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For the college students

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Compaq V3000 here.. highly recommended. Small enough to carry around with ease, big enough to serve as my primary computer. The design is perfect IMO and its not expensive. I would recommend HP in general.
 
I have made it through college so far with little desire for a laptop.

There are so many computer labs around campus that I've rarely been in a situation where I've needed a computer and not been able to get to one quickly just about anywhere on campus.

I know a lot of people just used their laptop as basically a stationary desktop replacement.

I think the biggest advantage to a desktop is the flexibility you have, or if something goes wrong... you have a better chance of being able to do something about it yourself.
 
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
I have made it through college so far with little desire for a laptop.

There are so many computer labs around campus that I've rarely been in a situation where I've needed a computer and not been able to get to one quickly just about anywhere on campus.

I know a lot of people just used their laptop as basically a stationary desktop replacement.

I think the biggest advantage to a desktop is the flexibility you have, or if something goes wrong... you have a better chance of being able to do something about it yourself.
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So true. Here, I rarely find people with a desktop. Most use laptops and the only place it ever goes is on their bed. I'm achieving the same thing with my wireless keyboard/mouse. Plus it just isn't as powerful, I think, or has as big screens.
 
6 desktops and 2 laptops here.
To be fair, the HTPC, media and torrent servers as well as the laptops are shared (an m6805 and a P2 366 Toughbook for GPS).
 
Originally posted by: Karot
I was wondering for all the college students out there whether you use a desktop or a laptop and which models you recommend. I'll be off this fall so I need to get a new computer. Thanks!
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I have both. Just don't buy a mac unless you "need" one for your major. You can buy a desktop and a laptop for the price of one mac. Plus, the mac users seem to have a much higher percentage of pricks.
 
It seriously depends on what the laptop is used for. If you're into Engineering say Electrical or Civil Engineering, then a laptop that runs Windows XP or Vista is recommended. It's hard to find decent MAC compatible for these (i.e. LabVIEW, MATLAB, PSPICE). The programs I listed are for EE, but you pretty apply this to most engineering programs including CS. Of course, you can use Boot Camp or Parallel with a MAC. That would be an option. Also, www.apple.com will give student discounts of about $50 if you purchase it online. Search for Student or something like that.
 
I have a lot of desktop, but I bring my laptop to school. Dell Inspiron 6400(same as e1505 just the version listed under their business section). It's been good though, well built and durable being what I put it through. If you plan on running linux on one, make sure pay the extra 10 or 20 bucks for intel wireless instead of broadcom. The intel wireless 3945 has official linux support by intel and has is supported by most recent kernels.

If you wanna spend a bit more I'd say Lenevo Thinkpad would be awesome.

As far as for how long laptops last, the one thing that seems to have been a plague on laptops in the last 5 years was the Pentium 4 processor(fine for desktops but not made for laptops..). Don't think you can get a laptop with it anymore, but the thing outputs so much heat that the cooling systems on many laptops are very noisy and don't last long. Pentium M/Core 1/2 solo/due ftw!
 
I have a desktop (built). My dorm room is pretty big, so space really isn't a problem and I haven't needed a laptop in class. The only school related things I do with it is email, web browsing, papers, and VS2005.
 
Laptops are easily stolen, especially in dorms. Don't bother with it, the disadvantages have already been addressed in this thread (expensive compared to a desktop, not all that useful for note-taking, fragile, etc). I've never needed a laptop while in the library, they have computers all over the place to use. I had a laptop, but only later in college, and even then it never left my house and mostly supplemented my desktop.
 
Originally posted by: Karot
I was wondering for all the college students out there whether you use a desktop or a laptop and which models you recommend. I'll be off this fall so I need to get a new computer. Thanks!
Click to expand...

desktop. and paired up with a adesso cyberpad.
 
I have a desktop and swore up and down that I wouldn't become a preppy, stuck-up college kid who gets a laptop to play solitare in class. To date, I haven't gotten a laptop but I definitely see the benefits of having one. I think when I go to lawschool, I'll DEFINITELY be getting one.

My advice, if you have enough self-control not the veer from your studies with it and only stick to your work, I'd advise you to get one (assuming you have the available funds, of course).
 
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