Laptop for college

[conlan]

I'm buying a laptop for my son, he starts college in the spring. Been looking at the Dell Latitude E5410 and E5510 and also the Inspiron 15R, but would like some recommendations please.

Needs to be:
Sturdy
14" or larger screen
Core i3 Processor
Sub $600
Not a Toshiba

 

[corkyg]

Latitudes are a bit higher on the Dell food chain for quality - they are Dell's business line. Inspiron's are the chic line. I guess a lot depends on your son's projected usage.

 

[CurseTheSky]

HP has a pretty solid lineup these days. The DM4 looks like a solid machine.

My suggestion is to go with any well-known company, and NOT to get their general consumer line (Inspiron, for example). Business models (Lattitude) and up-scale models (Studio) tend to be leaps and bounds ahead in terms of build quality and component selection. I'm also not a big fan of Acer, as too many of the ones I've seen have mushy keyboards or lots of chassis flex. Some of the newer ones are solid, though.

 

[conlan]

Thanks for the replies...

Yup..that's why i was looking at the Latitudes, i bought my daughter one 3 years ago and it's a tank.
Just not sure if anyone else makes rugged ones these days like HP,Lenovo etc.

 

[Brainonska511]

Don't forget to check their outlet sections. You can sometimes snag a great deal.

 

[fffblackmage]

Maybe I'm just a laptop noob, but I think my Inspiron 1520 is pretty decent (except the LCD, which is rather crappy). Many of the older Inspiron weren't as nice, though I'm not sure about the newer ones.

The Studio line is certainly a step up and the Latitude line... well, they're really nice, but the price tag isn't. My aunt has one of those ultraportable Latitudes for work, and the thing just feels solid and so uber nice. I looked up prices and I just can't imagine getting one for myself (not yet anyways).

Asus laptops are pretty popular. They typically have decent specs and very reasonable cost. Build quality probably isn't as nice as the Studio, but it's not too bad either.

 

[heymrdj]

Maybe I'm just a laptop noob, but I think my Inspiron 1520 is pretty decent (except the LCD, which is rather crappy). Many of the older Inspiron weren't as nice, though I'm not sure about the newer ones.

The Studio line is certainly a step up and the Latitude line... well, they're really nice, but the price tag isn't. My aunt has one of those ultraportable Latitudes for work, and the thing just feels solid and so uber nice. I looked up prices and I just can't imagine getting one for myself (not yet anyways).

Asus laptops are pretty popular. They typically have decent specs and very reasonable cost. Build quality probably isn't as nice as the Studio, but it's not too bad either.

Working in a computer repair center, I'm going to come out and say I highly recommend to steer clear of the 1520's. I have personally repaired so many of them for bad track pads, bent/broken hinges, bad screens, and worthless keyboards. They chassis is actually surprisingly rigid, but the places they mount everything falls apart. Another deal is the fact the touchpad is integral to the keyboard plate as is the screen closed magnetic sensor. So replacing either of those normally 5-30$ pieces is about 70-90$

 

[Hacp]

Try to HP Dv3Ts. Backlit keyboard is always win.

 

[ilkhan]

I picked up a latitude e6410 last week for $570 from the outlet ($625 after taxes, IIRC). Surprisingly, the outlet e6410 was $100 *less* than an e5410 while having bigger HDD, faster CPU, and more RAM.
Now if only Dell hadn't spent 2 days "building" the laptop for me I'd have had it on Thursday instead of tomorrow.

HP is a mixed bag, the older dv6000 (and equivalents) had huge mobo flaws, steer clear. The current line however isn't bad (but their website sucks). Id avoid Toshiba and Sony like the plague, both do things wonky that look good but absolutely suck.

 

[conlan]

Thanks for the replies...i ordered a Latitude E5410

 

[heymrdj]

Let us know what you think

 

[VinylxScratches]

Stay away from HP. My friend has one that has completely fallen apart. Screen won't shut properly. The AC plug is screwed up. It gets really hot etc...

Edit: just notived you ordered a Dell.

 

[Hacp]

Stay away from HP. My friend has one that has completely fallen apart. Screen won't shut properly. The AC plug is screwed up. It gets really hot etc...

Edit: just notived you ordered a Dell.

Maybe yours was an AMD machine.

 

[crucibelle]

Maybe yours was an AMD machine.

I don't think that would have anything to do with the screen or the AC plug, do you?

 

[Hacp]

I don't think that would have anything to do with the screen or the AC plug, do you?

Overheating machines can cause serious problems.