College Dilema... Laptop, or laptop and desktop

Which do I do?

  • Get the mALX!!!

    Votes: 4 7.0%

  • Get something smaller and a desktop later.

    Votes: 42 73.7%

  • Get the mALX, then sell it later for a desktop... screw the laptop.. you dont need it for college...

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Just get a desktop, you dont need a laptop for college!!!

    Votes: 11 19.3%
  • Total voters
    57
R

RaphaelVinceti

Gawd
Joined
Apr 7, 2005
Messages
600
Ok, little problem, Im having a hard time deciding on getting either an Alienware mALX (19" SLI laptop), or getting a cheaper, smaller laptop (like a 15.4 inch or something similar, with decent graphics) and spend the rest of the money later on a conroe based, dual r600 system when the R600s come out.. Suggestions?
 
I would get a cheap ultraportable laptop and a powerhouse desktop. Carrying around a huge, bulky notebook with books around campus isn't fun. Plus you'll get better performance for the money and cheaper upgradability by going with a desktop.

Unless you plan on moving your gaming (I'm assuming you play games) around, I personally would go with the above route.
 
synergyo1 said:
I would get a cheap ultraportable laptop and a powerhouse desktop. Carrying around a huge, bulky notebook with books around campus isn't fun. Plus you'll get better performance for the money and cheaper upgradability by going with a desktop.

Unless you plan on moving your gaming (I'm assuming you play games) around, I personally would go with the above route.
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Totally agree. I went the watercooled powerhouse desktop, with mid-range light laptop (Inspiron 6000) route, coudln't be happier.

My buddy from school went with the decked out 3.2Ghz Prescott laptop, 17" screen etc. Now he's just dying for someone to take it off his hands. There's nothing fun about having a workhorse laptop, their heavy, big, almost too hot for your lap, and have nowhere near the battery life.

I think you'll be much happier getting a decent laptop (hell even some midrange 1.8Ghz Core processor won't do you wrong), and being able to take it with you anywhere you want. Then having a 'badass' desktop system for dorm-room fragging.
 
I had the same dilemma before I went to college, I choose the desktop replacement. Let me tell you how I feel about that.

I am from out of state. So for me, this is a good choice. If I were in state, I would have chosen a desktop and ultra portable laptop. Right now I really want an ultra portable laptop to have on the side... but feel awkward as i do no have a lot of money, and i already own, what is technically, a 'laptop'. But if I were in-state, i.e.: didn’t need to fly out to college, or was somehow able to store all of my stuff somewhere so that I didn’t need to keep flying things home, I would DEFINETLY go with the desktop and light -ultra portable laptop.
 
Well, for me, I just went with a desktop and didn't bother with a laptop in college, I never needed one. It was easier to take notes for my classes by hand (I had to do a lot of musical notation, diagrams, etc, and unless I was going to tuck my Korg synth, a midi adapter, and a drawing pad under my arm too, it just wasn't happening) and in addition there were computer labs in almost every building, the bigger halls having multiple large labs. Plus, the whole school had a centralized Solaris setup with plenty of storage space for students, so I could always upload documents I needed access to somewhere else, stick them on a thumbdrive, etc.

Depending on your school's lab situation you may want to do desktop + laptop though. I personally wouldn't recommend an ultraportable. I was playing around at an Apple store today, and those 13" Macbooks are just ridiculously small, I couldn't imagine trying to actually get anything done on a screen that tiny. I'd say around 15.4" is a sweet spot between portability and useability.

Plus, this about what you will be using the laptop for in class. Most likely just taking notes, the occasionaly e-mail or web research, etc. You aren't going to be playing Fear during lectures, so you don't need SLi on the go (I could argue no one needs it at all but that's another post). So get a basic cheap laptop for notetaking, web browsing, e-mail, AIM, whatever, on the go, and get a desktop with the goods for the dorm room.
 
I was considering the Asus W7J, a 14" with X1600 graphics to use until i get my laptop, and it still has some really nice battery life. I figure If i go this route, It will be easier to wait until the new stuff comes out. So its still an ultra portable, but it isnt so small i wont be able to work on it.
 
