llLaptop for College

[roguerower]

I recently got accepted toi an engineering university. The specs for the laptop are of the wall. 1GB of ram, DVD/RW, wireless, 64Mb video card at least...Looking to spend less than $3500 for a good laptop thats going to last through college, will let me write term papers while playing HL2 and any other top-notch games that they think of. Centrino or P4 doesn't matter. I absolutely hate Apples (bad experiences as a kid) and AMD's are low on the totem pole. I just would like something that can kick **** but doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Thanks.

 

[imported_Krypto]

http://pctorque.com/9860.php

Sager 9860. Need I say more?

 

[MDE]

The eMachines M68xx series would do the job (as well as the Gateway models replacing them). If you're considering a fireball battery munching P4 you can't not consider AMD.

 

[Commodus]

Krypto, that's probably not a good recommendation - a 13-pound, 2" thick laptop might be fast, but it'll be a pain to carry to and from class and won't have the battery life he might want (or even need). He should probably look at a good Pentium M-based laptop. If he goes Sager, he should get the 3790. It weighs half as much, is half an inch thinner, and is still enough for decent gaming as well as use away from an AC outlet.

Ideally, he'd get a Voodoo PC Envy m:360. I configured one at the website for $3311 US with a 1.8 GHz Pentium M, 1 GB of RAM, a 60 GB 7200 RPM drive (don't worry, it doesn't chew up power), and shipping. The processor can go down to 1.6 GHz (if you want to save money) or up to 2 GHz. You can also get more hard drive space if you want, or the "no stuck pixel" guarantee.

Incidentally, I think that roguerower should take another look at Apple unless "as a kid" means 1-2 years ago. They're not badly built systems, and the OS is better-behaved with mixed-OS environments than it was before.

 

[thuned]

Get a 1k desktop and a 1.5k laptop. Save the rest. You probably do NOT want to carry a 10lb laptop around with you all day. And you know that no laptop is going to be as good as a desktop in terms of speed and upgradability. Upgrade your desktop geforce6 to a geforce9 in two years and you'll get like a 4x speed improvement whereas if you had a laptop with a 6800 right now, you'll be stuck with that for 4 years.

 

[imported_Krypto]

Well, from what I got from his post, it seems like he won't be carrying it from class to class, it sounded to me like it's something he'll leave at his dorm/or whatever and just use there. I do admit that a 12lb laptop is a pain to carry around, but for gaming and being hooked to AC it sounded to me like the best choice, atleast I would buy it just for a desktop replacement if I had the money But there are other lappys out there that would probably better fit his needs.

 

[roguerower]

Yeah thanks Krypto, I am gonna be heaving this thing around, but I need something thats gonna kick *** and take some names. I looked at the Sager and it was nice. The Voodoo also looks nice. Im basing my info on specs for last years laptop, so they might go up. Btw, thuned, i have to have a laptop. I cant get a desktop until junior year. thanks

 

[stingygrrl]

IMO, you're better off spending $1700 now and banking the rest and then in 2 yrs, getting another $1700 one. There's no way that in 2-3 years you're going to want what you blew $3500 on this year....

 

[roguerower]

That makes sense, but the thing is, the only way to get what is required is to spend 3 grand. I dont want to get some piece of **** that wont last a year.

 

[Pandaren]

First order of business is to disregard whatever this engineering university is telling you. Figure out what software you are going to be running and then figure out the hardware you need. Most engineering students I knew never used their notebook for more than writing papers or filling in an excel spreadsheet. If there were programs to compile or simulations to run they were done on the university's workstations.

Second order of business is to forget anything made by Voodoo, Alienware and other boutique manufacturers. You are paying for a nice paint job and that's it. Out-of-this-world prices won't get you extreme performance. If you don't mind the weight, get an eMachines Athlon 64 desktop replacement.

