I am considering getting a laptop computer for graduate school, and this is probably a good time to be a consumer. This is not a computer for gaming, but if it could play older games and even WoW I certainly wouldn't complain. The biggest use it will get is for writing, research, presentations, and some graphics. But I've been out of the computer business for a long time now and I don't know what the best brands/models are these days. A comfortable keyboard, nice display, and lower weight are priorities. I'm looking at spending around $1000, maybe up to $1500 if it's worth it. Any suggestions would be appreciated from those of you who buy them, support them, and use them. Thanks!
questions i would ask: any of these require resources beyond the office style programs? how much off the wire time are you looking for (battery life)? how mobile will this time be? when i was working in college, i had a macbook mobile workcenter that worked well with 3-4 hours of battery and relatively light weight too, but if i were going to be gone less, one of the "netbooks" that only weigh a pound would have been nice. so, how light is light for you? i believe toshiba, apple, acer all have ultra light weights i think
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellst...en&s=dhs&cs=19&kc=features~studio_great_deals 8 bills for a 17" laptop that has plenty of hard drive space, RAM, and wifi.
If you want lower weight, completely disregard the above and everything 15" and above. Your shoulder will thank you.
its not that bad...unless your a pansy. I have a gaming laptop 17" and its heavy after a long travel, but its a gaming computer. Regular ones shouldn't be anywhere enar as heavy.
QFT a 17" inch laptop weighs nothing. I have a 17" HP laptop that plays anything that is out right now and has for the last 8 months. BLu ray and whatnot and i'm really happy with it. Paid 1600 after taxes and similar can be had for less now. At 15" you can get everything you're looking for i think. They arent heavy yet they can pack alot into them and you can get good battery life out of them. I'm a big fan of HP laptops. They make a solid laptop with good parts. I think dells are pretty nice also but havent ever had hands on time with one. A friend hates his but it's also 5 years old.......... so i take it with a grain of salt. Another thing I found about battery life in higher education is that most schools have power outlets everywhere to plug into. They know a lot of students have laptops now and cater to them. I'm not sure about other laptop makers but with the HP 15" laptops you can buy a larger battery for them. They come stock 8-cell i believe and can upgrade to 12-cell. I know one i bought previous to this one came stock 12-cell. Def. stay away from the AMD processors. What are you going to school for?
I work with laptops, and laptop circuit boards. AMD-based laptops have the highest failure rate, by far . I'd also agree with EF2 that you should avoid anything over 15". I used to carry a 17" HP notebook to and from work, and it was killing me. Now if you add all those heavy textbooks on top, you'll have an even harder time than I did. I use a 12" Sony laptop now, but I find the display to be a bit too small after having used it for a while. So I recommend getting an intel-based 14.1" laptop with long battery life. As far as brands go, I usually avoid Acer/Gateway/eMachines and Toshiba (although Toshiba makes decent laptops, they're heavy/bulky as fuck and known to overheat). Sony, Dell, and HP make more decent products. Of the three, HPs have higher failure rates and poorest build quality, but the best support. HP is also the cheapest in terms of price. Sony has the worst support (they don't give a shit about you), but a decent product. Dell is one of my favourites. They offer a pretty good on-site extended warranty that I recommend, if you got the cash for it. Their products have a nice design and good build quality. Again, keep battery life in mind. (protip: don't attach the battery when your laptop is plugged in.. you kill its lifespan faster). Netbooks should be avoided. The keyboards are too small and simply won't do for constant typing of documents. Display is way too small, especially for graphics.
I have 2 Sony Vaio's. A bit more expensive, but they look fucking sweet and are very reliable. Also, compared to other notebooks, like this Dell I am using now...has a MUCH easier typing interface. IBM makes some good ones as well, but they are buisness notebooks and will cost a pretty penny. On the plus side they offer thumbprint protection...and it actually seems to work...my Uncle works for IBM in maintenence for large cooperations such as Holiday Inn, etc.
i was looking at this so i figure you should too http://origin.wired.com/reviews/product/msi_GX630 not that i can afford 800 right now haha
sagernotebook.com awesome laptops, asian support. What more can you ask for? really. Had one that I gamed with for 3 years.
I own 2 Toshiba's and my current gaming laptop is a Gateway. Never had a problem with any of them.....i have a few dead pixels in my first Toshiba 15.4''...which is 4 years old now. Sony = very expensive for what you get: you pay for the name. HP = good laptop, as long as you dont mind the power jack and other hardware failures (4 of my friends and my gf have all had terrible problems with things breaking on their HP laptops: powerjacks, DVD drives, graphics adapters die, ect.) Dell = decent laptop, but again...you pay a bit more.....not as much as Sony...but, still more expensive.