Best Laptop for College?

[goodtimeshaxor]

Hello,

I'm am heading off to Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, this upcoming Fall Semester and wanted to know which laptop was best for, well, college.

I am mainly interested in Sony VAIO's but don't know wether to go heavy, powerful, and short battery life or light, weak, and long life. I was mainly looking at the PCG-K37 model which is really powerful. P4M 3.2, 1 gig RAM, Dual Layer DVD burner, XBrite LCD, etc.

Macs also came to mind when I considered which laptop to purchase. Price doesn't really matter because I can get laptops for cheaper than retail but let's keep the retail under $3,000.00.

Right now I play a lot of games such as Counter-Strike: Source, Lineage II: The Rise of Darkness, and Battlefield 2. I don't think I want to be playing computer games in college but I'm letting you know my daily activities as of today. I own a 30G 3rd Gen. iPod and use it frequently. I need a laptop that has the capability of holding 7,500+ mp3s and run programs smoothly (A.K.A. Good RAM).

I don't know if I will be using the laptop in the classroom very often or if I will take it around with me. Is the 8.5 pounds a lot? Is getting a 4.0 pound or less laptop better? Should it be powerful or just enough to get me by (~1.8 Processor). I also want to bring the subject of noise, heat, and bulkiness into light. I don't want a scorching hot CPU burning my leg, a noisy fan waking my room-mate up during the night, or have to buy a bigger bag to fit my laptop.

In conclusion, here are the things to consider - Size, heat, performance, portability, security, battery life, usage, and lastly price.

(Please, only experienced and knowledgeable experts should respond. Preferably those who have experience with many laptops and currently attend or have attended a large university in the United States, although I'm sure everyone here is experienced and knows what he or she is talking about ^^)

[EvilMoFo]

not the best first post but surely not the worst....
you should have searched the forums, i can not count the times laptop advice has been seeked
requesting the type of person to respond is not the best way to go here


8.5lb will start to break your back.... the less weight, the better, if you plan on taking it anywhere

the sharp mm series (i have the mm10) is one of the best for size, weight, portability, and battery life... dreadful for gaming and far from king on performance

edit: thought i should point out that the mm series is 2.2lb.... not much comes close and only the oqo does much better

[WChurchill]

If you go with a high performance, desktop replacement notebook, I hope you are in top physical shape, cause walking around with a laptop like that is grueling - like the Iron man competition...without the prize money.

with laptops you either get high performance and poor portability, or you get low performance with great portability. I personally go for the middleground, you know, a little performance, a little weight and it works. I'm cheap so I went with the compaq V2311 it's about 5.2lbs and of course, it's no gaming machine, but it get's the job done (wordprocessing, music, movies).

[pr0zac0x2a]

Speaking as a current college student:
You want a moderately light laptop, because even if you don't take it to all your classes (which I recommend you do not do, paper+pencil > laptop in class in my opinion) you WILL be carrying it all over the place. I wouldn't go for an ultraportable just because you need some functionality, but don't get an 8 lb behemoth. You'll probably regret it just like I did.

Secondly, you want a Thinkpad. No, really. IBM Thinkpad. Rugged, good warranty and quality of build. Yes they are worth the extra $200. If I were doing it over again, I'd probably buy a Thinkpad T-series with a 14.1" LCD or a X-series something or another.

[goodtimeshaxor]

Hmm..Interesting opinions

Ya, I've heard from a lot of people that taking laptops to class isn't the best idea. I learn better when I just sit and listen instead of taking notes but thats not an option. I think somewhere in the middle is good. I don't know about IBMs though, two of my friends have them, they say they are good but take a while to load up. Maybe I should give them a visit and check their laptops out. (They look ugly in my opinion or at least the models I've seen are ^^)

I think we have settled the major quetion of bulk and performance. The answer is somewhere in the middle. So around 5-6 pounds with what ever they can fit in the case.

Now we move to the question of which brand. I seriously want to purchase a sony vaio because they are.. well beautiful and my secondary desktop is a VAIO. Anyone know what brand / model I should look into?

[nak]

I really like the ways the IBMs look, thats what first attracted me to them. They are also pretty sturdy from what I have heard. I am also going to college, I've been looking at this for about 2 months (its hard for me to spend that much ):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834146083

Seems like a pretty good deal, might just go with a lower end model... just have to keep evaluating.

For now I am just using a gateway solo that I bought for $180. (and my desktop)
Good Luck to you.

[highwizard]

Hello,

I'm am heading off to Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania,

Make sure your computer has a lot of games on it cause you got screwed dude.

Pitt sucks.. there's very little to do in pitt. Have fun!

[ck3k]

get ibm, hands down, even if it is a little more expensive it is worth it.

or if your not so willing to shell out the bucks, go with toshiba which usually makes a good lowpriced laptop.

also new tech from amd is just coming out the new turion64 the first laptops with it where starting to be seen in stores the other week. Sadly ibm doesn't do the amd thing, but if they did it would rock. Laptops go with the centrino/turion processor, all others like the p4 get way way to hot on your lap.

[AlxRogan]

Just have to throw Dell out there, been using them for years, and with the Complete Care option, you can do anything you damn want to with it, and they'll replace it.

[highwizard]

Get an apple... Ask Roamer, he's like their biggest fanboy.

But seriously, I'd throw in toshiba's. They're built tough.

[goodtimeshaxor]

Make sure your computer has a lot of games on it cause you got screwed dude.

Pitt sucks.. there's very little to do in pitt. Have fun!

Haha. I've heard that many times already but I'm going to try to not play games in college. I've had my share of gaming... for the past 18 years lol.
and.. since I'm the most dead sexy man going to CMU I won't have problems with the ladies ;)



On more appropriate conversation, If you post a specific laptop please explain why that laptop is your top pick and maybe a quick link to a page listing specs.
heat? performance? weight? bus speed ^^ etc

[highwizard]

Haha. I've heard that many times already but I'm going to try to not play games in college. I've had my share of gaming... for the past 18 years lol.
and.. since I'm the most dead sexy man going to CMU I won't have problems with the ladies ;)

Ah.. Another Closet case! Don't worry, your "confusion" will end sometime in college.

On more appropriate conversation, If you post a specific laptop please explain why that laptop is your top pick and maybe a quick link to a page listing specs.
heat? performance? weight? bus speed ^^ etc

You get what we give.

[pr0zac0x2a]

I'm going to disagree with everyone who recommended Toshiba. I've got a Satellite 6100 right now (three years old) and the thing is a piece of junk. Three year warranty is the only reason the thing has made it this far without dying horribly. I regret not getting a Thinkpad greatly. They look great too, sleek matte black. The hinges on Thinkpads are amazing also. Opening one up is a small sexual experience for me.

-zac

[highwizard]

Opening one up is a small sexual experience for me.

-zac

That's the problem right there.. Toshiba's are only meant for people who have sex regularly. It's in the EULA.

[goodtimeshaxor]

Okay, so I tested out my friends IBM Thinkpad, it looks better in person than in the pictures online. I think I'll get the thinkpad but I am also looking into a Tablet. IBM's X41 Tablet looks great. What do you think? Will I get a lot of use out of a tablet laptop?

Oh.. The tablet doesn't come with an optical drive (CD / DVD).