How is this for a college bound laptop?

[VirtualLarry]

Get this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...6&SID=FW9xu0s5

Newegg was offering it with a free docking station, but it looks like that offer was removed. Still, looks like a decent deal for a very portable laptop.

Edit: CPU is a dual-core.

 

[mfenn]

Thanks. I already have a 20" external monitor for dorm room hook up as well as printer, mouse and keyboard. I would look for a docking station if there is an option for whatever laptop I finally settle on.

So given the parameters you've set here, what do you think the ballpark price would be for a decent laptop that has durability to withstand college life?

Can you link to the laptop page of the school your son is going to be attending? They often offer bulk buy pricing to students. That'll allow you to get the recommended business-class machine for a decent discount.

Otherwise, browse the Dell outlet. I was able to get a Latitude E6510 (Arrandale generation) with a i5 520, 4GB of RAM, 128GB SSD, and 3 year NBD onsite warranty for just under $1000.

 

[Borg20001]

Can you link to the laptop page of the school your son is going to be attending? They often offer bulk buy pricing to students. That'll allow you to get the recommended business-class machine for a decent discount.

Otherwise, browse the Dell outlet. I was able to get a Latitude E6510 (Arrandale generation) with a i5 520, 4GB of RAM, 128GB SSD, and 3 year NBD onsite warranty for just under $1000.

Thanks mfenn, I did not know that the school would have a computer page. I did some digging and I think this is the link:

http://bookstore.uconn.edu/departments/tech/indv.htm

They have some current specials listed there.

Appreciate any recommendations or guidance you all can provide.

 

[Davidh373]

So the bookstore charges $300 MORE than dell... interesting... -.-

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...latitude-e6420

EDIT: ok, so like $50 more because the 4 year protection plan costs $250.

 

[mfenn]

Thanks mfenn, I did not know that the school would have a computer page. I did some digging and I think this is the link:

http://bookstore.uconn.edu/departments/tech/indv.htm

They have some current specials listed there.

Appreciate any recommendations or guidance you all can provide.

Either the E5420 or E6420 are good, just depends on how much you want to spend. Having 4 years of warranty and accidental damage protections is a big plus in my opinion. UConn also looks to have a repair facility on campus. They'll fix anything that happens to the machine during your son's 4 years at school, no (or very few!) questions asked.

 

[Borg20001]

Either the E5420 or E6420 are good, just depends on how much you want to spend. Having 4 years of warranty and accidental damage protections is a big plus in my opinion. UConn also looks to have a repair facility on campus. They'll fix anything that happens to the machine during your son's 4 years at school, no (or very few!) questions asked.

Do you think that through their deal with Dell, UConn will offer laptops with the aforementioned Llano CPU? I'm trying to gauge whether I should wait to see if these will show up on their site and then look to buy a laptop with that cpu from their school-affiliated site.

 

[mfenn]

Do you think that through their deal with Dell, UConn will offer laptops with the aforementioned Llano CPU? I'm trying to gauge whether I should wait to see if these will show up on their site and then look to buy a laptop with that cpu from their school-affiliated site.

Not this year, most likely. The bulk pricing deals are worked out each spring.

 

[Borg20001]

Not this year, most likely. The bulk pricing deals are worked out each spring.

So this laptop looks to be the best option (albeit not the least expensive) due to the 4 yr warranty and the I5 with 4Gig of RAM:

http://tech.uconncoop.com/product_p/8667954.htm

I spoke with their on-campus tech support and they will work on the PCs you buy from them on things covered by the warranty which for this Dell seems to be pretty much everything with the accidental damage coverage. They will work on non-Co-op purchased PCs but with a service charge (which makes sense) so I guess I just have to bite the bullet on this since they probably will not be getting anything new in before the fall semester starts - right?

We did take a look at some of the HPs vs. Dells at a Staples and the Dell laptop keyboards did have a much better feel to them.

 

[mfenn]

That 6420 looks pretty good to me, about the only downside to me is the screen resolution. Personally, I would go for something higher, but 1366x768 is pretty standard for that class.

I can't say for 100% sure that they won't get anything, but I've worked at 2 different universities now, and they didn't change them during the summer there. So I'd say that chances are good that what you see is what they will have come August.