will be a Gen3....correct? perhaps 6900 was a bit of a stretch, but you know what i mean nonetheless.
 
Are you in college now? If you are, check with your school and see what kind of educational discounts are available. If you are not, wait until you matriculate.

Some schools have very good educational discounts that can save you a few hundred bucks.

HTH.
 
I see "mobile beast" in the title. That disqualified the XPS or 9300; the 9300 is the best gaming machine for the money w/big coupons, but is a hoss of a 17".

Best "mobile" notebooks out right now are going to be models from Acer/Asus with X600/X700 GPU's. Or the Toshiba M45 w/6600 isn't bad.
 
Originally posted by: wisdomtooth
Are you in college now? If you are, check with your school and see what kind of educational discounts are available. If you are not, wait until you matriculate.

Some schools have very good educational discounts that can save you a few hundred bucks.

HTH.
Click to expand...

generally, manufacturers dish educational discounts out on "education models" or the college sets a standard on one or two different laptops and lends a higher level of support for those units.

It's highly unlikely that for the gaming laptop he is wanting will come with the discount or be a model the college recommends.

 
fbrdphreak - Even the term mobile is relative 😉

OP - Please post weight and battery requirements!
 
I urge you to build a decent gaming tower (maybe a small form factor gaming machine) for around $1000 and get something truly mobile (read: IBM T42/43, Apple 12"/15" powerbook/12" ibook, sony TR series, etc... for school). Depending on what you're studying you may find that having a notebook that's actually portable might help more than having one that can play all the latest distracting games. Xbox2 and PS3 are right around the corner, maybe consider one of those would be a better choice combined w/ smaller non beastly machine.

Of course you don't have to listen to me, I only urge you to take it into consideration. Being a college student myself, I know what college life is like. A smaller notebook is much more condusive to the environment in most cases. I'm currently sitting in Penn State's HUB (basically a student union) and am connected to the schools net wirelessly. With just turning my head every which way there are 8 people in view with notebooks including myself (using a powerbook). 2 people have 12" ibooks, one has a 12" powerbook, one with medium sized dell (either 600M or Laditude 600 ish size), 2 with IBM T series Thinkpads of some sort (believe both are 14" but can't tell from where i'm sitting), and the last has a smaller IBM (X series I believe that would be). Usually you spot a few sony TR series notebooks and a bunch more dell 600 size books around. You rarely see people carryin anything bigger than that around this campus b/c it's just no practical. Your miles may varry, but I would urge you to consider the SFF and laptop. It will also be cheaper to upgrade the gaming system w/ new hardware to keep up w/ the latest needs because of the inherent user upgradeability.

Anyway... just my 2 cents...
 
The 9300s/xps2's are actually not that bad on battery life, and for their size are fairly light.....but they're 17". Not really something you're going to want to toss in your book bag. I'll have to see if mine even fits in my bookbag. I took my old 5150 up to school a couple times, at 15" that was pushing it.
 
Originally posted by: Wuzup101
I urge you to build a decent gaming tower (maybe a small form factor gaming machine) for around $1000 and get something truly mobile (read: IBM T42/43, Apple 12"/15" powerbook/12" ibook, sony TR series, etc... for school). Depending on what you're studying you may find that having a notebook that's actually portable might help more than having one that can play all the latest distracting games. Xbox2 and PS3 are right around the corner, maybe consider one of those would be a better choice combined w/ smaller non beastly machine.

Of course you don't have to listen to me, I only urge you to take it into consideration. Being a college student myself, I know what college life is like. A smaller notebook is much more condusive to the environment in most cases. I'm currently sitting in Penn State's HUB (basically a student union) and am connected to the schools net wirelessly. With just turning my head every which way there are 8 people in view with notebooks including myself (using a powerbook). 2 people have 12" ibooks, one has a 12" powerbook, one with medium sized dell (either 600M or Laditude 600 ish size), 2 with IBM T series Thinkpads of some sort (believe both are 14" but can't tell from where i'm sitting), and the last has a smaller IBM (X series I believe that would be). Usually you spot a few sony TR series notebooks and a bunch more dell 600 size books around. You rarely see people carryin anything bigger than that around this campus b/c it's just no practical. Your miles may varry, but I would urge you to consider the SFF and laptop. It will also be cheaper to upgrade the gaming system w/ new hardware to keep up w/ the latest needs because of the inherent user upgradeability.

Anyway... just my 2 cents...
Click to expand...

hmm...you make a good point, i had never really considered that. I'll definantly think about it, but i think i'd rather have something that can do everything, not have to thiink about which machine i use for what. Something midrange, like a 9300, is looking very appetizing right now. From what i've heard, they have decent battery life, and chances are that i will rarely be in a place where AC power is not availible. Another thing that deters me from a very mobile notebook is that i will be in engineering school, so i will need something with considerable power.