I'd recommend an IBM ThinkPad T42, specifically the 2378-FVU:

Original description: P M 735, 256MB RAM, 40GB 5400rpm HDD, 14.1 SXGA+(1400x1050) TFT LCD, 64MB ATI Radeon 9600, 24x24x24x/8x CD-RW/DVD, Intel 802.11b/g wireless(MPCI), Modem(CDC), 1Gb Ethernet(LOM), UltraNav, Secure Chip, 6 cell Li-Ion battery, WinXP Pro

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/supp...quickPathEntry=2378fvu

The processor and video card will be more than enough to keep Half Life 2 running smoothly. It's got b/g wireless, Gb Ethernet, and XP Pro to boot.

I'd recommend purchasing an upgrade to a 3-year warranty, and bumping up the RAM yourself (easy to do through externally accessable slot on the bottom). Base price is $1749. With extra warranty and RAM should be about 2k. You'll have a light, fast machine, IBM service backing you up, and $1,500 in cash left.

Originally posted by: roguerower
I recently got accepted toi an engineering university. The specs for the laptop are of the wall. 1GB of ram, DVD/RW, wireless, 64Mb video card at least...

 

[hopejr]

Just on what Commodus said, Apples aren't bad machines now days. They used to be crap, and I had bad experiences with them too. But I gave them a second chance and never regretted it.
However, for your purposes, you'd be better off getting a PC notebook. HL2 isn't on mac AFAIK, and you'd most likely be using apps that only come on windows (the engineering teaching staff at my university all use macs in their offices, but in the labs they're all PC's because the software we use only runs in windows). BTW, you're most likely only going to do the stuff that requires heavy duty specs like you were given, on the lab workstations anyway (as Pandaren stated).

 

[Wuzup101]

I'm personally a second year engineering student at a large engineering school (Penn State Univ). I personally use an apple powerbook. However, since you said gaming is a major factor in your decision I can't recomend them to you. They'll run pretty much every other program you'll need... including mathematica, chemdraw, etc... some of the things you might find yourself using. Other than that you'll be running the hardcore programs on the schools workstations (as the others here have pointed out). Anyway, I would have to recomend an IBM T42. They are nice and light, powerful, and well built. A friend of mine just got his a few days ago so I've had a chance to play with it and I have to say I'm impressed. It's probably the only thing I'd consider using myself for a PC notebook. I would say that you should take a second look at the powerbook line... and then just buy an xbox to play games on... then again you probably will find that you won't have time for that anyway

BTW... what form of engineering and what school?

 

[roguerower]

Thanks for all of the replies, this is really helping out. Here's the address of the requirement web page:

http://www.eng.vt.edu/odlc/computing/compreq.shtml

Keep in mind that this is last years requirement.

As for the school, Wuzup, its Virginia Tech, and for now since i'm a freshman it's general engineering, but that'll turn into either Aerospace or Ocean at the beginning of my sophomore year.

I've checked out the IBM T42 and i've liked what I saw. On one model however, I saw that instead of a 9700 or 9600 it had a FireGL T2??? I thought that that card was for workstations and rendering and crap?

 

[Pandaren]

Cool Congrats on getting into VT.

The FireGL T2 is based on the Radeon 9600 core. It's basically the same thing except the drivers are more OpenGL optimized. There may be slight differences in the cores depending on what ATI decided to turn on inside the chip, but there aren't any huge differences.

Originally posted by: roguerower
As for the school, Wuzup, its Virginia Tech, and for now since i'm a freshman it's general engineering, but that'll turn into either Aerospace or Ocean at the beginning of my sophomore year.

I've checked out the IBM T42 and i've liked what I saw. On one model however, I saw that instead of a 9700 or 9600 it had a FireGL T2??? I thought that that card was for workstations and rendering and crap?

