Best Laptop for College?

[dYn4mic]

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?

I have a T41 and its amazing. I recommend a thinkpad, T series if you want portability, plus power... its a good balence...
the X41 cool because its small and ultra light, but thats about it. It doesn't have a CDROM, and the video is intel 8xx. Unless you want something ultra small, don't go with the X series.
(but im not sure about an X41 tablet..) I don't really see the benifits of the tablet laptop. Esp because im not going to be running windows, and i don't really use linux for drawing on tablet PCs...

[AlexCV]

I've had a number of laptops. Dell, Toshiba, IBM, Apple.

If I had to buy a laptop for college, I'd get a powerbook because I love OS X. Nothing else gives me the perfect balance of software between the huge majority of the Unix stuff I like (do install the X11 server) and practical things like MS Office (don't have to like it) without worrying about virus/spyware/getting hacked too much.

For PCs, Thinkpad, all the way. I had an X20 when they first came out. (celeron 500/128/10GB/800x600) and the thing just wouldn't die. It was light too. Didn't scuff easily. I sold it almost 2 years ago to a friend and he's still using it daily to code. One of the battery no longer works (but it was 4 years old) but otherwise it's fine. Plus I got it without network built-in and dropped in a Xircom miniPCI (IBM OEM Part) with a full Intel EtherExpress Pro on it. The same chip as my server. Sweet laptop.

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!

I hear there's an active fetish scene however...

[astcell]

Dell has a $750 coupon for online purchases over $1500 on laptops, pretty nice right now...

[AlexCV]

Dell has a $750 coupon for online purchases over $1500 on laptops, pretty nice right now...

Now, if Dell laptops didn't fall apart on sight, were more stylish and had decent linux/bsd support, it might be a good deal. Or has Dell improved incredibly since a few years ago? Their line up seemed to center around Dekstop Replacements.

[TheCotMan]

Now, if Dell laptops didn't fall apart on sight, were more stylish and had decent linux/bsd support, it might be a good deal. Or has Dell improved incredibly since a few years ago? Their line up seemed to center around Dekstop Replacements.

Their home line of desktops and laptops is not very good. Their business line for desktops and laptops seem to be more durable. I have a brick, otherwise known as a Dell Latitude, and even though I am not kind to it, nothing is broken. Big, and heavy, but quite durable.

[Deviant Ollam]

Dell has a $750 coupon for online purchases over $1500 on laptops, pretty nice right now...

While some of their deals are pretty outstanding right now, i have to say that Dell has really fallen from my favor. (this, however, is for socio-political reasons and not just technical ones) Once upon a time, they were #1 in basically every category. They had quality hardware, stunning performance, etc. A Dell Inspiron 7000 was the first laptop i bought for myself after using family and/or company machines in the past. It was after having the Inspiron for about a year that i realized how the company didn't suit me much. The laptop wasn't my main computer (i had a server in the corner and a couple workstations scattered around the house for people to use, myself included) and i really only used it on the road. (Where i took it less and less frequently due to it's ridiculous size and weight)

Also, with respect to desktop/tower computers... Dell (simply due to their industry size and clout) was among the first vendor i can think of (perhaps maybe Compaq) who charged feverishly ahead into the domain of exclusivity... effectively, their machines became less suited to hobbyists and tinkerers such as myself and many of us in this community. Besides the trivial yet relevant argument that every new model design of their cases has become increasingly hard just to goddamn get open in order to move hardware around, their systems often lock-in users with proprietary technologies for which upgrades or replacements can't be purchased at the local PC shop. (back when i was younger all i ever had to deal with was the headache of Compaq RAM, now one of my biggest clients is a school with a whole storage room full of aged, semi-working Dell systems and it's a bitch to cobble together fully-functional computers since the Dells reject power supplies and other generic parts from local vendors.)

I won't even get into the whole argument about how (i believe) Dell led the charge with exclusivity and licensing agreements that force people to have Intel CPUs, ban people from ordering no-O/S systems, and generally stifle, rather than encourage, flexiblity and innovation.

Dells are still pretty rockin' machines, but they are suited (in my opinion) for stay-at-home parents who eBay all day, grandmothers searching for recipies on interweb via AOL, an other wildly non-technical people who go to pieces at the slightest malfunction and need professionals to swoop down from on high and save the day. geez... this post about computer brands seems to have turned into a rant about market forces beyond most of our control... but my $0.02 is ignore Dells and the humongous, powerhouse brands, man.

Go for the absolutely smallest and most portable system that can just about do everything you want. I finally made the leap away from big laptops with my most recent purchase (a replacement for a stolen heavy machine with a huge screen) and got a Fujitsu Lifebook P Series because it was the absolute smallest thing i could find that still included an optical drive. if there's anything that your tiny laptop can't do, trust me... unless you travel to the Congo to study exotic species of plants, you'll be around other computers that can handle the misc. extra large projects.

