Help me choose a laptop. =)

[Shadmere]

I'm starting what should be a painfully difficult couple of years at college this fall, and to treat myself (and to give myself the ability to stay at school longer and take faster, better notes), I'm using some grant money to buy myself a laptop.

All I need is something that will let me do really basis stuff. I don't need to game on it, in fact it'd probably be a good idea for it not even to be capable of good gaming. Not that I'd throw an option out because it has a videocard. I'd also love for it to be smallish. (I don't want anything near my girlfriend's 17 inch screen. I've got dual monitors on my desktop, and anything I want some real real estate for, I'll use that.)

Right now, I'm considering a Macbook or a Lenovo T61. The Macbook is 13 inches, so that's a nice size for what I'm looking for. The cheapest one is $999 after student discount, and I'd probably add another gig of RAM to it. I've never really been a fan of Macs, mostly because I can't open them up and poke around inside them. But I can't really do that with a laptop anyway. ::shrugs:: Also, it would be fun to learn a new system. Macbook specs: 2.0 Ghz Core2Duo, 4MB shared L2 cache, 2GB RAM, 80GB hard drive, combo drive (no DVD burner), and integrated graphics. $1157.

I customized a Lenovo to specs that would keep it within my price range as well: 1.8 Ghz Core2Duo, 2MB shared L2 cache, Vista Premium, 2GB RAM, 120GB hard drive, DVD burner and integrated graphics. $1164.

The Macbook's smaller (Lenovo is 14 inches), so that's one direction I'm leaning. I've heard that the Macbook is really well constructed as well. However, most people seem to point towards Lenovo's Thinkpads as being incredibly well-built as well. The Lenovo is a good bit uglier, but that would only enter the equation if I had no other reason to pick between the two.

I would have probably just grabbed a cheap-ass Dell or Gateway, if they still came with XP. But I don't want to try running Vista on something with 512MB of RAM! ::shudders::

So what are your thoughts? If you have any better suggestions, don't be afraid to tell me, either. I'm trying to definitely stay under $1500, though.

Thanks!

 

[TheStu]

Well, I of course recommend the MacBook. What degree are you pursuing? If you are going after a CS degree or something similar, then I recommend the MacBook hands down.

 

[Shadmere]

I'm going for a degree in Religious Studies with an Honors in Philosophy. You know, real useful stuff that will get me a job. Hah.

I mainly just want something that will let me write, let me take notes, and let me do some research (if I need to surf heavily, I'll use my desktop at home). I want it to be well-built, though. I know several people will Dells and Gateways, and while not all of them have had problems, they all talk about how they're scared things are just going to "break." I've heard really good things about both Apple and Lenovo, though, on that front.

 

[Eureka]

If you want sure quality, Lenovo's the way to go. Personally, I am going for a Dell because they have the lowest price, and I'm usually careful with my things (I blame OCD). Macs are nice, but their price is way over the top. Every comparison I've made places them at least a few hundred to a thousand dollars higher than a PC equivalent.

 

[shadowofthesun]

I would have probably just grabbed a cheap-ass Dell or Gateway, if they still came with XP. But I don't want to try running Vista on something with 512MB of RAM! ::shudders::

The Dell Vostro line is configurable with Windows XP.

 

[Shadmere]

Originally posted by: cevilgenius
Macs are nice, but their price is way over the top. Every comparison I've made places them at least a few hundred to a thousand dollars higher than a PC equivalent.

I was thinking that too, but the cheapest Macbook is only $999, and the Lenovo that I'd get is about the same. (The Mac even has a little bit better processor, though the Lenovo can burn DVDs.)

Thanks for the input, though.

 

[Eureka]

Well, even if the mac has a better processor, you can upgrade any other laptop to compare, and at a cheaper price, too. And not being able to burn DVDs is a little archaic, since DVD burners are mad cheap.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: cevilgenius
If you want sure quality, Lenovo's the way to go. Personally, I am going for a Dell because they have the lowest price, and I'm usually careful with my things (I blame OCD). Macs are nice, but their price is way over the top. Every comparison I've made places them at least a few hundred to a thousand dollars higher than a PC equivalent.