I would get a nice desktop and a small portable laptop for toting around.

You can't carry a big laptop like that around with you. It's way too big. Especially one with SLI and a 19" screen...the battery life must be crappy and the price would be crazy. You don't want your laptop powering down in the middle of class now would you?
 
I'd opt for the the desktop and small laptop. You can back up ur files on ur laptop to your desktop and vice versa. Also if one of them croaks, you'd already have a backup PC/laptop.
 
yeah at first I was considering getting an ~1800 dollar Thinkpad.

Now I'm considering getting a ~1000 dollar PC with a ~800 dollar e1405. or even one of those <$600 laptops they sell at best buy.


however, I have a feeling my parents won't approve of me taking a pc to school (thinking it'll interfere with schoolwork since it'll allow me to play games)
 
synergyo1 said:
I would get a cheap ultraportable laptop and a powerhouse desktop. Carrying around a huge, bulky notebook with books around campus isn't fun. Plus you'll get better performance for the money and cheaper upgradability by going with a desktop.

Unless you plan on moving your gaming (I'm assuming you play games) around, I personally would go with the above route.
Click to expand...

I pretty much agree with this although I would shoot for a tablet. It rocks when you are typing notes and then can draw a quick pic that the prof drew on the board.
 
My deal is that Im going to school around 5-6 hours away so ill be moving in by car but going home for holidays etc by train, I really would rather leave my beefy desktop rig at home, so for school I want something that has decent battery life, reasonable weight but can still play new games.. whats the best balance between power and size atm?
 
Ok the 19 inch is over 4 grand. I'd get a good tablet like the gatway one and build a ok gamming desktop. Hell for the price of the alienware you could get yourself a nice tablet then like a 17 inch notebook with a 7800gs in it. Sit the 17 inch on your desk for some gaming and normal work and carry the tablet. When you go home one(kinda big) bag and you got both systems.
 
I like the tablet idea... Are there any tablets with an x1600 or 7600 graphics in it? or would i have to put up with no games until i build my desktop?
 
Go the power desktop and small/cheap laptop route.

I got my hands on one of these for my junior/senior year now that I'll be living off campus:
VGN-FS415M.jpg

Sony VAIO
1.83ghz centrino
1gb ram
100gb hard drive
802.11g

I got it through my internship this summer, but it should only set you back about $1000-$1100. It's a pretty thin laptop and the battery lasts a good 3hrs of constant usage.

You might not like the glossy screen, though. It started to grow on me...
 
^^^model number is?


edit: nvm, FS series (right clicked the picture for filename :p). but does it come with Core Duo?
 
I got the e1705 and love it. It sucks to have all your stuff spread out across 2 pcs. Everything I need all on one computer. The e1705 has the best upgrade route of all laptops.
 
rayman2k2 said:
^^^model number is?


edit: nvm, FS series (right clicked the picture for filename :p). but does it come with Core Duo?
Click to expand...


No, but it shouldn't because it's not their top of the line model, rather, the midgrade. However, I find it more than fast enough for general usage. The worst thing about it is the intel i915gm integrated video chipset, but since I don't game on it I could careless.

It's a pretty good bang for the buck and it's lightweight/slim, so it's perfect for college students.
 
SMALL ULTRAPORTABLE LAPTOP PLUS DESKTOP



Sorry but I have a 15.4" Dell Laptop, and am certainly no weak little nerd. And I am still pissed off to have to carry this around. A 15.4" Laptop is not small, and is just barely small enough to be bareable to take to classes. Do yourself a favor and either get a tablet or a small ultraportable (read 12.1" or 13.3") laptop. Some nice ones to look into would be the Dell XPS M1210 and the Sony Vaio SZ Series.

