Overclock.net › Forums › Mobile Computing Forum › Laptops and Netbooks › Laptop for college
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Laptop for college

post #1 of 11
6/14/12 at 4:44pm
Thread Starter 
I REALLY can't decide on what I want for college. I'm considering a 13" Macbook air, a Sager NP3260 or pretty much anything else at the moment.

I'm majoring in Electrical and Computer engineering so I think I need something decent for CAD work..

What is your maximum budget? $1,300 at the absolute max. Would prefer to keep it under $1000

What country are you in? USA

What will be the uses of this laptop? Schoolwork, light gaming.

Do you have brand loyalty or care which brands we select for you? Doesn't matter to me.. has to be somewhat reliable of course.

What screen size do you require? 14" and above. NO 13" laptops!

What screen resolution do you require? Anything above 1366x768. I won't buy a 1366x768 laptop :\

Are you looking to buy NEW or would refurbished/recertified/used be okay? New preferred but if it has a warranty it doesn't matter.

How long should the battery last? (Under optimal conditions, no movies/games/heavy internet) Minimum 3hrs.

What games would you like to play with your laptop? And on what settings? Occasional Counterstrike.. maybe WoW.. Battlefield 3 if possible. Just has to be playable 30FPS+

What operating system do you need? (if any) N/A

Is there a certain style of laptop you want? (aluminum, black, gaming, etc.) Light as possible. Thin/aluminum is a plus.

How much hard drive space do you need? Anything works.

Do you need any special hardware? (blue ray, webcam, specialty ports, etc.) Webcam

Is there anything else we need to know? Nothing. Thanks for any help!
Money pit
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
2600K Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H ES GTX 260 (192) 2x2GB Corsair XMS3 
Hard DriveOSMonitorKeyboard
1TB WD Green (Raid 0) Windows 7 Hanns G HH281 28" Logitech G11 
PowerCaseMouse
OCZ 700w Fractal Design Arc Mini Logitech G5 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Money pit
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
2600K Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H ES GTX 260 (192) 2x2GB Corsair XMS3 
Hard DriveOSMonitorKeyboard
1TB WD Green (Raid 0) Windows 7 Hanns G HH281 28" Logitech G11 
PowerCaseMouse
OCZ 700w Fractal Design Arc Mini Logitech G5 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #2 of 11
6/14/12 at 6:34pm
Electrical engineers don't really do CAD work (then again, even for mechanical engineering major.. the CAD stuff needed for classwork is easy enough to run on a Core 2 and integrated graphics). AFAIK, it's mostly schematics for PCBs, programming (not very CPU-intensive) wiring diagrams on Visio, etc. And probably controls stuff, MATLAB, and so on. So you wouldn't need a really fast system for it; i5 dual-core would suffice although i7-quad won't hurt biggrin.gif .

The thin/light, and gaming requirement are a bit hard to do in a single system. There aren't really any 14" laptops with good graphics, >1366x768, thin, and light. Ironically.. there are some 15" laptops.

I'd personally go with the Samsung 7, 15.6". New Ivy Bridge quad, Nvidia 640M graphics, backlit keyboard, weight is about 5.2 pounds, <1" thick. For the price, it's pretty similar to the 2012 base-model Macbook Pro 15 in terms of specs/dimensions/features.

Sony Vaio SE 15.5" has a 1080p IPS panel, only downside being there *might* still be an issue with reds showing up as a bit red-orange. It'd be my 2nd choice, the Samsung has faster graphics (640M LE in the Vaio is a Fermi rebrand), 1600x900 means you can play a decent amount of games at native res, and you can't really beat the aesthetics of the Samsung IMO. But the Vaio SE is the lightest 15" laptop I'm aware of, at 4.4 pounds. http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644768015&facetlist=true

Envy 15t is thin, but not light - it's not that much heavier than the Samsung 7.. but still. It can game pretty well, at least if you downscale to 768p or 900p in-game. http://shopping2.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/HP-ENVY/A6U26AV?HP-ENVY-15t-3200-Notebook-PC
Toshiba Portege R835-P50X
(8 items)
 
Lanbox Lite
(16 items)
  		 