Thanks for everyones input.
 
I will second building an inexpensive gaming machine. A64 Socket 939+1GB RAM+HDD+6600GT+etc = not too expensive these days
Then get a good mobile notebook for around $1000 or less and you're set :thumbsup:
 
I am going to buy my laptop for college from IBM. They really aren't gaming focused but their reliability is supposed to be unrivaled.
 
Originally posted by: Wuzup101
I urge you to build a decent gaming tower (maybe a small form factor gaming machine) for around $1000 and get something truly mobile (read: IBM T42/43, Apple 12"/15" powerbook/12" ibook, sony TR series, etc... for school). Depending on what you're studying you may find that having a notebook that's actually portable might help more than having one that can play all the latest distracting games. Xbox2 and PS3 are right around the corner, maybe consider one of those would be a better choice combined w/ smaller non beastly machine.

Of course you don't have to listen to me, I only urge you to take it into consideration. Being a college student myself, I know what college life is like. A smaller notebook is much more condusive to the environment in most cases. I'm currently sitting in Penn State's HUB (basically a student union) and am connected to the schools net wirelessly. With just turning my head every which way there are 8 people in view with notebooks including myself (using a powerbook). 2 people have 12" ibooks, one has a 12" powerbook, one with medium sized dell (either 600M or Laditude 600 ish size), 2 with IBM T series Thinkpads of some sort (believe both are 14" but can't tell from where i'm sitting), and the last has a smaller IBM (X series I believe that would be). Usually you spot a few sony TR series notebooks and a bunch more dell 600 size books around. You rarely see people carryin anything bigger than that around this campus b/c it's just no practical. Your miles may varry, but I would urge you to consider the SFF and laptop. It will also be cheaper to upgrade the gaming system w/ new hardware to keep up w/ the latest needs because of the inherent user upgradeability.

Anyway... just my 2 cents...
Click to expand...



This guy is all over it. I am getting ready for college. I just bought a Dell Inspiron 6000 to do some decent gaming on. it does the trick, but I am beginning to think its just going to be to big to carry around. Because of this, I have started to build my tower to keep for gaming and am looking around for a cheap portable laptop.
 
I am seriously considering the HP DV1000 or the 700m. I am gonna try to see how much time I spend on games on my incoming Zv6000 and decide and go from there.
 
Originally posted by: Hyperlite
Originally posted by: Wuzup101
I urge you to build a decent gaming tower (maybe a small form factor gaming machine) for around $1000 and get something truly mobile (read: IBM T42/43, Apple 12"/15" powerbook/12" ibook, sony TR series, etc... for school). Depending on what you're studying you may find that having a notebook that's actually portable might help more than having one that can play all the latest distracting games. Xbox2 and PS3 are right around the corner, maybe consider one of those would be a better choice combined w/ smaller non beastly machine.

Of course you don't have to listen to me, I only urge you to take it into consideration. Being a college student myself, I know what college life is like. A smaller notebook is much more condusive to the environment in most cases. I'm currently sitting in Penn State's HUB (basically a student union) and am connected to the schools net wirelessly. With just turning my head every which way there are 8 people in view with notebooks including myself (using a powerbook). 2 people have 12" ibooks, one has a 12" powerbook, one with medium sized dell (either 600M or Laditude 600 ish size), 2 with IBM T series Thinkpads of some sort (believe both are 14" but can't tell from where i'm sitting), and the last has a smaller IBM (X series I believe that would be). Usually you spot a few sony TR series notebooks and a bunch more dell 600 size books around. You rarely see people carryin anything bigger than that around this campus b/c it's just no practical. Your miles may varry, but I would urge you to consider the SFF and laptop. It will also be cheaper to upgrade the gaming system w/ new hardware to keep up w/ the latest needs because of the inherent user upgradeability.

Anyway... just my 2 cents...
Click to expand...

hmm...you make a good point, i had never really considered that. I'll definantly think about it, but i think i'd rather have something that can do everything, not have to thiink about which machine i use for what. Something midrange, like a 9300, is looking very appetizing right now. From what i've heard, they have decent battery life, and chances are that i will rarely be in a place where AC power is not availible. Another thing that deters me from a very mobile notebook is that i will be in engineering school, so i will need something with considerable power.

Thanks for everyones input.
Click to expand...

