numlock2.0

Yay! It's the super-happy-college-laptop-fun time!!

Right, I'm looking for a laptop for college. It's going to mostly be used for work, and most of the time it will probably be in my dorm. I don't really like laptop keyboards all too much and will probably get a seperate KB/Mouse.

So this is what I've been looking for:

Must be new
CPU must be Dual Core (Core 2 preferred)
Must have wireless 802.11a/b/g
Screen 14" or Larger
Price must be below $1000 (As cheap as possible)

Nothing else really matters too much. I don't need a really good video card for gaming. If RAM is low I can buy some cheap laptop RAM at an online retailer.

So here are a few laptops I have been looking at:

Dell Inspiron 1420 $769 + $50 for color!

Dell Vostro 1400 $649 (has 8400M GS, 2GB)

Dell Vostro 1500 $649 (integrated, 1GB, DVD)

HP 530 $600 after MIR

Everex $800 after shipping (17", AMD, 7600 Go)

Which one would you choose and why? Any other suggestions?

I'm also looking for a notebook cooler. My dad has the silver one by antec. I'm looking for something a little quieter.

Thanks
~numlock

h4rdcor3

I would go with the vostro because it is a business class laptop. The have better support, you will talk to someone who speaks English as their first language, and all the components have to past stringent compatibility and stress tests to ensure stability. My HP has stickers up the wazo on the bottom with all the specifications it passes

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trueg50

Alright, I know you want a laptop, but I have learned to just go with a desktop. Laptops can be unreliable, if something breaks you have to send it back and you are SOL til it comes back. This is especially true for the cheap laptops, in addition they tend to be slow and can be unreliable. Build your self a cheap expandable desktop, use the extra money to buy a used Pentium 4 laptop off Ebay. That way you get a feel for laptops, and still have a reserve desktop should the laptop fail.

EDIT: Don't go with an MATX case. I have a friend who did, it is a cool novelty, but that wears off in a few days and you are left with a nearly unupgradable computer. Get a high end 680i motherboard, low end everything else, and just upgrade when needed.

</lecture>

I would go with one of the Dell's. The Vostro is for small buisness's is it not? Go with the Inspiron.

What will the laptop be used for? You said work, so is it autoCAD, programming, photo/video work?

Xx573v3xX_Z28

Well If you can scrape up the extra cash you may like or even Love the ASUS Z92T it has a dual core and a 7600GO 256mb PCI-e card

ted

I bought a Toshiba A105-S4054 for $500 incl. free printer and mouse.
There is a better one for that price now. Look at the Toshiba Satellite series. Pretty much anything there to meet your needs and very reliable.
Also, mine gets about 2-3 hours on a battery charge doing normal operations.

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e6600 and block Lapping Project (Complete)
Project: Maelstrom(Updated)

Folding for Team iSore

scientist_in_training

"Alright, I know you want a laptop, but I have learned to just go with a desktop. Laptops can be unreliable, if something breaks you have to send it back and you are SOL til it comes back. This is especially true for the cheap laptops, in addition they tend to be slow and can be unreliable. Build your self a cheap expandable desktop, use the extra money to buy a used Pentium 4 laptop off Ebay. That way you get a feel for laptops, and still have a reserve desktop should the laptop fail."

exactly what i came here to say. you should get a cheap laptop to take with you, thats the point of a laptop, for portability! for the computer just sitting in your dorm, it doesn't make sense in any way to get a laptop! use your desktop or build a new one. if its just sitting there anyway and you want a small computer

BUILD A MICRO ITX BOX! LOL its awesome. You can get a PCI-E mobo and C2D if you want. but i would just build a desktop its much cheaper and you get MUCH better performance than with a lappy.

numlock2.0

So the HP's go through lots of tests?

At most the thing you mentioned above. For the most part, it's just word processing, internet and maybe a bit of photoshop.

The thing about building a desktop though, I'd save money but I'd have to bring a lot of seperate parts (like a monitor) which will be a hassle. I'd like it to be an all-in-one package, but I've also been comfortable with desktops all my life...hmm

Sounds a lot like the Everex. Does it have a Core 2?

ae804

here's my

I go to a school that "buys" you a laptop beginning of freshman year (you pay for it through tuition and the like). Anyway, of the last 5 years, they have purchased HP's all except for 1 year. That year they bought Dells and quickly realized it was a mistake. All the juniors (the class with the dells) piss and moan about how crappy their computers are, and all the other classes are very happy with what they have... well, cept for freshman. I haven't seen their laptops yet and haven't talked to them yet.

Just figured i'd add that story

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Q6600 @ 3.5GHz

trueg50

Trust me, I have seen very very few laptops live into old age. Desktops can be upgraded/ have parts replaced. This cannot be said for laptops.

Get a cheap laptop off ebay, it will fill your needs, then build a desktop. You may think it is inconvenient, but when all your friends with laptops run out of hard drive space, cant run games/autoCAD, their laptops very slow, you can laugh at them for their purchases and be glad you built a desktop.

Xx573v3xX_Z28

ASUS Z92T supports up to a 2.0GHZ CPU and even with my 1.6ghz no operation lags me which is great...