llLaptop for College

[wisdomtooth]

to the OP:

You might also want to check with your school to see if they have any student discounts.

Back in May just before I graduated, I scored a then-$2000 IBM ThinkPad T41 for $1600 through a student discount, plus free legit copies of apps like Adobe Photoshop, Windows XP, Office XP, etc. because the school has a volume license. Definitely take advantage of those if you can.

HTH!

 

[b3b0p]

Although, not as luxurious, thin, and light as a Thinkpad (had one and loved it!) I would recommend looking at a dell. I got a Dell 8600 fully loaded and I love it! Not too heavy at all imo. Was ALOT cheaper then equivalent Thinkpad and I like the screen better too (WUXGA is really nice especially for programming). I got the 3 yr + Complete Care for around only $220 extra. My total with warranty was around $1300. Totally worth it, especially if carrying it around campus alot. Also consider getting a decent backpack (makes laptop feel like nothing almost) to carry it in. I got a Targus Sport (regular, not deluxe). And it is pretty darn nice. Not too big. Not too small. very comfortable and well padded.

Good luck choosing your new computer. Let us know what you get.

 

[roguerower]

Yeah, I hear what you're saying about the Macs and the G5s, its a sweet setup. But I like PC games way too much and I dont want to buy them all over again. That and I just dont like Macs for some strange reason, I would rather have a PC. Wisdomtooth, I know my school has connections, so Ill try those first, and as for the apps, the engineering college requires that you purchase some software bundle from them. Its $1500 worth of software for $400. As of right now, Im just fishing around, trying to get people's opinions and ideas. I probably wont buy the damn thing until May. Until then I have to do with my Dell P3 laptop, and Custom P4. I love my video card (X800 Pro)

 

[ssvegeta1010]

I also recommend a Dell Inspiron 8600 or a Dell Latitude (Business) Notebook.

You can get a 8600 with a 2.0 P-M, a WUXGA 15.4" Widescreen, 1 GB of RAM, a 60 GB 7200 RPM HD, 8X DVD Burner, 128 MB Radeon 9600, XP Pro, Spare Battery, Intel b/g wireless card, and year warranty w/ CompleteCare for $2,938. (You could save on the RAM by getting it from crucial.com for $60 less)

It is very expensive. but its all you asked for and more.

 

[b3b0p]

Originally posted by: ssvegeta1010
I also recommend a Dell Inspiron 8600 or a Dell Latitude (Business) Notebook.

You can get a 8600 with a 2.0 P-M, a WUXGA 15.4" Widescreen, 1 GB of RAM, a 60 GB 7200 RPM HD, 8X DVD Burner, 128 MB Radeon 9600, XP Pro, Spare Battery, Intel b/g wireless card, and year warranty w/ CompleteCare for $2,938. (You could save on the RAM by getting it from crucial.com for $60 less)

It is very expensive. but its all you asked for and more.

This is almost my exact system, but I got 1.7 P-M and 512 Ram and 30 GB HD (figured I could get a better one from Newegg cheaper). But my cost with 3 yr complete care was just over $1300.

 

[Looney]

You want something light to carry around to classes, but be able to game as well? Sorry, but nothing like that will last you 3 years. The Sager 9860 with the 6800Go would be a good bet, but you said it was too heavy. I would do what stingygrrl said, get a cheaper notebook now, and bank the rest of the money, then in 2 years get another. You can get the Acer Ferrari for about $2k now, and it has a MR9700, which is good enough for current games, and should last you a year or two, and it's quite light. Somebody here has it at work, and he carries it everywhere he goes just fine.

Or even better, spend $1500 on a notebook for portability, and then $1500 on a SFF PC with a 17" LCD (heck you have a good GPU already, so you can probably transfer your current rig into SFF for not much more). The PC is mobile enough that you can carry it from room to room when you move without needing a van, and you'll have a decent system to game with. If you really want a notebook because you think you'll be gaming in the student center or library for breaks, get rid of that fantasy, and i think you'll have better choices.

 

[EnDaRi]

Im kinda in the same boat as you roguerower. I recently got accepted into the school of Engineering at a University, and am looking for a notebook. Now, I don't mind carrying around 6 pounds on me while in college, mainly because I only want a notebook and don't wanna lug around my desktop, which I'll leave at my parents place. I decided i need a laptop with long battery life, a laptop that can play half life 2 and any other top of the line games, a laptop to write papers, a laptop that won't slow down, and a laptop under $2000. I found several perfect laptops that meet my descriptions. The specs are:

1.7 ghz dothan centrino (equivelent to p4 3.0-3.4 ghz) (5+ hours battery life)
ATI radeon 9700 pro 128 mb (m11)
1024 mb of either pc2700 or pc3200 ram
Hitachi 60 gb 7200 rpm hard drive
CD-rw/dvd combo drive

The cheapest I've found was under $1900.

