When should I buy my college laptop?

[DyslexicHobo]

I'm going to begin college this coming school year in early September, and I'm going to want to buy a laptop before then. I've never shopped for a laptop before, and I've really got no clue what the good brands are. I've heard Lenovo laptops are very dependable, but that's only from family with not much experience.

I've been looking at this laptop. Apparently it's a good deal according to the folks on the Hot Deals forum. Would this be a decent comp to run for college? I'd like to be able to play some games on it, but it's not a necessity (games like CS:S at super-low gfx, and WoW the same).

Thanks for any help/information. 🙂

 

[stogez]

Wait till August or so. 6 months is a long time for computers. But if you need to buy now, that is a pretty good deal. That one has onboard gfx though so it won't be great in games.

 

[Brainonska511]

I wouldn't say August, you want a month or two to play around with it to make sure everything is in working order and you're comfortable with the machine.

I'd say get it in late June or early July.

 

[stogez]

Actually thought about it a little more, you should probably look out for 4th of July sales 😉
I have to get a laptop for my brother whos starting school in the fall as well.

 

[Leros]

If you're gonna order online, early-mid July. If you're gonna buy it in store, a week before at the latest.

You want some time to
a) make sure its not broken in any way
and
b) get it setup so you can actually use it when classes begin.

 

[corkyg]

This summer should be fine. I would be more focused on work than games for college. Instead of playing, get more involved in something productive and useful later in life. Yeah - even golf or tennis! 🙂

 

[moosey]

Lenovo is a good recommendation, Asus also makes good laptops.

 

[Jeff H]

DyslexicHobo, as a father who sent two daughters to college w/ computers, you need to answer two questions. First, why do you want/need a laptop? And second, what school will you attend, and what are the school's computer requirements?

Do you want or need a laptop? If it's want, go for it. If it's need, why? If gaming is going to be a big issue for you, you're going to get a desktop that will perform for games, for less money than the laptop. FWIW I sent both daughters to school w/ a desktop. Then when the need for a laptop was real, we made the move. The longer you can hold out the more machine you're going to get, for less $$. Hauling a laptop to class is not a prevalent as you might think, IMO.

Second, don't buy a thing until you familiarize yourself w/ your schools system requirements. They will guide you as far as minimums go.

Jeff

 

[TanisHalfElven]

i would advise against a laptop. i use the adesso cyberpad to digitally store all my handwritten notes.works excellent and is much cheaper than any tablet pc (149 compares to 800+) also you will not need a gaming laptop. you won't game much in college, as i have learned.

 

[bobsmith1492]

Regarding what to use it for, it depends on what you're studying. Mine has been invaluable for engineering projects (board layout, programming, writeups, research, etc. all while at the downtown campus).

Others might use it only for gaming. Know yourself and your intentions! If you would use it to game in class, do yourself a favor, save yourself some money, and stick with the desktop (heck, buy a new one!).

 

[DyslexicHobo]

Well for the first two years I'll be attending county college. I'm in a program where if I attend county college for two years and maintain a B average (not worried 'bout this at all), then I can transfer to a state school and go there without paying anything. I realize that county college is extremely easy and boring (hence gaming 🙂), but I would like to type up notes. I'm also taking a computer repair class to get my A+ cert as soon as I turn 18 so I can do some repair work on the side.

Thanks for all the input, guys.

 

[MrBond]

A laptop would have only been useful in a couple of my undergrad classes - and they were both electives. In any sort of technical course (math/science/etc), you're not going to be able to use it to take notes, unless it's a TabletPC. The notes are too complex to type with any speed.

I don't recommend buying a laptop to play games in class either. If you spend $2000 on a nice laptop, but screw around playing games instead of paying attention in class and fail to maintain a B average, that laptop could cost you the $2000 + whatever it costs for the rest of your college at a state school.

Since you're going to a community college, the laptop might be of some use between classes so you can type papers/whatever if the college doesn't have adequate computer labs.

I had a laptop in college but I never took it to class. The only time I used it was when we'd be doing group projects at home, then we'd fire up two computers at once to get things done a little faster. I'm in grad school now and use it every day - but only because we're not supplied with a computer and I wanted one for my office.