Reccomend a laptop for a college Freshman

[rubbateckie]

So I've got no real set budget, just want a solid deal for a solid laptop - less than 1000 is preferable but up to 1500 if the money is truly worth could be considered.

Screen size: I would like 14 inches but 13.3 through 15.6 would be fine.
Weight is a bigger issue. I want something reasonably light so its not a pain dragging it to class and around school. Basically I want a portable, lightweight laptop.

Of course I would prefer a high resolution (1920x1080), but with a lower screen size I would be willing to compromise to save on price.

A few of the games and other things I would be doing on it: Guild Wars 2 will be a big one probably (on high settings of course), Team Fortress 2, some other stuff. More or less, if I can run some of the higher end games on medium settings over the next few years I would be more than happy.
I do light video and photo editing. (ie Basic work in gimp and freeware/open source video editing software) but I do a fair amount of video encoding so more cores haha.
Media and the like will probably be on an external or in the cloud. So hard drive space isn't a big deal. I would also be willing to upgrade hard drive space on my own later if it would be needed.
Also, I'd be willing to buy an external for whatever I needed so optical drives are also not a big deal.

I want it to be functional and effective for at least 4 years - college!

Basically, I know Asus and Lenovo are stars for build quality, but otherwise I am a little clueless (other than horror stories for some recent HP products)

Build quality, portability, and performance are the biggest keys for me. Style and the rest aren't much of an issue. I am thinking a quadcore i7 with a clock speed of around 2 ghz. My problem is finding laptops that have quadcore processors, dedicated graphics and are light and portable. So hopefully you guys can help out.

 

[paul878]

Thinkpad T430 with hig res lcd option.

 

[weovpac]

Thinkpad T430 with hig res lcd option.

+1

If you don't mind the new keyboard layout or T420 if you do. For a T420 look at[1].

[1] http://outlet.lenovo.com

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Old geezer checking in. I believe you would be better served by a desktop. In class, even for touch typists, laptops are more of a distraction than anything else. There are usually computer pods available all over campus for work in between classes. Desktops are cheaper, more easily upgraded and, home/dorms usually have better internet connections.

Plus, transferring notes to the computer aids in learning through repetition and consolidation.

 

[VirtualLarry]

So I've got no real set budget

Basically I want a portable, lightweight laptop.

More or less, if I can run some of the higher end games on medium settings over the next few years I would be more than happy.

I am thinking a quadcore i7 with a clock speed of around 2 ghz. My problem is finding laptops that have quadcore processors, dedicated graphics and are light and portable. So hopefully you guys can help out.

What you ask for is a rare bird indeed.


"portable and lightweight" != gaming laptop.

 

[xapo99]

Only two think and light(er) laptops with reasonable graphics spring to mind, the Acer M3, which has a 640m and a dreadful screen, it is not just the res but the fact is looks like someone pressing their fingers on an 80's lcd when you move your head an inch. I have an Acer 5755G now after returning the M3 and although it has the same res...the screen is loads better.

The other is the Razer Blade, which has bugs and is pricier than a Macbook Pro with retina....

 

[Seraphimcaduto]

Building off of what magnusthebrewer said, have you considered a mini-itx system with a cheaper laptop that you can take to class? That way if you HAVE to take your desktop to do something, you could easily take it. My mini-itx is about 4 lbs and is more portable than my laptop (excluding the screen of course) and has enough graphics muscle to play skyrim/civ 5/Team fortress 2. Having been through college recently (and taught a few college classes) I can tell you that IF you actually use your laptop in lecture for class, you would be one of the few that I've ever seen do it.

 

[rubbateckie]

At the moment the desktop isn't really an option but I do agree that it is the deal situation. Space, travel, and a couple other things are the big issues that make having a desktop just too difficult right now. Also, my university has certain laptop requirements for laptops (ie, minimum core i5, 4gb ram, 100gb hard disk space free for coursework). Professors are allowed to require students to bring laptops for our major specific classes.

I understand what I am looking for is almost impossible but I am trying to get as close as possible haha.
What do you guys think of the Inspiron 15R Special Edition? Or the Asus N56?
Their weight (~6lbs) isn't great but otherwise they do look like solid machienes that fit the build.
Edit: How about the Vaio E and S series? The S series is like 4.5 pounds which is pretty promising! I am not sure about the E series weight or size, but they do offer a 14 inch version that seems to offer a solid processor and video card.

