Getting a notebook computer

[Voodoorabbit]

Hello Pros,
I am a student needing a portable laptop computer for studying in university. So....any suggestions as to what kinds of laptop computers I should buy? Please be broad and specific in your suggestions.

 

[Fraggable]

Pros? Ok, i'll take that.

First, I'm going to suggest a 14" widescreen notebook. a 15.4" wide is just a little too big and heavy to be practical for carrying around and a 12" is jus too small IMHO. You might consider an Apple Macbook at 13.3" wide. Also, it seems in my experience that the bigger they are the less durable they tend to be. I ended up with a 17" beast of a powerhouse and don't feel comfortable taking it with me eveywhere I go.

Are you going to run any special applications on it other than the assumed MS Office? This I need to know to determine if a Croe Duo processor, more than 512MB RAM is necessary.

Wht degree are you in? You may or may not benefit from a large hard drive depending on what kind of homework you have.

Personally I'd suggest the HP DV1000 series. They get rave reviews. You can customize them here.
I'm planning to get one myself when I get some cash.

 

[Voodoorabbit]

Hi, thx for the reply.
well, I am going to be a freshman, and will be doing tons of programming and database designs. Also, MS Office is a necessity. As for gaming, I don't expect to get one like the new Dell gaming laptop, but games like the Sims, and high-profile personal shooting games will be something I will play.


I guess it must be a dure core laptop, 1gb ram and at least 2.5GHz??

Look forward to your further comments.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: Voodoorabbit
Hi, thx for the reply.
well, I am going to be a freshman, and will be doing tons of programming and database designs.

You may want something that offers WXGA+ then and that means 15.4".

Also, MS Office is a necessity.

Unless you have a specific need for features in Office 2003, pick up Office 97 off Ebay or something for cheap.

As for gaming, I don't expect to get one like the new Dell gaming laptop, but games like the Sims, and high-profile personal shooting games will be something I will play.

High-profile shooters are pretty much as GPU stenuous as you can get.

I guess it must be a dure core laptop, 1gb ram and at least 2.5GHz??

Look forward to your further comments.

Duo doesn't even go up to 2.5Ghz....it's a different kind of chip than the P4.

You can go 17" and spend about $1500 and get this form Dell or Gateway, but they're less portable than 15.4 or 14's.

If you want a smaller size, you're going to pay a premium for the WXGA+ screen so it will cost you slightly more and you'll end up with a slightly slower GPU for gaming.

If that's too rich, then consider scrapping the gaming on the notebook and getting an E1505 for $700 or so and building a gaming rig with a 6800GT.

 

[halfadder]

Since the non-Pro MacBook does not have a real GPU, I cannot recommend that.

Closest Apple option would be the MacBookPro, but you're looking at $1799 entry price for a Student, that's probably beyond your budget. I love mine, I can dual boot into WinXP or I can use the Parallels virtual machine to run pretty much any PC OS right inside Mac OS X. Lots of features and lots of bundled software for the price. I love the magnetic power connector and backlit keyboard.

 

[Fraggable]

My suggestion is to not buy the laptop for gaming. It's just a waste of money to buy one for the purpose of gaming because they're not generally upgradeable, and it will not be able to play current-gen games in 4 months anyway. Believe me, I've been there and regretted it. Not to mention that any laptop capable of playing BF2, HL2, whatever games you want to play will not have very good battery life which will be important for you.

If you're potentially working with multiple apps, definitely get a Core Duo and 1GB RAM, and a 15.4" widescreen. No smaller than a 60GB hard drive.

Spend the rest of your money on a midrange gaming system, like a A64 3200+ Venice, 6800GT, 1GB RAM, etc that will be upgradeable as games progress. Not to mention you'll have another system to backup your laptop to and something to do homework on if the laptop needs to be serviced.

 

[pkme2]

Get a Dell E1505 and use a Dell Discount coupon.

 

[ubercaffeinated]

Originally posted by: Fraggable
My suggestion is to not buy the laptop for gaming.

exactly. if you want to game, get a seperate rig.