I think that particularly now a days you would be hard pressed to find the gap as wide as $1000 like you claim. I just priced 13.3" laptops on Newegg with the Core 2 Duo at 2.0 GHz (first Santa Rosa and then non-SR) and the cheapest ones I could find where $200 more than the MacBook. However, in their defense, they did have discrete graphics cards, so that obviously ups the price a bit, and being able to cram a real graphics card into a 13.3" machine is impressive. The drawback of course is that made them thicker than the MacBook, so if that is a consideration for the OP, then the MacBook wins.

What the problem is, IMO, is that a few years ago, back when Apple still shipped PPC processors, they were overpriced for what you were getting (hardware wise) however, whatever hardware deficiencies you feel they lack, ask yourself what other platform lets you run basically every OS under the sun, legally. What other machine will let you run almost every piece of software (meaning 99.9999999%) made in the last say.... 5-10 years?

You take the cost of the MacBook, and you think... gosh $1000 for a 2.0GHz proc, 1GB RAM, 80GB HDD, and only a CD Burner... that is a little weak. But take into account that it can run everything (except final cut pro) that you can throw at it, with the exception of the most high end games, which I realize that matters to people, myself included. But I didn't buy a 13.3" laptop so I could game on it. I bought it to take it to class, handle DVD ripping, video encoding, audio playback and creation, photo editing, word processing, and to run windows, linux and os x simultaneously.

So, I get what you are saying about them being too expensive, but think for a minute what you are getting before claiming that they are "way over the top"

 

[Eureka]

Well, maybe not a thousand, but I just did a comparison of Macbook Pros and Dell Inspirons. A Macbook Pro at 17", 2.4ghz, 2gb ram, 8600MGT, 160GBHD costs "$2549" on this college flyer I have. On the apple store, it's $2800. I did a Inspiron 1720 that came up to about $2000 before coupons. I also did a Lenovo build-- I couldn't find a 17", so I did a comparison between two 15". The 15" Lenovo with the same specs still cost about $500 less than the Macbook Pro 15".

I haven't found any 13" laptops so I can't make a comparison there, the closest was a 12" lenovo which WAS $200 more, so I guess the normal macbook does seem to be a good bargain.

 

[Shadmere]

I'm not even considering a Macbook Pro, just to let you know. Those things start off at 2 grand, way too rich for my blood.

 

[Eureka]

Yeah... which makes the Mac a whole lot more attractive when you're not considering a Pro. But those Pros are way overpriced.

 

[Shadmere]

I'm now looking at the R61, actually. I can't figure out why it's basically $100 cheaper. I can customize both the R61 and the T61 with identical specs, and the R61 is just under $100 cheaper.

Is there something like, inherently wrong with the R series? Cause I just now fell in love with the concept of the "Advanced Ultrabay Battery," because that extra battery life would be very awesome. And an extra $100 would buy one. Hrms.

For 1300 or so, with the R61, I can get a 2.0GHz drive with 4MB L2 cache, a DVD burner, 2 gigs of RAM, a 120 gig hard drive, an integrated webcam, "Intel TurboCache," and the biggest system battery available for the system.

What exactly is Intel TurboCache anyway? I thought I was keeping at least vaguely up with the times, but I've never heard of that.

 

[esun]

The R-series are simply not as well built as the T-series. I would stay away from them.

What is the resolution on the 13" Macbook screen? If it's less than that of the 14" Lenovo, I'd go with the Lenovo. If not, either is fine.

 

[TheStu]

I think you can get teh res on the 14" lenovo higher, but by default they are the same res, 1280*800.

And cevil, you compared the Inspiron to the MacBook Pro... of course the Inspiron is cheaper, it is a budget laptop line. The MBP is the Pro line of machines from Apple... hence the anodized aluminum shell, the backlit keys, the LED backlit screens (on the 15" model for now) the ambient light sensors, motion sensors, and overall build quality.

Particularly on the 15" MBP I would pay extra to get the LED backlighting on there since it is just significantly better tech.