Students

Ideal laptops for students

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Mar 31, 2005
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bobbings wrote: HP all the way. reliable and affordable! Dell is another good brand. I would stay away from Toshibas and IBMs. heard of many problems with those two brands. more of a reliability issue.
Stay way from IBMs? Is that why all business people swear by their Thinkpads?

T series FTW.
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Oct 5, 2003
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JAGpilot wrote: Good?

1. The call center guys are all in India and are somewhat difficult to understand.
2. The "techs" who show up to your house work hastilty and leave ASAP. I had a guy here to replace my hard drive (it was free). He ripped open the box, put it into the case, tested it and left. He was here for like 10 mins tops)



If he got his job done in 10 minutes, what do you expect him to do? Stick around and chat?
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Aug 22, 2004
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ynotme wrote: Like Vertigo said, Macbook/Macbook Pro will be perfect for students.. Small, powerful, cool looking..
but affordability is the issue..
I couldn't afford Macbook Pro, so I turned to HP. It's coming next week.. :D
Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz / 15.4" / 2GB / 160GB / Bluetooth

:idea:
you may want to buy extra battery
As long as you format it to use a real os... perhaps something like vista.
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Nov 5, 2005
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alv077 wrote: As long as you format it to use a real os... perhaps something like vista.
Real OS? Vista?

Oh dear.
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Jul 29, 2006
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Macbook is going to get less affordable real fast.

I think the biggest problem you are going to run into is software.
If your a PC user, in all likelyhood you are going to need to get a copy of xp.
This will add to the cost. Even if you go the mac route(no xp), there nothing comparable to the office ultimate bundle for 60 dollars. Stuff like powerpoint is essential.

People might suggest going the free and illegal vista route but its a headache to get updates after a while and really 100 dollars is not that crazy for an operating system.

A huge significant cost is the apple warranty. You have one option unless you buy one of those worthless FS warranties. And this apple warranty is 300 dollars. Its almost manditory because you only get 90 days support out of the box(technical support) and a 1 year warranty. The more mobile your laptop the more likely something bad is going to happen to it.

Seeing as dell offers such warranties for like 130 dollars or so, apple is freakishly overpriced.

Here is what I recommend.
If your are willing to scrounge, look at dfsdirect and look for one with a warrenty ending in 2009 or 2010. This is your best budget solution.

If you want to go Local, Hp is probably your best bet. Find something with good battery life and also test if it is loud. You don't want to have thing thing blowing in class.

If price is the least of your concerns, I would go for the Thinkpad t61 deal. You get a three year warranty out the door. You get something for about the same cost of a macbook when you consider warranty with generally faster performance with non intergrated graphics. If you custumize there(you don't want to do installations) they won't rip you off. (ibm 1 gig upgrade, 73 dollars, apple 1 gig upgrade 165 dollars). You also get things like Biometrics and a bigger hd.(even with the education discount stuff is too expensive).

Thinkbads are by far the most reliable for the cost.

Macbook I don't even think is for cool kids, its for people who are too lazy to look around for a laptop and just saw a mac ad thinking they are getting this marvelous wonder of creation(by the way they steal there commercial ideas).
http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/05/appl ... f-artists/
I hate there arrogant ads too(Im a mac im a pc).

I think someones far more cool when they get a laptop thats uncommon among the student body and that actually sticks out.
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Apr 19, 2005
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Macbooks aren't cheap, but to me they are worth every penny. Yes, I pirate software, so that helps a fair bit, but oh well.

- Small
- Light
- Powerful
- Amazing battery life
- Quiet
- Nice looking

My girlfriend's sister has a T61, and I can't imagine carrying that to class with my textbooks every day. It's a nice laptop, and decent weight for a 15" screen, but to me 15" screen is way too big.
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Jul 29, 2006
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t61 are 14.1 inch screen. I doubt that going to be very different than a 13.3 that much.
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Feb 7, 2005
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xtracrispy123 wrote: lenovo, you can spill stuff on them and they don't explode like dells.

Thinkpads are the most durable you can buy, just pay the extra hundred or two.
+1, I've spilled coffee and water on my T42, still fully functional. also dropped it off a desk in RCH (uni of water-poo) and was still working.
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Mar 25, 2005
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Theres always Fujitsu- a competitor of Lenovo in the tablets market. Mine works great and is solid.
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Feb 29, 2004
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sheepdogexpress wrote: A huge significant cost is the apple warranty. You have one option unless you buy one of those worthless FS warranties. And this apple warranty is 300 dollars. Its almost manditory because you only get 90 days support out of the box(technical support) and a 1 year warranty. The more mobile your laptop the more likely something bad is going to happen to it.
This depends largely on the payment method used to purchase a Mac. Why? Well, most (if not all) credit cards offer a free (up to) 1 year warranty extension on all products you purchase using the card. My MBP is covered for 2 years from purchase date, and I didn't have to pay a penny for it.

And this applies to almost all purchases you make with a credit card. ;)
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Dec 16, 2003
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There are only 2 things you need: high battery life + low weight. Sacrifice everything else for these 2 parameters. Trust me, nothing else matters when it comes down to actual real-world use. I bought a 2.2lb laptop for $500+extended battery for $40=~$550ish. Not a powerhouse, it's a Toshiba r100 with Ultralow voltage Pentium M 1ghz but I am an envy of my friends with 6lb laptops. That said, I could have bought a laptop that is 3x the performer of this one for the same money but it would have been a heavy beast. Over the years I've gone from 6lb laptop to 4.1 lb to 3.6lb to 2.2lb. My next laptop will be even lighter but right now there's nothing lighter with a 12" screen. Everything below 2lbs comes with tiny screens.

It goes without saying that you don't need a DVDRW for schoolwork so don't bother. Get an ulraportable.
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Jul 15, 2002
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Lenovo X series tablet.

Once you go tablet, you'll never go back.
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Jun 22, 2006
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I love my Macbook Pro. its got a 15.4" screen and no extra bulk like Dell's have (Dell laptops have waaay to much extra plastic). It has an all aluminum construction so its durable as well. Battery life is fantastic. I get almost 4.5h on 1 charge with wifi on and a somewhat bright screen. It is more expensive but I like it. I see quite a few Macbook's and a few Pros at Georgian, probably due to the large VA/Graphics programs. Me and another guy in my program have Macs and he loves it. He thanks me everyday for showing him the education discount, free nano and free printer deal.

I'd probably I see mostly HP, Dell, Toshiba and Mac. Very few Asus/IBM. 1 piece of crap MDG :P
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Oct 12, 2006
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I went with the Dell 1330.
I wanted something light and compact so I could bring it to school everyday, but also something decently powered for the occasional game.
Ended up with the 1330 with the LED upgrade and the video card upgrade.
This was my internship present to myself, so wasn't cheap (1900 including 3 years complete care through company EPP).
I am finding it very useful for my 4th year of engineering, but can also be a distraction during those monotonous classes.
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Apr 13, 2007
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First choice i would pick -- IBM (LENOVO) T/X/R series All the way ..... really reliable, a long time name (IBM) whcih show's how long it's been in business, VERY durable .... okay Customer Service.

Second Choice: HP

Third: Toshiba

Forth: Sony

Fifth: Dell

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