Going to college

S

SFI

Gawd
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Messages
582
Hey all, its been a while since i've visited hardocp or the forums. hope everyone has been doing well, looking over the forum i recognized many usernames from the past. i have been out of the computer-building scene ever since i built my still-current desktop (i see my signature is still in-tact :) ). I am 18 and attending college this fall at the George Washington University, so i am going to need to purchase a new laptop. I don't game so much anymore like I used to, so thin and light would probably be the best way to go. I just wanted your opinion on what I should be looking at. is dell still a good buy? basic requirements would be:

- thin and light (preferably)
-15 inch or so high res screen (thats enough screen real estate to comfortably surf the net/type papers/maybe watch movies, right?)
-$$$ is not really an object
- very fast processor, from what i've heard the new dual core by intel is the best mobile solution, right? or is the turion better?
- lots of ram, this ties in with the processor, i want a very fast computer and don't want to have to wait too long for anything to load, i'm sure thats not a problem with today's mobile technology. from what i've heard.seen, DDR2 seems to be the standard
- fairly big but fast hardrive (7200rpm still the fast standard, from what i've seen). 80 gb or so is enough for me
- a good internal soundcard would be nice, i love my trance ;)
-fair battery life, nothing crazy but i don't want to be stuck after 2.5-3 hours
- solid build and fairly stylish
- i guess an independent graphics card, better than an integrated solution to better handle dvds and whatnot, right?

any input as to what I should be looking at would be greatly appreciated.

cheers
 
i see... the lenovo series doesn't seem too interesting. i've also heard that the quality of the build isn't the best? how's about some of the bigger companies, like dell/hp. i like how dell does things, especially. any models from that company that would suit my needs (they have so many different flavours and variations for customization)? a few things caught my eye on the website....

mac is out of the question, i'm a loyal fan of windows :)
 
I would take a serious look at the IBMs, especially if price is no object. Many of them tend to have rather excellent (ATI) graphics cards, and the one recent one I have worked on was of excellent quality. Though mainly greared toward business, they do tend to offer excleent battery life, and decent displays. See what you can get through your college. Also, perhpas the asus notebooks might be worth a look, my sister has one that is very nice. 1680x1050 widescreen (crazy good).
 
Even if money is no object, a 17" Dell Inspiron e1705 loaded to the gills with a 35% off coupon can't be beat. I'd buy another one if I could afford it. Just make sure you format the hard drive to get all the bloat off.
 
Money no object?, must be nice!!

Well, I would go for the new Sony VIO "VGN-AR170 BTO" Series, that just came out. They are wickedly cool with the gloss black. HDMI ouput, Blue-Ray Disc, 7800go...
.AR Series
img_seriesimage_arseries.jpg


..or if that is not practical enough, look at the Sony VIO FE Series (like the one I just got recently). Sleek looking, thin and light, and plenty of performance. Very sweet looking with the silverywhite cover & keyboard.
FE Series
img_seriesimage_FE.jpg


Sony does have style, I'll give 'em that.
 
SFI said:
i see... the lenovo series doesn't seem too interesting. i've also heard that the quality of the build isn't the best?
Click to expand...

If you want a serious laptop that won't let you down, IBM/lenovo is the way to go. The build quality is the best, period. Some say that it's declined recently, but even so, they still make the best.
 
Talonz said:
If you want a serious laptop that won't let you down, IBM/lenovo is the way to go. The build quality is the best, period. Some say that it's declined recently, but even so, they still make the best.
Click to expand...


IMHO, Thinkpad > Lenovo-series (the family laptops are whatever)
 
sony does have style. my father purchased one of those ultraportablelaptops with integrated webcam a year back, vewry nifty machine. what sucks about sony is that they are a bit pricy for what they are (i know i said price is not really an object, but at the same time i like getting my money's worth) and come LOADED with the most bullshit software i've ever seen any computer come with. i am going ot seriously consider the lenovo, and am also considering a dell (their prices are great). any dell models i should stay away from (the XPS doesn't really seem right for me, so thats one tier out of the way)?
 
SFI said:
mac is out of the question, i'm a loyal fan of windows :)
Click to expand...

