Investing for the next chapter of my life
 

I'm currently a HS senior, and my dad's like "I'll buy you a laptop for your college-life" and I'm like "let's wait a while, let's buy one in August so we can get the best possible specs for the best possible price" and he's like "k."

So I'm not going to post a link asking you all to tell me if it's a good buy or not. Not yet atleast. I've been kind of out of the computer realm for the past couple of years. I used to be obsessed until I built my dream computer 3 years ago, which I'm still 100% satisfied with and don't plan on upgrading for like a decade. But now I see that I'll need to buy a new computer soon, laptop in particular, and I need advice on it since I've just been so out of it.

I'll be going to school in the city, NYC, and I guess I'd rather invest in a lighter model without too much of a crazy sized screen. But then again, I honestly wouldn't be one of those people who carry their laptops everywhere they go. It'll most likely stay put in my dorm room, and I would probably watch movies on it so I guess that's another factor.

I don't know much about laptops can someone enlighten me on the following:

battery [what kind, how many cells, cell life, etc]
screen size [15.4" seems alright, perhaps wide-screen?]
HDD [i'll be shooting for 7200RPM, 8MB cache, maybe 100GB because I intend to store a lot of music and media on it]
DVD drive/burner [definitely, the drive atleast]
RAM [most likely a gig, not sure how much FSB]
Wireless [not sure on the details of this, I don't really know the diff. between 3945 and the rest]
Processor [atleast a gig, not sure if I'll need more but it'd be nice]
Bluetooth perhaps


Those are just a general idea of what I'll be investing in. I do think of it as an investment because I want to keep that same laptop for...ever? I won't really be overusing it. Well by that, I mean, I won't use it for hxcore gaming or anything. But I just need to be able to use it everyday and I need it to not buckle over various stresses I'll put through it.

I don't know how to build a laptop, so I'd also appreciate some places to buy it. Dell.com comes to mind, but where else could I get a great deal? I'm basically just asking for as much laptop information as possible, thanks.

-Void

Okay.

Battery life will average between 2-4 hours depending on your processor and how many cells it has. Intel's Centrino processor line is power efficient, so they will last a long while. Pentium 4 chips or Athlon 64x chips are a lot more powerful, but they eat up battery life quickly. There are external battery packs and larger batteries to be purchased, but that's more money to spend. The Centrino Duo processor is the best you can get for a laptop since it has dual core capacity and the same power efficiency.

Screen size has an average of 15.4 inches, which is fine. A 17 inch screen is only really useful if you game, watch movies, or want a desktop replacement laptop. It also adds a lot to the total cost.

HDD speed is at an average of 5400 RPM in laptops, so those will be cheaper to get. There are 7200 RPM drives available, but they are still expensive-ish. 5400 drives aren't going to be terribly slow, so it isn't an absolutely necessary item.

Go for a gig of RAM, DDR2 if you can get it. It will benefit you now and later as programs get more and more demanding on your system. Wireless, too, will help so you can get online most anywhere. Bluetooth is iffy unless you want it for a wireless mouse or PDA.

Go to Toshiba's website and play around with the different models so you get an idea as to the rough cost of a laptop you want. Any laptop you customize will be a little more expensive than a pre-built model, so shop around and see if there is one you like. You can sacrifice on RAM and the HDD and upgrade them later if it's necessary.

I'd suggest a 15" MacBook Pro. Sounds perfect for what you want. You can get $200 off the price too since you're a higher education student. It's fast (Intel Core Duo, DDR2 RAM, Radeon X1600), capable (very nice screen, built in WiFi, Bluetooth, iSight, Firewire, DVI-out and plenty of support for the apps you'll need), secure (no need to worry about viruses or malware with OS X), and still slim and portable (only 1 inch thick, and 5.6 pounds). Plus, if you really have to, you can use Boot Camp to use Windows. It's the best of both worlds!

Sorry, I don't mean to be narrow minded but I'd really prefer a PC over a Mac. Not ready to make a jump really, and considering I'll be at college I really need something reliable so I can know it like the back of my hand.

These student discounts? I'd like to know more about them. Are they given from the individual retailers? Manufacturers? How can I milk this college thing out?

Any chance you're going into an engineering, science, or CS field? I know from personal experience you're probably better off getting a PC if you are, I've had a number of classes where we've had to use software that's only made for the PC (and it's somewhat cpu intensive, so I'd rather not have to emulate a PC environment), so you might be safer not going with a mac in that case.

And Mac offers a discount to all students in college, as far as I know you just have to type in which institution you're affiliated with and they'll give you the discount. Likewise, lots of other online retailers offer discounts through a specific 'education' style store (look on Dell's page and they'll have one).

Just a quick point: With the Intel Macs/MacBooks, you don't have to emulate a PC environment. Windows will run natively. You can either dual boot, or run a virtual machine.

Even if their processors are Intel, WTF is up with Macs? First, you won't find nearly as much software as you'd find for the PC; apart from that, one-button mice are a pile of unusable crap, sir. A real mouse has 4 buttons.

Spoken with a true lack of recent experience. OS X has tons of software available, from open source stuff, to high end commercial stuff. Not as much as Windows, but more than enough for almost anyone if they just allow themselves to see that.

The mouse thing, well, I like to have at least two buttons on my mouse as well. Hence their desktops coming with a 2+ button 'Mighty Mouse' these days. On the laptop, while I haven't had much experience with them, it seems the the whole one button issue is much less of a problem since your hand is right next to the ctrl key anyways. Another problem with the 'I need more buttons' argument is that software for OS X, and the OS itself is designed with one button use in mind.

There is nothing worse than someone just running on up to defend Apple.

Except for the person who poorly insulted Apple.

