Looking for a College Laptop

[Walzber813]

I am going to be heading off to college in August, and I am definetely looking for a great laptop that will be able to carry me through the 4 years of school. I have looked into Sony and Dell so far. I found a Dell E1505 Inspiron series, it had a 2.0 ghz duo processor, 1 gb ddr2, x1400 256mb graphics card, and 80 gb 7200 rpm. The total price after savings was about 1700. I would like advice on any laptop recommendations for a solid laptop cabable of playing world of warcraft very well, running all my schoolwork, music, photos, videos nicely, and be able to handle multitasking. My price limit is around 2000 dollars.
Thanks

 

[pkme2]

There's a monthly Dell Discount coupon that will take $750 off a $1996.00 E1505 laptop.

The Dell site will deduct 400+ on any E1505 but you can get the additional discount by inserting the code for the Dell Coupon ($750 total).

You should save another $300+. Just Google for Dell Coupons. They're available every month. They expire and reappear.

 

[Walzber813]

Thanks, I had actually already searched google and found that coupon. I was wondering if there was any advice on other Dell series' laptops I should look for, or even other manufacturers. Again, mainly for gaming, schoolwork, and media.

 

[AmigaMan]

I don't think you'll be happy with the performance of the x1400 in games especially since your sig says you own an x1800. Get something with the mobile x1600 or whatever the equivalent nVidia product is.

 

[Brainonska511]

How about the Asus W3J? It will be shipping soon in the U.S. from sites like Proportable.com. It has a 14" WXGA (1280x768), X1600 Mobilitiy, 1GB DDR2. It is about $1800 if I remember correctly.

 

[Walzber813]

What is the overrall consensus on Asus? I've heard that they overheat frequently. and how is the service on them?

 

[fbrdphreak]

X1600 in a 14" WXGA chassis? Wow. The MR X1600 has a TDP of only 17W, so it shouldn't generate much heat.

Asus in general do not overheat. Overall Asus are quality machines, fairly pricey though.

Here are some laptop gaming benchmarks for comparison:
http://www.laptoplogic.com/resources/detail.php?id=37

 

[Brainonska511]

Here is a review of the W3J: Text

You'll have to read most of the thread though as the reviewer did it in parts. It did get a 3dmark05 score of 3917.

 

[Walzber813]

Great! thanks again, what are people opinions on the Dell XPS or any other Dell series laptops? maybe a sony or hp as well... i'd like to have a few manufactures to choose from.
thanks

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: Walzber813
Great! thanks again, what are people opinions on the Dell XPS or any other Dell series laptops? maybe a sony or hp as well... i'd like to have a few manufactures to choose from.
thanks

People tend to like the XPS line of laptops, solidly built. There are actually a few new Dell laptops coming out in the next month or two (according to the folks at Notebookforums.com). The Dells of both lines (XPS and Inspiron) tend to offer a lot of performance at a lower price. They may be a little more plasticy than the competition, but they perform well at that low price which makes them a heck of a bargain and most people tend to be pretty satisfied with their Dell purchases.

I saw a possible Dell rep (may not be true) talking about a new 12" XPS notebook with dedicated graphics coming out within the next few months. The Inspiron 700 line is going to get a refresh again and the XPS M140 is going to drop down into the Inspiron line. There may also be a 14" XPS notebook with dedicated graphics coming. But this is all tentative information and it may not bear fruit. Though, it is true that there are some new notebooks coming along from Dell, so we should just wait and see on that one.

For me though, I think I'm going to be getting a W3J for college this year.

BTW, where are you going to?

 

[Walzber813]

I'm going to be going to the University of Northern Colorado. How about the MacBook pro, the dual boot ability with bootcamp sounds pretty cool, XP or OSX. I'm open again, and I just really want a good quality laptop. Where are you going to be going to school

 

[HamSupLo]

i recommend ASUS. stylish and durable.

 

[Chaoticknight16]

the macbook will break your budget. I'm getting one though.

 

[Walzber813]

is macbook worth the extra money. i can get up to about 2500 plus a little if necessary towards a laptop. if the macbook pro is worth it, i'll get it.

 

[ZombieRitual]

Well, the basic Macbook Pro goes for 2000 but if you get one via the student discount they knock off 200 bucks and it goes down to 1800.

 

[pkme2]

With Bootcamp, you can save a few hundred on Win Academic software, & still afford a MacBook. For those who can afford it, not to bad at all.

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: Walzber813
I'm going to be going to the University of Northern Colorado. How about the MacBook pro, the dual boot ability with bootcamp sounds pretty cool, XP or OSX. I'm open again, and I just really want a good quality laptop. Where are you going to be going to school

I'm off to the University of Chicago.

 

[VannieCollins]

SO what's the verdict on the macbook pro?

 

[Walzber813]

I've heard a lot of great things about it. Several of my friends have purchased teh macbook pro recently, and seem very pleased. 1 friend, had never used a mac before, and after 1 month said he'd never want to go back to windows. I've heard about the fact that viruses are basically none, and they reallly seem to be pretty bomb proom and run well for a long time. anyone have any comments or feedback from there use with mac?