Foo - So I'm looking to buy a laptop for college....

and I find myself asking this question; Would I rather have a bigger screen or more power?

I'm paying for the laptop myself so I want to get the most bang for the buck.

I'm definetly going to get a Core 2 Duo

2 gigs of ram

HD isn't as important but it is a factor.

So what should I do? bigger screen or more power?

Longer battery life over a big screen.

A 15.4 inch screen is plenty big.

Neither. Do you *really* want to lug a 10 pound laptop around campus? Are you *really* going to watch blu-ray porn in the library? Take your money, split it. Buy a THIN 12" laptop that you can actually carry around without it being a hassle, then buy a desktop for around $600 for the dorm. Cheap desktop will be much faster than even the biggest, chunkiest, fastest laptop (remember, laptops have slower hard drives and really crappy video cards). That way you have the power to watch blu-ray porn in the comfort of your room (plus the ability to upgrade when you need more HD space for more porn), and you'll have a laptop which will actually be useful for carrying around, taking on planes, and chillin on the quad. Plus, slim laptops are sexy.

Go with a 15.4", it's the most common form factor so it will be the cheapest. 17" will honestly be too big to be portable, those things are monsters.

Neither. Do you *really* want to lug a 10 pound laptop around campus? Are you *really* going to watch blu-ray porn in the library? Take your money, split it. Buy a THIN 12" laptop that you can actually carry around without it being a hassle, then buy a desktop for around $600 for the dorm. Cheap desktop will be much faster than even the biggest, chunkiest, fastest laptop (remember, laptops have slower hard drives and really crappy video cards). That way you have the power to watch blu-ray porn in the comfort of your room (plus the ability to upgrade when you need more HD space for more porn), and you'll have a laptop which will actually be useful for carrying around, taking on planes, and chillin on the quad. Plus, slim laptops are sexy.

That is the strategy I would advocate. When I first bought my school laptop I bought a super powerful 15.4" notebook that I could game on. I got sick of lugging it around everywhere and now have a gaming PC I built and a 14.1" notebook since anything smaller was too expensive. The smaller of a laptop you get the more expensive it will be.

That is the strategy I would advocate. When I first bought my school laptop I bought a super powerful 15.4" notebook that I could game on. I got sick of lugging it around everywhere and now have a gaming PC I built and a 14.1" notebook since anything smaller was too expensive. The smaller of a laptop you get the more expensive it will be.

Gaming PC, huh? :D

I have a Toshiba Satellite A105, its awesome! Only about $700!

http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cmod.to?coid=-30599&seg=HHO

macbook ftw

the macbook is solid. give them a test drive.

Macbooks are pretty, but you're paying an awful lot of money for not so great hardware. You could get an equivalent machine for far less than you'd pay for Mac OS and the shiny apple logo.

How about a Linux Lapz0r?

Well pretty much every laptop (except Dells which CAN come with Ubuntu Linux) will have Windows already, might be handy to keep around and just run a dual boot system. Especially if specific software is required for school, it's usually not so happy running on Linux and sometimes it's just easier to run it in Windows that it is to get it running through Linux through a virtual machine or something...

I have a Toshiba Sattelite I paid around $1400 for around Christmas 06, it's my only computer. I'd do what everybody else suggested, but I don't have room for a desktop

Laptop? Desktop? Why choose one or the other?

http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/4976/wcccpqpluslqr8.jpg

Okay, my Compaq Presario is a bit newer and smaller than that. 14" widescreen, 1.8GHz AMD Turion 64, DVD±RW DL drive, etc. I got it for $700 or so refurbished a year-ish ago. I've never used Windows on it (threw an Ubuntu install disc in and nuked away XP Pro without ever booting into it), so I don't know how that experience is, but I've been happy enough with it. Nothing special, but it hasn't completely fallen to pieces as I expected.

I do recommend refurbished laptops if possible. I have a refurb'ed Sony r505 series thats about 5 years old and still running strong. Found a new (generic) battery on ebay, and thats really all I've done to it. Still advocate the desktop, though, ESPECIALLY if you're getting a macbook.

MAC, but if you must stay with a PC, then keyboard/mouse are more important.

Consider what you are using the laptop for. Are you intending to use it as a desktop replacement for gaming, where you sling it out at LAN parties, or are you going to haul it everywhere?

If you have the cash, consider having a decent desktop machine for a gaming rig, and go small for a laptop.

As for model recommendations, Macbook Pros are decent if you have the cash for them, but if you go with HP's business line or Dell's Latitude line, you should be decently served. Make sure to go Latitude instead of Inspiron if going with Dells, because in general, Latitudes are intended for businesses where stability is more of what is needed than cutting-edge features.

In any case, try to get at least 2 gigs of RAM, four gigs preferably, and try to get as big an internal hard disk as you can. Also, consider an extended warranty (preferably with accident protection), because laptop parts and repairs almost always cost more than a replacement. Normally, extended warranties are not needed, but with laptops, its something to seriously consider in case of a LCD screen breaking.

Lastly, and I recommend this for every laptop. Buy a whole disk encryption program, like PGP, Jetico's BestCrypt, or WinMagic MySecureDoc. If your laptop gets stolen, with a good WDE program, its "just" a hardware theft, rather than a hardware, data, and possibly an identity theft.