 

[roguerower]

Yeah, i'm pretty damn happy. From what I've heard, IBM's are beast when it comes to the mobile rig and it looks like I might go with that. Is there anything HUGE on the horizon that might cause everything to become extinct? A new processor or DX10, or something new? Thanks a lot. Rower

 

[Wuzup101]

Cool man, I'm doing Bio E as of now, probably will be Bio E/Chem E double major before my four years are up. Anyway, you won't be dissapointed with the T42 trust me. Make sure you get the high resolution (14") screan and the fire GL or the 9600. I'm not sure but I believe they do have a model with 128mb of video ram. Don't be concerned with how much ram the machine comes from the factory with. It is probably cheaper to buy a 1gb stick from newegg (230ish for pc3200 from kingmax) than to get that much ram from IBM. I would opt for the 7200rpm 60gb hard drive if you can get it in the model you're looking for, also bluetooth would be handy. One note: 100gb/7200rpm hard drives are right around the corner... and the IBM T42 makes it really easy to swap out hard drives. There is like one screw total... located under the right hand rest... so if you think you'll need the 100gigs, you may consider just buying a drive that will last you until they come out... this might be a good idea b/c I know how much junk I have on this machine because of school and our connection speeds.

 

[NeBaWONG]

http://usa.asus.com/bayarea/w1n.htm

I like this one.

 

[roguerower]

Yeah, thanks for both of your ideas. I've looked at the IBM and its nice as **** but for the ASUS, is there anyway to modify them before their shipped or do they just come standardized and from that you upgrade?

 

[thuned]

Originally posted by: roguerower
Yeah thanks Krypto, I am gonna be heaving this thing around, but I need something thats gonna kick *** and take some names. I looked at the Sager and it was nice. The Voodoo also looks nice. Im basing my info on specs for last years laptop, so they might go up. Btw, thuned, i have to have a laptop. I cant get a desktop until junior year. thanks

I meant to get a laptop AND a desktop. A 1k desktop would easily be more powerful gaming wise than any 3.5k laptop. What do you do with the other 2.5k? Get a laptop for what a laptop is for, portability. If you're like most other engineers, you'll be going in and out of lab doing work, and you probably want to bring your laptop to your project partner's place to work on the project. Not many people would like carrying around a 10lb laptop for that. If you have left over $$$, then you can use it to upgrade your desktop in a year or two, something that's not as easy to do for a laptop.
Like what others have said, 3.5k is A LOT for a laptop. Yet, you're NOT going to be able to play any of the latest games in a year or two. I think even 2 1.75k laptops would be a better option. Get a 1.75k t42 right now. Then get another laptop 2 years from now with 10hrs+ fuel cell battery, centrino2 cpu, ddr2 sdram, geforce8 gpu, etc.

 

[roguerower]

Yeah, thanks thuned. I found an IBM that costs a hell of a lot less. 2.2K for an IBM with everything I need. Lets just hope that it stays that way. I hear what you're saying about the desktop. My current desktop has an ATI x800Pro, 1Gb of ram, and a 3.0 Ghz P4. I love it but i think it might be a little hard to lug it to each and every class

 

[roguerower]

BTW, is there that much a difference between a 5400 rpm hard drive and a 7200 rpm?

 

[stateofbeasley]

Did you get accepted to VT for Fall '05? If you can wait a couple months, there's a new Intel mobile platform coming out January 19th. Do a google search for 'Intel Sonoma' for some news articles. Bascially Centrino will get PCI Express, SATA, and some more power saving features.

I heard IBM will release a T43 based on this (looks just like T42 but with the new parts).

7200 RPM should be faster than 5400 RPM if you are doing HDD intensive tasks.

 

[roguerower]

Yeah, I got accepted for Fall '05. Well, if thats right, it looks like that will definitely be worth the wait. Thanks a lot.

 

[Commodus]

If the amount of space is important, it's better to get a larger 5400 RPM drive. You can get more RAM to help compensate for this (as it reduces the amount of disk access).

And BTW, if you're going to Virginia Tech, wouldn't a PowerBook or iBook be the most appropriate? After all, there's over 1100 Xserve G5s in a cluster there.

 

[Wuzup101]

mmm... some day I want to own 1100 Xserve G5s... and make my own cluster. However, I have no clue what I'd use them for. Kick ass MP3 server anyone?