For the T430, do you guys think I will get 4 years of solid usability with the dual core? I am hesitant getting a dual core right now when I do have some applications - video encoding/editing and apparently the software we run for our coursework in class can properly use 8 threads if they are available - that would benefit from quad core.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

http://store.vizio.com/cn15a2.html

The Vizio Notebook could be better on the gpu front but everything else is perfect

15.6" 1080p IPS screen
Core i7 3610QM
8gb ram
Geforce GT 640m LE
5.2lbs and .86 inches thick

 

[rubbateckie]

http://store.vizio.com/cn15a2.html

The Vizio Notebook could be better on the gpu front but everything else is perfect

15.6" 1080p IPS screen
Core i7 3610QM
8gb ram
Geforce GT 640m LE
5.2lbs and .86 inches thick

How good is Vizio build quality? I have not head or read much about their laptops.

 

[WackyDan]

What college are you looking at or are enrolled at?

I ask because most colleges have laptop purchase programs with specific vendors - These vendors are usually one of the big three windows OEM's and they usually have a separate agreement with Apple.

This nets you the education discount, and the laptops tend to be the business class notebooks instead of the run of the mill consumer junk. The college will generally bundle in the price of AV for your full educational term at the college, help desk support, and they will either stock spare systems, parts and have staff trained in servicing them....

There is a lot of advantage to leveraging the college's laptop program. I am partial to Lenovo ThinkPads but would tell anyone to buy the recommended laptop from the college bookstore site regardless of brand as long as they had a model that met REALISTIC needs.

 

[rubbateckie]

What college are you looking at or are enrolled at?

I ask because most colleges have laptop purchase programs with specific vendors - These vendors are usually one of the big three windows OEM's and they usually have a separate agreement with Apple.

This nets you the education discount, and the laptops tend to be the business class notebooks instead of the run of the mill consumer junk. The college will generally bundle in the price of AV for your full educational term at the college, help desk support, and they will either stock spare systems, parts and have staff trained in servicing them....

There is a lot of advantage to leveraging the college's laptop program. I am partial to Lenovo ThinkPads but would tell anyone to buy the recommended laptop from the college bookstore site regardless of brand as long as they had a model that met REALISTIC needs.

The computer store prices are not the best and they do not seem to offer anything special other than a "PC technician" that can take a look at the computer if anything is going wrong. I am planning on attending the University of Texas.
The Campus Computer store is available here: https://webstore.hied.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CampusComputer.woa

I would buy it there if prices were similar. I do like the Thinkpads but I cannot really find what I want. Although I do know I am a bit unreasonable with wanting quadcore and things like that.

The campus bookstore has recommended laptops for my major as well but their specs aren't too great.

 

[rubbateckie]

Well I took a look at both the Asus and the Sony in a store today. The Asus seemed reasonably heavy and what not. So that seemes like the obvious choice. But the sony comes with a battery pack for free off of sony.com so now I am trying to decide if rediculous battery life (12 hours vs 4 hours) is actually worth any cost.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

The computer store prices are not the best and they do not seem to offer anything special other than a "PC technician" that can take a look at the computer if anything is going wrong. I am planning on attending the University of Texas.
The Campus Computer store is available here: https://webstore.hied.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CampusComputer.woa

I would buy it there if prices were similar. I do like the Thinkpads but I cannot really find what I want. Although I do know I am a bit unreasonable with wanting quadcore and things like that.

The campus bookstore has recommended laptops for my major as well but their specs aren't too great.

In general, I have never seen any software needed for school to stress a modest system. That includes engineering, mathematics, statistics or, computer science. The most demanding have been graphics and animation and occasionally architecture. What I'm saying is you don't really need a quad core.

 

[rubbateckie]

In general, I have never seen any software needed for school to stress a modest system. That includes engineering, mathematics, statistics or, computer science. The most demanding have been graphics and animation and occasionally architecture. What I'm saying is you don't really need a quad core.

Right, but if I am already easily willing to spend $1000/$1300. Is there any reason to get someone that doesn't have a quadcore? The only reason I see it is to go more portable, but for that I could just spend a bit more and get the Sony Vaio.