(also, 1995 called, it wants it's argument back.)

I think macs also let you use your own USB mouse nowadays, so if you want to plug in your favorite mouse (4-button is for sissies, mine's got five plus a wheel :cool: ) you can do it.

Personally, my biggest annoyance in using a mac is there's no equivalent of shift+home/end that I know of on a mac. I don't know why, but I use that combo an unbelievable number of times every day and it kills me when I have to type shit up in a mac lab and can't use it.

Wait, what does shift+home/end do on a PC?

It selects from the beginning of the line to your cursor (shift+home,) or from your cursor to the end of the line (shift+end.)

Can we please not turn this into a mac v. PC debate? While I respect both sides of the argument, I'd much rather prefer PC's.

Yes, I am going into a science field, so again, PC's definitely.

What type of processor should I be going for? Speaking of Intel, shoudl I get a Centrino or a Core Duo? How do those things work?

Can someone please explain to me the different types of wireless?

And how many cells of a battery should I get? 9 cell? Etc.

Thanks.

I suggest Core Duo, it's the newest chip from Intel, and is great for laptops. You get better power efficiency, plus it's helpful for multitasking.

Also, a 6-Cell battery is normally sufficient.

Just trying to be informative. ^^

And for the typing issue Ctrl+Shift+left or right should do the trick.

Centrino is *not* a kind of CPU. It's a marketing term for Intel's mobile platform. It can range from a Pentium 4, Pentium M, Celeron, and I pressume Core solo/duo.

Core duo is more or less an evolution of the Pentium M. It has similar performance per clock (Mhz), and the Core duo has dual cores, and therefore performs much better for multitasking and multi-threaded applications. Pentium M and Core duo are ideal for a laptop since they offer good performance without getting as hot/using as much power as a Pentium 4 or Athlon 64. AMD's Turion competes relatively well with the Pentium M, but the Core duo is the only mobile CPU I would consider at the moment.

Different wireless technologies? I don't know a huge amount about it, but 802.11A is mostly only used in businesses and doesn't much matter these days. 802.11B is pretty much what all of them support. 802.11G is considerably faster than 802.11B and is backwards compatible. These days it shouldn't cost any extra to get at 802.11G, and it's more or less standard.

As long as it isn't genetics or biology, I guess PC's are more common. Macs definitely rule the roost in bio fields though.

And yes, to GALM-2, that's because home and end work as they ought on a Mac. They go to the beginning or end of the document (except in MS Word, goddammit Microsoft). Use Cmd+Shift+left or right to accomplish the same thing (Cmd+left or right does the beginning/end of line cursor move, and shift of course is to select).

Ahh, yay, now I finally won't be tearing my hair out with frustration since I won't have to reach for the mouse every time. Speaking of which, is there any way to up the mouse sensitivity even higher than the max setting under the mouse properties? Like, a hidden accelerator setting or something?

(Also, if you're curious about how to do that command on a PC, ctrl-pageup/down will always bring you to the beginning or end of a document.)

Only if you're able to install USBOverdrive, a 3rd party utility that allows for a lot of mouse tweaking. Since it requires an administrator password to install, though, it's probably only an option if you own the Mac in question... which you don't.

So, no.

No, Centrino is based on using a Pentium M chip, you can't use a P4 chip for it. It involves, the chip, an Intel motherboard, and an intel wireless card.


Also, as always, check out Dell if necessary. They'll let you customize to what you need. I'd still say look at Apple seriously though. It's got great equipment, and frankly, OSX will do you wonders. You can use a two button mouse, and frankly, the Macbook Pro's are just way better for moving around as a student.

I'm HS student at boarding school now, and definately wish my computer was substantially lighter so I could move it around. The Macbook would give you what you need. If not though, again, Dell is your best bet. Either that, or look at Acer as well, they tend to be very good.

Actually, some of the lightweight Dells and IBMs are just as portable as some of the Macs I've seen floating around campus. The big thing with PCs is you have to make the decision if you want a portable desktop, or a laptop computer you can actually carry around every day. Choose one or the other, but don't try to split the middle, because then you'll just wind up disappointed.

Thanks for the correction. It seems an official 'Centrino' is available with only a couple of different Pentium Ms or a Core Duo (Centrino Duo). Good to hear.

Best advice possible right here.

If you want desktop performance in your laptop (aka as fast and as capable as your main computer) that is one thing. If you want a truly carry-everywhere-and-type computer, that too is another thing.

Make sure you know which one you want.
1) Light & small & efficient means you can do less.
2) Heavy & large & battery-draining means you can do more.

Pick one.

this is the laptop i have right now http://store.agearnotebooks.com/asusv6jphotos.html ... Like Daywon said you usually need to choose between a portable desktop and a laptop computer, but i feel this laptop gets pretty close to being the bridge between the two.

Heres the stats if you want to see them. http://store.agearnotebooks.com/asusv6jprice.html ... I really like it alot but if i had to do over today, i would probably get a macbook ;)

You guys haven't heard of the Asus W3j apparently.

http://store.agearnotebooks.com/asusw3jprice.html

I recently put my order in.

I've been giving that a lot of thought, and realized that I won't be one of those trendy people carrying their laptops to Starbucks and shit. I'll leave it in my dorm room, and use it everytime I'm in the room... as if it's a desktop. So I'd choose power over portability.

I love how all of the new laptops have wide-screens. My dad has a badass Vaio which I'm really considering. My friend just got a new Dell that looks exactly the same as the Vaio, but I like Sony.

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Those Asuses look badass. But WAY too expensive. Well, it'd probably be cheaper by August. But I'm looking for like $1200 MAX. And again, I'll be buying this in August! What upgrades or revolutions in computer technology can I expect by then? heh.