Hey no problem. Just wanted to give you something to consider. I will also mention that like you I'm at a major engineering school (Penn State). I'm doing a dual major in Biological Engineering and Biochemistry/Molecular Biology. There is rarely a time when I'm away from an A/C source that long either, so I will agree that battery life isn't a big deal as you probably won't be using your notebook to take notes in may of your classes... as there's no substitute for paper and pencil for taking notes in most engineering classes that are full of formulas, derivations, and diagrams. However, the mobility aspect is what is of particular concern IMHO. A smaller computer is just easier to keep with you all the time. It's not so much the weight as it is the size, as you'll no doubt have plenty of other things to throw in your backpack (which never seems to be big enough). For things that require lots of power it's much more practical to just go to you're departments computer lab and use their workstations. Truth be told, you won't need to do this a whole lot. I think Roguerower made a very nice choice, and he's in a similar position as to yourself. IBM simply makes very good notebooks that are very portable (for the T series which he's getting). You'll appreciate it when your notebook is smaller than most/all of your textbooks. It really makes taking your work with you that much easier.

I should also note that I did infact have a gaming oriented PC (see sig) that I built my freshman year. I got my powerbook before the beginning of sophomore year and it has made a world of difference for my study habbits. It's so much easier to have everything with me all the time. I didn't even bother bringing my PC with me because it would get little if any use. If I want to play games I play world of warcraft on the powerbook, or I play Halo2, madden, etc... on an Xbox or PS2. I'm sure after your first few weeks/months you will realize that the amout of free time you had in high school (even if you played multiple sports and were involved in everything like I was) is significantly cut down while you're at college. Unfortunatly, with an engineering major, you probably won't have tons of time to play video games. You'll be to busy doing your homework or drinking 🙂
 
I see your point there as well, it's probably dumb to go into this even thinking about gaming...
You're definantly begining to sway my thinking a bit, i'm definantly considering getting a more mobile notebook...I suppose my decision is still a ways off, so i'll wait and see what i really need when the time comes.
Once again, thanks for your opinions.
 
Yeah.. Freshman engineering is brutal. They hit you with everything at once-- Chem, Calc, Physics with Calc, all the lab courses that goes with Chem and Physics, and probably require you to take a comp sci course plus a core curriculum course (literature or art or something like that). Don't even THINK about playing computer games.
 
BTW... buy yourself a TI-89 if you don't already have one and learn how to use it 🙂 It might also be a good time to learn how to use a program like mathematica if you've already had AP calc in highschool. Save yourself the trouble of screwing with stuff like that during the year and you'll be ahead of everyone else... Enjoy the intro physics, calc, chem, and programming 🙂 usually they are "weeder" courses so I'm sure you'll find them more challenging than you'd think they should be.
 
Hrm, graduating from Cornell engineering this semester...maybe I can give you some insight on my way out.
I only had a desktop while I was here. That worked out fine for me, and looking back, I think I made the right decision at the time. I would've had to have bought a PIII laptop at the time, and it wouldn't have been able to supply the computing power I needed. As it is, I've had a P4 system that's carried me all four years, and is more than capable of running Matlab, Spice circuit simulations, plasma physics simulations, etc...

That said, I don't think you can buy a laptop today that's slower than my desktop, so I wouldn't worry about getting a second desktop system unless you absolutely positively can't live without computer games. Also, having gone on a co-op for two semesters, and moving every 6 months as a result, I am REALLY sick of lugging my desktop between states.

So to summarize, I'd buy something relatively portable (14" screen max) and a nice external monitor (17 or 19" lcd). I would suggest making it hard to play video games, especially your first semester. You're gonna want to get out and meet people while everyone is out meeting people, it becomes harder to make friends after your first year.
Buy a separate desktop for gaming after your first semester if you feel you need to.
 
points well taken...I think i'll scrap the desktop+laptop idea and get something inbetween very mobile and gaming...i wish i could find something with the power of the 9300, but in a 15" package...
 
A IBM Thinkpad T42 2373-M3U is the perfect college notebook in my opinion. its only about $1800 with an edu discount and you get a P-M 745 1.8ghz, 512mb, 60gb 7200rpm hd, SXGA+ 14.1in screen, 64mb ATI Mobility 9600, bluetooth, combo drive and a 3 year warranty
 
Gonna have this fella in about a week... Gaming would be no probs with it..and you can save yourself about 500$ or so..

http://www.discountlaptops.com/index.ph...or&regular_model_id=1116&model_id=1117

The idea of having a Desktop for 1000$-1500$ and a budjet laptop for about 500-600$ would be EXTREMELY tempting for me if I didn't already have a tight rig.... But from the reviews I have read on Sager..many people seem to think they are good quality. With a X700 (about the same strength as the 9800 Pro for desktops), a mobile Pentium Sonoma 1.7...and 1G of ram.. I think you'd be set..
 
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