Boo! :D Macs are the perfect college student laptop. Oh well, whatever floats your boat.
 
i've heard that macs are nifty machines, but the conveniance of windows and its massive support from developers of any sort of software just makes me sway towards MS. i just customized an e1505, top of the line everything, and its "just" $1800 seems like a dam good deal. one thing i can't decide over is whether or not to get 15.4 inch or 17 inch screen. those of you who've been to college and had to make this decision when buying a laptop, which would i be happier with? and what of this wireless n-draft business. is it worth getting an n-capable card? do modern colleges make use of g-routers in order for this n-draft stuff to be useful? whats the better vid card? ati x1400 or the gforce 7900?

-seems i will be opting for the 15.4 inches, i'm gonna check out the thinkpad in just a moment to see how price and features adds up to the e1505
 
MBP is a college students best friend (beware wait for possible updates in the next couple weeks) cause the advertising they are running at the moment is true.

if you really want windows only

a thinkpad is your best friend
 
SFI said:
i've heard that macs are nifty machines, but the conveniance of windows and its massive support from developers of any sort of software just makes me sway towards MS. i just customized an e1505, top of the line everything, and its "just" $1800 seems like a dam good deal. one thing i can't decide over is whether or not to get 15.4 inch or 17 inch screen. those of you who've been to college and had to make this decision when buying a laptop, which would i be happier with?
Click to expand...


personally, i'd go with the 15.4". the 17" is too god damn big and heavy (granted the e1505 is 6.2 lbs)

regardless of going to the gym or not, holding one of those in your lap can't be fun.
 
i like the dell e1505 setups better than the lenovo. seems i will be going with dell. if someone could answer my questions about the gfx card, ndraft, etc that would be great. probably gonna solidify my purchase in the next 1-2 weeks. how long does dell usually take to ship computers from the time of online purchase?
 
if you want something light and stylish, also look into asus, the one I have is the w2jb 17", that might be a bit too big for you, but its one of the THINNEST 17 inchers out there. so I would look into a 13.3 or 14 or 15 inch for you needs. check out their sites. and if you want high quality, asus is def. the way to go.

img074.jpg

img073.jpg

img091.jpg


brushed aluminum cover and palm rest and the rest is carbon fiber, makes it the lightest 17 inchers out there!
 
I just got a Compal HEL80. Mine was a barebones and I installed the proc, memory, hd, ram, and wireless card (very easy). Check out rjtech.com for the barebone or powernotebooks.com it's the Power Pro L 8:15. Price is awesome and comes with a GeForce 7600go (256 dedicated). Also has a fingerprint reader and webcam built in.
 
dam the asus notebooks are nice. guess its down to dell and asus. dammit too many types to choose from :( . i'm running on a slow-ish net connection here, so doing some quick comparisons is hard for me. which asus notebook is most comparable (or better) than dell's e1505? thanks so much for all your help
 
ordered my e1505 yesterday, will arrive august 20-something. here are the specs:

E1505 Dual Core
Intel® Core™ Duo Proc T2500 (2GHz/667MHz/2 X 1MB L2 Cache), Genuine Windows® XP Professional $2,259.00 1 $2,259.00
Inspiron E1505 Intel® Core™ Duo Proc T2500 (2GHz/667MHz/2 X 1MB L2 Cache)
LCD Panel 15.4 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen SXGA+ Display with TrueLife™
Memory 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHZ, 2 DIMM
Video Card 128MB ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1300 HyperMemory™
Hard Drive 100GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Professional
Network Card and Modem Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Sound Options Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy™ HD Software Edition
Wireless Networking Cards Dell Draft N Internal Wireless and Bluetooth
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) PC-cillin Internet Security: AntiVirus, Firewall, Spyware removal 24-months
Primary Battery 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Hardware Warranty 2Yr Ltd Warranty, 2Yr At-Home Service, and 2Yr HW Warranty Support
Future Operating Systems Windows Vista™ Capable
Operating System Re-Installation CD Genuine Windows® XP Professional re-installation CD

sorry its a bit of a mess, just copy+pasted from the confirmation email. hows it looking? should be a pretty solid laptop. i'm confident about every customization i made except for the graphics card, i chose the next tier up from the integrated solution, but i thought to myself whats the point in getting anything more powerful if the most i plan on doing is watch dvds. let me know what you think
 
The graphics card was a good choice, will help when/if you upgrade to Vista and will allow you to game a little too if you want.