For the desktop you could get an SFF. You can load that up with a nice beefy gfx card. Sure you might not have SLI or XF but you can get a pretty darn good gaming experience with one R600 I would bet. The SFF would be easily transportable as well. Although I dont get why you wont transport a full size desktop to school if it is 5 hours away. I take my watercooled desktop and 20" Widescreen monitor to and from school 5 hours away with no problems.
 
Yeah, I was going to suggest SFF too.

Plus, more space saved in dorm room = better.

I'm going with the SFF option because I'm going out of state and I'd rather not have to strip it down each summer when I come home. SFF's can be carry ons, right?
 
Since im planning on waiting so long, I'll probably go with a 15.4" (I carried one of those all through high school), with a decent graphics card (I probably wont be building until Vista Releases, just because Im probably one of the few who really likes Vista). Now i just need to decide what to get.. Dell and alienware have the best options for high end graphics, but the alienwares are boring to look at, and the dells are huge. IBM's T60s have dedicated ATI's, and those things dont break, to my knowledge, but then, I really like the Asus laptops.. and I can get a 14" with an x1600 graphics card in it.... Suggestions?
 
The x1600 is a solid card for a laptop. If you go with a Dell, the Latitude line is heads and tails above the Inspiron as far as overall quality goes. They aren't exactly light, but I had a D800 over the past three years, and I never had and issue carrying it around (and actually, the bag was usually stuffed with the power brick, a 50' ethernet cable, around 10 CDRs, the floppy drive, and whatever (actual paper) folders I needed) so they aren't that heavy.
 
Erasmus354 said:
Sorry but I have a 15.4" Dell Laptop, and am certainly no weak little nerd.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how much your dell weighs, but I don't see 6 pounds being heavy for a laptop (like the Sony pictured above). However, I'm a rather fit guy, so maybe you are weak!

Just kidding; we're all different. For me, walking around Penn State's huge campus with loads of books has come as a norm to me, so I'm used to the weight.
 
just2cool said:
I'm not sure how much your dell weighs, but I don't see 6 pounds being heavy for a laptop (like the Sony pictured above). However, I'm a rather fit guy, so maybe you are weak!

Just kidding; we're all different. For me, walking around Penn State's huge campus with loads of books has come as a norm to me, so I'm used to the weight.
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Mine is 7 pounds, and when I am already carrying 20 pounds of books I would rather NOT carry a 7 pound laptop on top of that...and the power brick and an extra battery add even more weight to the equation. Bottom line, for taking to class a 15.4" laptop becomes more of a chore than anything else. A nice small 12" laptop is oh so much nicer.
 
Yeah i voted for the small laptop and desktop cause thats what i use at school, i have a nice compaq v2410us with the 6 and 12 cell battery, and upgraded it to 2gb ram and a 100gb hd, 14 inch screen and is about 5.5 pounds. I like it and the ati 200m video, actually allows me to play fear on low video settings and medium comp settings :cool: Thats why i have my desktop in my dorm room lol
 
RaphaelVinceti said:
I like the tablet idea... Are there any tablets with an x1600 or 7600 graphics in it? or would i have to put up with no games until i build my desktop?
Click to expand...

I think the best you will get in most is like an x300. Maybe an x600 or something but I could be wrong. With that you will be able to play some games but with most things turned down. As I said though for the price you wanted to drop on the alienware notebook you could get the tablet and a desktop or the tablet and a 17 inch notebook with like a 7800 or 7900 gtx in it.
 
RaphaelVinceti said:
I like the tablet idea... Are there any tablets with an x1600 or 7600 graphics in it? or would i have to put up with no games until i build my desktop?
Click to expand...

there are NO tablets with dedicated graphics, it defeats the purpose of carrying a true tablet.
thats like trying to put a 500hp motor in a dirt bike, not what its designed for.
 
Outrigger said:
there are NO tablets with dedicated graphics, it defeats the purpose of carrying a true tablet.
thats like trying to put a 500hp motor in a dirt bike, not what its designed for.
Click to expand...

When we say tablets we are talking about the convertible ones but yes I have seen true tablets that had dedicated graphics(most don't). You just don't know what you are talking about.
 
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