Alienware Notebooks are awesome.

I'm in the same spot, and I got a Toshiba A205-S4617 (http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/rdet.jsp?poid=368635&seg=HHO)

Highly rated by Consumer Reports and Toms Hardware guide. I have one in front of me right now, good screen (15.4"), good size keys, plenty of USB ports, draft-N wireless (will be handy in the future), plenty fast with plenty of memory (2 gigs), HUGE hard drive. The only down-side is that the battery is only good for a little over two hours, but they do have bigger batteries if thats a problem.

Vista premium, which I'm neither here nor there on.

Gaming is not good at all, but a laptop isn't good for that sort of thing anyways.

Edit: This is probably true for all laptops, but it's mega quiet. No sound at all when the HDD spools down and the fan isn't going. Also, it cost me about $1300 (after taxes).

+1 on the Toshiba Satellite. I've had mine for over two years, and have had virtually no problems with it. I'll likely get another one when I sell this one.

Get the smallest most long-battery-iest one you can afford.

I love that i can take my 12inch Dell everywhere and have it run for 7 hours (all day essentially), meanwhile my friends "Wicked cool" 17 inch laptop sits on their desks...

If you need a big screened powerful computer, buy a desktop.

Macbooks are pretty, but you're paying an awful lot of money for not so great hardware. You could get an equivalent machine for far less than you'd pay for Mac OS and the shiny apple logo.


+1

I would seriously suggest testing out typing on any laptop before you purchase it. Atleast for me there are many laptop keyboards that I really dont like, and I love having the eraser mouse thing (has anyoe else heard of this refered to as a clit mouse?). As you will probably be spending a very large amount of time typing, these considerations are pretty important.

I do recommend refurbished laptops if possible. I have a refurb'ed Sony r505 series thats about 5 years old and still running strong. Found a new (generic) battery on ebay, and thats really all I've done to it. Still advocate the desktop, though, ESPECIALLY if you're getting a macbook.

+1. My hypothesis is that in many cases refurbs are more reliable, being that they have been looked at once more post-production, and any bugs have presumptively been troubleshooted. Plus, refurb is much cheaper and whether or not the plastic housing just came off the assembly line or was previously touched has no bearing on the performance of the computer (used computers don't slow down or run out of memory any faster). Also, can get a killer deal on a Dell Outlet refurb desktop -- technology has advanced so far that the cheapest boxes from 6 months ago are more than fast enough for my computing needs.

Alienware Notebooks are awesome.

Alienware is never "awesome."

Unless you enjoy spending 25% more than you should be spending on hardware.

I run a Macbook Pro. I game on it, comes stock with 2GB ram, a 256MB video card, and a good sized HD (for a notebook). I don't need antivirus or antispamware, and - here's the kicker - it DOESN'T come with Vista.

Anyone that tells you "Vista isn't so bad" only has to wait. When your computer's performance suffers because of your OS, something wasn't completely thought out.

Alienware is never "awesome."

Unless you enjoy spending 25% more than you should be spending on hardware.

If you want gaming rigs, I'd avoid Alienware, and just buy XPS machines from Dell. Even before Alienware became Dell's property they were pretty much on the decline when they exported their support overseas, rather than keep it in house with knowledgeable staff rather than people reading off a script.

Get a Macbook.

If you want gaming rigs, I'd avoid Alienware, and just buy XPS machines from Dell. Even before Alienware became Dell's property they were pretty much on the decline when they exported their support overseas, rather than keep it in house with knowledgeable staff rather than people reading off a script.

XPS???

What is it about those three letters that justifies a $1000-$1500 price increase?

(serious question actually)

I always build up Dells to show people that a comparable Mac is actually cheaper. The "XPS" annotation makes it incredibly easy to sell someone on Apple computers.

When it comes to desktops, just do it yourself, or hell, I'll do it for you for free.

When it comes to desktops, just do it yourself, or hell, I'll do it for you for free.

If you're looking at Windows/Linux machines, this is the way to go.

If you're looking at Windows/Linux machines, this is the way to go.

Indeed.

Just buy a OEM copy of your favourite retail OS, or burn a Live CD of whatever Linux Distro, and build away.

I run a Macbook Pro. I game on it, comes stock with 2GB ram, a 256MB video card, and a good sized HD (for a notebook). I don't need antivirus or antispamware, and - here's the kicker - it DOESN'T come with Vista.

Anyone that tells you "Vista isn't so bad" only has to wait. When your computer's performance suffers because of your OS, something wasn't completely thought out.I'm totally with Cypress on this one. I currently have an iBook that I ues for school and its great.

I would say to either look at the Macbook or a Macbook Pro for college. Also, Apple has a student discount option if you're going to college or ([correct me please Cypress] high school) . If you're interested, if you get the Macbook or Macbook Pro you have a choice of getting an iPod nano with a mail-in rebate.

About Alienware, I had a friend whose logic board fried due to it getting too hot.

I dunno about HS. But yeah about that iPod. A free 4GB nano AND a $50 rebate on printers as well. Not bad for getting up to $200 off just for being a college student.