I would seriously look into an Accident coverage package. They will replace anything if you drop/spill on it.

Finally, I hope you didn't pay $2200 for it...There are all kinds of Dell $750 off coupons available.

I just ordered this laptop on 8/2/06:

Inspiron E1705
Intel Core DuoProcessor T2250 (1.73GHz/533MHz FSB)
17 inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WUXGA
2GB, DDR2, 533MHz 2 Dimm
256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS
120GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
8X DVD+/-RW Drive
Integrated High Definition Audio, for XPS M1710
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/g Mini Card (54Mbps)
Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Module (2.0 + EDR)
Primary Battery
Nylon Backpack
3 Year Limited Warranty
Type 15- Third Party At Home Service with Nights and Week ends, 24x7 Technical Support, 2 Year Extended
CompleteCare Accidental DamageService to 3yr Limited Warranty
Remote Control for Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition
80 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Additional Battery
Carbon Fiber QuickSnap Cover

$1419.65
 
when you bought it they had that wonderful 30% off deal, i wish i had ordered sooner. apparantly they ended it when i decided to go shopping. as for the warrenty, i don't think i can change that option now, but i don't forsee me really needing it. aside from cell phone :) i have never messed up any electronics in my life from spills or falls. i will be keeping this thing in a secured bag if its not on my dorm desk
 
SFI said:
when you bought it they had that wonderful 30% off deal, i wish i had ordered sooner. apparantly they ended it when i decided to go shopping. as for the warrenty, i don't think i can change that option now, but i don't forsee me really needing it. aside from cell phone :) i have never messed up any electronics in my life from spills or falls. i will be keeping this thing in a secured bag if its not on my dorm desk
Click to expand...

You can buy 35% off coupons on ebay for like $1.99. I would configure one with a coupon and cancel your order.
 
rusek said:
You can buy 35% off coupons on ebay for like $1.99. I would configure one with a coupon and cancel your order.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Pick up a coupon and change your order. You can save a good $500 if you re-work your order. Hell, my MacBook Pro cost $1700 and it has the same specs aside from an 80GB HD, faster processor, better (X1600) video card and slightly smaller screen.
 
SFI said:
i see... the lenovo series doesn't seem too interesting. i've also heard that the quality of the build isn't the best? how's about some of the bigger companies, like dell/hp. i like how dell does things, especially. any models from that company that would suit my needs (they have so many different flavours and variations for customization)? a few things caught my eye on the website....

mac is out of the question, i'm a loyal fan of windows :)
Click to expand...

Yea maybe the lenovo isn't as flashy as the others, but they are the best. Solid notebook, doesn't feel like it will fall apart at the hindges. About the build quality, when lenovo took over people claim the build quality went down. I have two T43s, one from last summer and one from the beginning of this year, they are both built incredibly, solid, and stable. Just because lenovo took over doesn't mean the notebooks are build like crap now. Only a few pieces of the notebook have been changed to a plastic to cut costs.

...but it looks like I'm to late, you already ordered :(
 
SFI said:
i see... the lenovo series doesn't seem too interesting. i've also heard that the quality of the build isn't the best?
Click to expand...

Since you've already bought, it's irrelevant, but it should be noted that Lenovo has two sets of laptops. One are simply branded "Lenovo" (C100 for example), which are consumer grade, and on par with just about any consumer grade stuff out there. The other is Lenovo/IBM Thinkpad (made by Lenovo, but permitted for the next two years to still brand as "IBM"), which is top quality.
 
i got a inspiron E1705 i'm selling

2 gigs of ram
2 gigs of cpu
17 inch WXGA+
100 gigs of harddrive
advanced sound (sigma tel)
256 video card nvidia 7900
bluetooth
8x dvd burner

im' looking for 1900
 
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