Go with one of the smaller IBMs or Toshibas if you want more reliability than my Fuji, but stay away from the big-name companies who have made it very clear that their mission is to provide the most overblown systems in the world to people with no earthly need for them.

[TheCotMan]

While some of their deals are pretty outstanding right now...

At work, someone bypassed our normal procedure for criteria and requirements for new computers, and bought Dimension seried Dells under their home line. They sucked. Hard to open, hard to get parts, and bad hardware.

Dell OptiPlex (and similar replacements) for business have always been easy to open and upgrade (at least all of the models we ordered over an 8 year period)-- so easy, that when the cases were not locked, we had CPU and RAM stolen from several systems when we moved to a new building. We also use a number of their rack mountable systems in our server room which have been fairly easy to open up and get inside (though IBM has some rack mounted units that are oh-so-sexy when it comes to opening them up to upgrade or replace parts.)

In the past 9 years, I've never found a Dell Home system that I liked. However, their business lines seems to still do well for us with quality and support.

[Deviant Ollam]

Dell OptiPlex (and similar replacements) for business have always been easy to open and upgrade

yes, that school where i work also sometimes gets old optiplex towers from DoD surplus* and i adore them. it's hillarious, though, how many faculty complain when they get a tough, beige optiplex system because they "don't look as good" as the black home-user systems that random individuals have donated to the school over the years. invariably i spend more time behind my office door cursing these home systems (and craptacular printers that people gave to the school) than anything else.

* FOOTNOTE - you'd be surprised (well, not that surprised) at how many of them are not wiped before coming to us eventhough they have stickers on them saying that they are. i always wipe them clean when i see them, since there's no real chance of anything interesting being left behind on them... but it still makes me wonder how many hard drives leave the military labs with sensitive data on them. perhaps they're more dilligent with C2 systems.

[Adrenaline]

I came across this and figured I'd throw in my vote for a thinkpad. I've always loved them, I currently use a T41, and before that a 600E, they are awesome, built like tanks as far as toughness goes, but quite lightweight. very awesome for the price, and some of the best supported hardware for most any OS out there. The only other thing I'd maybe try other than a thinkpad if I had more money to drop on a laptop is maybe a Panasonic Toughbook or a commercial grade laptop from some of the places in the us that sell them.

[theCount]

I've been using a Toshiba 2140XCDS for the past few years at uni ... Not pretty, not particularly light, but yet sturdy enough to just chuck in my daysack along with assorted shite, get knocked about, even dropped a few times (the bag with the laptop inside, that is). Therefore, I'll concur with the Toshiba suggestions.

Having said that, I'd love a Thinkpad T-series.

[astcell]

One nice thing about the Dell is that it has a 4 year warranty with 24/7 coverage. As long as you can scrape together the pieces it will be replaced by the next day. I got it for a college kid, and immediately had three more takers.

[FunkyChicken]

at uni i have the wicked option, BUY 2!!!!

i have a p4 3.2GHz 512MB laptop for use as my desktop replacement, and i also have the Sharp mm10 ultraportable (as EvilMoFo) mentioned earlier.

this may be your better option, if u look around it is possible to get two medium quality laptops for the price of one fantastic one.

thus, i choose to have 2 laptops, one for a desktop replacement, and one for keeping in my bag.

P.s. the Sharp Actius mm10 runs SuSE 9.3 mint, everything works fine out-of-the-box

P.p.s, im still pissed so sorry for any typos

[geekgurl]

not that my .02 matters but what the hell

I also have to give a vote to IBM. I use a T40 now and love it. It handles dual booting just fine and all the hardware is supported under nix. I've used just about every thinkpad starting with the 500 series. I used to like Compaq when they still made the Armada line. The new Evo line just feels like a toy.

In response to the Panasonic Toughbooks. We ordered a couple of them to try out. My first impression of them was that they feel very cheap. So far I have had complaints about the touch pad on them being very sensitve and I have had 1 cracked display. They are about the same price as the T40/41's so I really wouldn't recommend the Toughbooks over the Thinkpads.

Now for pure geekness - weight be damned; check out the Itronix GoBook III. That is a very nice piece of hardware. Backlit keyboard, touchscreen, rf connector, steering wheel handle and on and on. Weighs in at a whopping 9.5 lbs but worth every bit.

[mattrix]

Laptop

I just graduated. I have been using an IBM T42 Think Pad.

After lugging around an A21 Think Pad I decided to go for lighter weight.

I know that most of you know that Lenovo bought them out and I have since deployed several Think Pads after the buy out. They are still really solid and it seems that they are much cheaper.

I like the weight / battery life / compatibility with linux factors on this notebook.

My laptop goes everywhere with me and has traveled around the world. I have had Think Pads since the 550e model and have not changed vendors.

-mattrix

[<<InFeRno>>]

well why you don get an AVERATECH they are cheap and cool loking :P also tehy have everithing you need for college :P

(sorry for my bad english)