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If you are a student....

H

HermDogg

Golden Member
The following are my experiences with my laptops, from the perspective of a student.
So college time was upon me, and I decided that I needed a laptop. I had always been fond of Apples (have been working on them in school ever since elementary school, system 7 through OS X), so I decided on a PowerBook. I bought the 12" flavor, upgraded to 1.25 gigs of RAM, and went off to school.
So I was slowly making my way through school, cursing the tininess of the laptop, as well as it's seemingly eternal app-launching times. No matter what I did, I could never get a program to start in a decent amount of time. The wireless reception was absolutely atrocious (802.11g), and I always had a low signal when connecting to the access points, even if I was sitting four feet away.
So then I decided to dabble in the Tablet PC arena. I got myself a Fujitsu T3010D, decently spec'ed, and again upgraded the RAM, and went to class with that beast. It was somewhat helpful only in economics, where the professor would often spring up a graph unexpectedly and expect us to copy it down.
I then decided that I liked neither, and ended up buying a 17" Dell 9300. This thing is a beast, but I love it. The screen is big enough for anything, I can type on the keyboard no problem, and it runs anything I throw at it (even games for those boring lectures).

SUMMARY:
Apple - I would only reccommend Apples to those who have been using them exclusively or have a desperate need to edit video. For all the talk of Apples being the choice of the graphic artist, this is really only the case when you get way into the upper echelon, as the performance differences in apps like Photoshop have all but disappeared between Apples and PCs.
Tablets - Tablets would be useful for those who have a lot of math-heavy or engineering classes. It's far easier to jot down equations, and even in classes like Setential logic can be helpful in things such as truth trees and the like.
 
I do not agree with your Powerbook stance. I have a 12" powerbook with 512 RAM and have no problems loading any application. My wireless reception is average to other notebook users in the library in which I frequent. I would have called Apple and have them send me a new one, because it sounds like you got a sour Apple.
 
I can't help but think that if your first Mac was a 15" PowerBook, you'd have been more positive. The extra screen resolution (even at 1280x854) is great, and the graphics chipset has been better for a long time as well.

Also, if you got a PowerBook before mid-2004, you would have had a 4200 RPM drive. Those affect loading speed on a laptop as much as RAM does. Not only do systems from mid-2004 onward have 5400 RPM drives standard, but I've heard that the newer PowerBooks also use different 5400 RPM drives that speed up access above and beyond that.

I do agree that, right now, Apple laptops aren't really where they should be... but Apple knows this too, and I'm sure they want their Intel-based laptops to come out as soon as the software is ready for them.
 
Originally posted by: Hacp
External optical drive
Click to expand...

Not a big deal since it is very unlikely you will be installing software while in class, therefor leaving the additional weight in your dorm room is a plus.
 
I'm a student who recently purchased a T43. I've seen quite a few people with various kinds of laptops, so I'll give a comment or two. Apples are generally well-liked by those I've seen using them, and seem to work just fine. One of my awesome CS professors uses one, but so do my computer illiterate music and math professors. My CS professor has had bad logic boards (something like that, I'm mac-illiterate so I'm not 100% what that means) but that has been the only complaint I've heard.

There are a lot of IBMs around as well, lots of T42s and T43s and everyone also seems to like them (personally, I love mine). Generally, I'd say 12" or 14" is the way to go. I've had an EE professor use a tablet for teaching (Powerpoint, but would add notes and do examples with a tablet and upload the presentation with the changes). I've only seen one person using a tablet for notes (though I suspect there are more), and I'd say that if you want to take notes with your laptop, then a tablet is the way to go. Personally, I just use notebooks and pencil, except for classes that are text-heavy (e.g. my music course).

In general, I'd say get a 12" or 14", depending on your preferences, and max out RAM and hard drive space (or plan to upgrade them later). Those are the most valuable aspects of a laptop. You want it light so you can carry it anywhere, and you don't want it to bog down later or to run out of space after your spend a session on your school's DC++ hub or torrenting a bunch of stuff. I'm a fan of IBMs because I like a strong build quality, but I've seen lots of Dells and HPs that hold up just fine.
 
Hey man, haven't been around T3D for awhile. School's good, grades are pretty good, everything's going fine. Sorry to the OP for going OT.
 
I ditched my home built PC desktop for an apple powerbook after my freshman year, now half way through junior year I couldn't be happier. I get so much more work done on this machine that it's well worth the price. I do admit that powerbooks aren't the fastes machines out there (and apple is working on this with the new intel chips). However, they do most things very well, and most people that use OSX will tell you that they feel more productive on a slower Mac than on a faster PC. As far as app loading times, I'm not sure what you're talking about - were you trying to use logic in class on battery power or something? Anything that I need in class (when I seldomly actually use my powerbook during class) I can launch almost instantly. It's also nice to not have to worry about viruses and the like on large college networks - the computer help desk guys seem to love people that use Macs at our school.
 
My school laptop search led to my purchase of a Thinkpad T40p, and I LOVE this unit, it is thin and light so I can carry it in my backpack, along with all other required goods, the battery lasts for 5-6 hours, so I almost never have to bring the AC bring with me to classes, the screen is hi-res 1400x1050 so I can do 3D modeling/computer Programming on it with no problems, It is decently fast (P-m Banias 1.6GHz/1GB RAM), plenty fast for my needs, I can do a little gaming with the FireGL9000 64MB card in it, (C&C Generals is about its limit though). The software included with the unit is awesome, and the build quality is second to none. It has taken some abuse after its first semester of use, and stil looks/works like new. I will most likely be buying another Thinkpad when this ones time expires, (unless Lenovo screws the pooch some how). My recommendation to college kids everywhere, Thinkpad T series. Its not uber-sexy looking to most people (I think it is though), but it just plain works.. period.
 
I too am a student, albeit graduating soon, but I have always had a problem with finding a good laptop. When I first started I had a Dell Inspiron 4000 series and it was good for taking notes and the like. It was heavy though and I wasn't pleased with lugging it around in addition to the textbook or two. More recently I had a Dell 600m which was better on the weight side and allowed me to play World of Warcraft although it ran below subpar. Now I am in the market again for a laptop and trying to find the power/weight combo is fairly difficult.
 
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