Laptops?

[AcemanPB]

I've been looking at purchasing a laptop for college and realized I really don't know what I'm looking at. Can anyone point me in the right direction as far as what to look for. I want a decent machine that could handle school work and some gaming (mostly school work and music). I'm not sure how the power to weight ratio becomes once you get into the more powerful laptops. I went to bestbuy to see what they had in stock but was fed the typical marketing BS from the employes and didn't learn much. I'll probably have 1500-2200 to spend, will that get me a decent machine?

[Vex]

That amount will get you a decent machine. I bought a Dell Inspiron 1150 for my wife. It's the second lowest model, but I got it decently loaded. It's got a 15" display, 2.6GHz Celeron, 512 RAM, 40GB HDD, dual-layered 8x DVD+R/RW. It's a great machine for her (she teaches 9th grade English) I kind of added the extra stuff just because
Anyway, I also got it with a 4 year warranty (bought 3, got one free) for just under $1450.00
I compared at the time and I couldn't pass it up. You can get cheaper laptops, but with everything that I got, I couldn't find ANYTHING cheaper than Dell.

Just something to chew on...

[felony]

I'll have to suggest Sager laptops. They are right up there with alienwares.

They are great laptops, and powerfull for a good price. They come ready to roll, and dont have alot of that BS that comes with other computers.

If you game, and need a laptop, get one.

pctorque.com are the sellers

sagerforums.com is a good place to get info.

dan

[SeeK]

I would suggest you seriously look at getting a desktop with a flat panel. You'll get more machine for less money.

The laptop downside in a college environment is that it is easier to steal and break.

Do you really need the portability?

Does your school have a Wi-Fi campus network? That would mean that you could work outside?

Check if your school has discounts from their computer vendor then double check the pricing on the vendor's web site. Contract prices are usually only set once a year but Dell updates pricing monthly (usually downward).

[magman007]

if you really want a laptop, go toshiba... honestly they hav enever let me fail. try searching for a thread on laptops that appeared here not too long ago, it had alot of good information.

what will this laptop be used for?

school?

business?

if it is for school, i would highly reccomend my current choice, the toshiba portege tablet PC

it converts into a writable tablet, i take all of my notes on it, it is convienient, fast, and great on battery.

[PRPB]

http://www.pro-star.com/index.cfm?mainpage=productdetail&model=4754

http://www.pro-star.com/index.cfm?mainpage=productdetail&model=4764

I'd recommand the Prostar 4754 or 4764. They are made my alienware or they make alienware. Don't remember, but it's one of those. Plus they do cost less. Just take note to the pictures below.


Prostar


Alienware

[SpecialBlend2786]

actually, someone asked this a few weeks ago i think, do a search and you can get a wealth of information. Good luck!

BTW, I recomend Toshiba's laptops.

[Bushmaster2k4]

I work in the IT depart at my college campus and personally I would not suggest any of the brands people have mentioned, i personally have had about 300 dell laptops brought into me with varying problems (hard drive fried, bad ram, bad mobo ect....) I personally bought an Emachine from bestbuy. model 6811. has 512 ddr ram, 80 gig hard drive, dvd rw/ cd rw, ati 9600 mobility only a 64mb but you can get 128 for the extra cash, and it has the AMD 64 processor which runs at 2.2 ghz. I've never had any problems with my laptop. Cash wise it was 1500, can run games like half life 2 on default settings which ain't bad at all. just something to consider.

*EDIT*
if you don't need portability then definitely get a desktop with a 17inch LCD monitor. for similar money you could get:

120 gig hard drive
ati x800 video card 256 mb
1 gig pci 3200 ddr ram
an AMD 64, or pentium 4 with HT
52x cd/dvd rom

basically a kick *** desktop for same price or less if you order the parts and can put it together yourself.

[kauai_paintball]

Asus.
Totally secure, more virus protection than you can shake a stick at, pentium 4 HyperThreading, Radeon 9800 Pro, and a huge screen and nice speakers for $1700. Cant beat that. Period. I love mine.

[felony]

http://www.pro-star.com/index.cfm?ma...ail&model=4754

http://www.pro-star.com/index.cfm?mainpage=productdetail&model=4764

I'd recommand the Prostar 4754 or 4764. They are made my alienware or they make alienware. Don't remember, but it's one of those. Plus they do cost less. Just take note to the pictures below.


Prostar


Alienware

neither make one or the other.

Alienware gets their cases from a manufacturer, Clevo. Or at least that who has supplied them in the past. Clevo makes cases and the standard internal parts and companies like sager, alienware and apparently prostar get.

[fire1811]

There are tons of great laptops out there that are good for gaming and school work.(in that order)

IMO I would not buy a laptop with less the 512mb of ram and if you want to play any games besides solitare make sure it has a graphics card. Dont buy the intergrated graphics crap.

[Bushmaster2k4]

Asus.
Totally secure, more virus protection than you can shake a stick at, pentium 4 HyperThreading, Radeon 9800 Pro, and a huge screen and nice speakers for $1700. Cant beat that. Period. I love mine.

you paid 1700 for that??? thats gotta sting. you got ripped off pretty hardcore bro. i could build that same machine for like 1k

[PRPB]

neither make one or the other.

Alienware gets their cases from a manufacturer, Clevo. Or at least that who has supplied them in the past. Clevo makes cases and the standard internal parts and companies like sager, alienware and apparently prostar get.

I have had a several people tell that one of them owns the other. I don't really know nor can I confrim it all I know is that Prostar makes some good laptops. I've been wanting one for some time now, but untill my compaq gives in I can't.

Also with that said I would stay away for compaq. I have had soooooooooooooooooooooooo many problems with mine it's not even funny.

[felony]

you paid 1700 for that??? thats gotta sting. you got ripped off pretty hardcore bro. i could build that same machine for like 1k

unless that includes logitech or kilpsch 5.1 speakers circa 400 and some grado 125 headphones for about 150.. 1700 seems right then

else, yeah thats high

[maxama10]

Dont forget to consider Apple ... bulit in wi fi and bluetooth on all powerbooks avoid most viruses and spyware .... powerbooks are also quite tough laptops
seriously worth checking out... and also theres a student discount available

Id say get a power book or go with dell, toshiba, or an IBM think pad i have a very old one and it works great considering the age and specs of it