But since I am not going to buy the laptop until the summer before the first term fall of '05, I decided to wait for the new Centrino 2 Sonoma chipset to come out hoping for an even better prcesser. And maybe hoping for the 9800 pro mobility to go down in price as a standard instead of the 9600 or 9700

 

[Wuzup101]

One question? Where is your current rig going? Wouldn't it be more economical to buy something that has a good deal of kick as a laptop but isn't designed to be a great gaming machine (T42). You'd probably save yourself some money if you kept your current rig for gaming and just bought a nice reasonable laptop. After going through 3 semesters at Penn State I can tell you that you won't have much time to play video games anyway if you want to stay on top of things. And you'll probably be playing them all in your room anyway, so the desktop wouldn't be a problem.

 

[imverygifted]

if you have 3500 for college computing id definitely get 2 computers, spend 2000 on a good laptop make sure its under 5 pounds and battery lasts at least 4 hours- i own the asus m5n it is a fantastic laptop its about 4 pounds with the extrended battery and lasts 6 hours. then with your leftover 1500 you can build a kick ass desktop for gaming. thats the best solution in my opinion

 

[roguerower]

Thanks for the replies, I've been in jolly old England with relatives over Christmas and haven't had access to a computer in over a week. I'm not looking for something that will beat out a good desktop, just something that can hold its own without burning up. I was reading about the new Sonoma chip coming out. Anybody here know when that's "officially" being released. I know they have something like them out now w/ the 2mb cache, but I haven't seen a 533 FSB. I've been looking at IBM's T42 and it looks like a sweet rig witha relatively good reputation. I think I asked this a while ago, but would a FireGL T2 be worth anything in games? Thanks a lot. BTW, does the Fingerprint scanner IBM uses actually work. I saw it and said "Holy ****." Be nice to get rid of all the passwords.

 

[Twsmit]

As a college student my self, and a big gamer, I will tell you..... you do not want a desktop replacement if you plan on using this for portability or moving class to class.

I have a very light desktop replacement, it is borderline a normal laptop... the Dell Inspiron 8600, Pentium M, and I will tell you its a pain in the arse to move around, compared to the smaller light weight Dell's and P-M's out there.

I think a mini tower or SFF with an LCD monitor is what your going to want. Spend 2 grand on it and really get it for your games. If there is some sort of laptop requirement, then pick up a cheap P-M or celeron-M laptop, the smallest you can find and bring that to class.

I have found my 8600 to be border line to heavy to move around, and also a pain for gaming because it just isnt fast enough..... R9600 pro 128MB, 1.6ghz P-M 1MB L2 cache. The lack of upgradability and the slowness in new games is really a killer. I plan on selling my laptop to my mom over summer and when i move out of dorms getting a real desktop that I will make from scratch. I cant stand gaming that is so poor.

 

[Twsmit]

Originally posted by: EnDaRi
Im kinda in the same boat as you roguerower. I recently got accepted into the school of Engineering at a University, and am looking for a notebook. Now, I don't mind carrying around 6 pounds on me while in college, mainly because I only want a notebook and don't wanna lug around my desktop, which I'll leave at my parents place. I decided i need a laptop with long battery life, a laptop that can play half life 2 and any other top of the line games, a laptop to write papers, a laptop that won't slow down, and a laptop under $2000. I found several perfect laptops that meet my descriptions. The specs are:

1.7 ghz dothan centrino (equivelent to p4 3.0-3.4 ghz) (5+ hours battery life)
ATI radeon 9700 pro 128 mb (m11)
1024 mb of either pc2700 or pc3200 ram
Hitachi 60 gb 7200 rpm hard drive
CD-rw/dvd combo drive

The cheapest I've found was under $1900.

But since I am not going to buy the laptop until the summer before the first term fall of '05, I decided to wait for the new Centrino 2 Sonoma chipset to come out hoping for an even better prcesser. And maybe hoping for the 9800 pro mobility to go down in price as a standard instead of the 9600 or 9700

Just remember that most games look a little crappy outside of the native resolution. I have something lower, but similar and i will tell you, it just isnt fast enough for gamers. I will never go back to laptop gaming after my 1.6 P-M bianias and a R9600 pro 128MB......

 

[joeld]

Anyone have a ChemBook? I configured a Chembook under 1400 with 1.7ghz dothan, 1gb ram, 60gb 7200rpm, 15.4" 1400x1050, 128mb radeon 9700, and it's 1.26" think and 6.34lbs. I'm waiting on buying until the pci-express laptops become available to see how cheaply I can pick up a newer video card though. The 9700 is kind of old, and I don't plan on upgradeing while at college (transferring to ga tech in the fall). I'm thinking I'll have a new laptop before spring break.

 

[Kalessian]

Why aren't the PowerPro notebooks from powernotebooks.com more popular? You can get a 1.8ghz dothan(installed w/ arctic silver 5), 1 GB of Corsair, 80 GB hd @ 5400, 15" SXGA+ TFT Active Matrix (1400 x 1050), 128mb MRadeon 9700 (390/400), 4x DVD+/-RW, built-in 802.11g, 1 year no dead pixel guarantee, 3 year parts warranty and lifetime tech support(check out ResellerRatings) for about $2200.

6.25 lbs, 1.2" thick.

 

[roguerower]

Kalessian, i've never heard of PowerPro. Any good? BTW, anyone know any of the GPU's that will come out for Sonoma?

 

[roguerower]

I'm required to have a laptop freshman year, so i'll probably buy a decent laptop, and then save up and build a kickass sff when I go back as a sophomore.