CPUGraphicsRAMHard Drive
i3-2310M Intel HD 3000 8GB DDR3 Samsung 830 64GB SSD 
Hard DriveOSMonitorCase
640GB Hitachi HDD Windows 7 13.3" LCD Magnesium Alloy, 3.2lbs 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Phenom II X4 955 BE Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-UD2H MSI Hawk R5770 3x2GB G.Skill DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 250 GB WD Caviar Black Samsung 20X DVD-R/RW Thermaltake MaxOrb 
CoolingOSMonitorPower
Noctua NF-B9-1600 Windows 7 Pro 64-bit BenQ E2420HD, 24" 1920x1080 TT Purepower 500W 
Case
TT Lanbox Lite 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Toshiba Portege R835-P50X
(8 items)
 
Lanbox Lite
(16 items)
  		 
CPUGraphicsRAMHard Drive
i3-2310M Intel HD 3000 8GB DDR3 Samsung 830 64GB SSD 
Hard DriveOSMonitorCase
640GB Hitachi HDD Windows 7 13.3" LCD Magnesium Alloy, 3.2lbs 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Phenom II X4 955 BE Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-UD2H MSI Hawk R5770 3x2GB G.Skill DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 250 GB WD Caviar Black Samsung 20X DVD-R/RW Thermaltake MaxOrb 
CoolingOSMonitorPower
Noctua NF-B9-1600 Windows 7 Pro 64-bit BenQ E2420HD, 24" 1920x1080 TT Purepower 500W 
Case
TT Lanbox Lite 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #3 of 11
6/14/12 at 7:40pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jrbroad77 View Post

Electrical engineers don't really do CAD work (then again, even for mechanical engineering major.. the CAD stuff needed for classwork is easy enough to run on a Core 2 and integrated graphics). AFAIK, it's mostly schematics for PCBs, programming (not very CPU-intensive) wiring diagrams on Visio, etc. And probably controls stuff, MATLAB, and so on. So you wouldn't need a really fast system for it; i5 dual-core would suffice although i7-quad won't hurt biggrin.gif .
The thin/light, and gaming requirement are a bit hard to do in a single system. There aren't really any 14" laptops with good graphics, >1366x768, thin, and light. Ironically.. there are some 15" laptops.
I'd personally go with the Samsung 7, 15.6". New Ivy Bridge quad, Nvidia 640M graphics, backlit keyboard, weight is about 5.2 pounds, <1" thick. For the price, it's pretty similar to the 2012 base-model Macbook Pro 15 in terms of specs/dimensions/features.
Sony Vaio SE 15.5" has a 1080p IPS panel, only downside being there *might* still be an issue with reds showing up as a bit red-orange. It'd be my 2nd choice, the Samsung has faster graphics (640M LE in the Vaio is a Fermi rebrand), 1600x900 means you can play a decent amount of games at native res, and you can't really beat the aesthetics of the Samsung IMO. But the Vaio SE is the lightest 15" laptop I'm aware of, at 4.4 pounds. http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644768015&facetlist=true
Envy 15t is thin, but not light - it's not that much heavier than the Samsung 7.. but still. It can game pretty well, at least if you downscale to 768p or 900p in-game. http://shopping2.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/HP-ENVY/A6U26AV?HP-ENVY-15t-3200-Notebook-PC

Samsung 7 sounds right up my alley. I've tried searching for it but can't find one specced as you listed. Has it yet to be released yet?


I appreciate the help and thanks for opening up eyes beyond Apple and Sager(was really stuck between the two being the best manufactures when it comes to laptops by what I've read and experienced)!
Money pit
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
2600K Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H ES GTX 260 (192) 2x2GB Corsair XMS3 
Hard DriveOSMonitorKeyboard
1TB WD Green (Raid 0) Windows 7 Hanns G HH281 28" Logitech G11 
PowerCaseMouse
OCZ 700w Fractal Design Arc Mini Logitech G5 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Money pit
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
2600K Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H ES GTX 260 (192) 2x2GB Corsair XMS3 
Hard DriveOSMonitorKeyboard
1TB WD Green (Raid 0) Windows 7 Hanns G HH281 28" Logitech G11 
PowerCaseMouse
OCZ 700w Fractal Design Arc Mini Logitech G5 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #4 of 11
6/15/12 at 2:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lyfskills View Post

Samsung 7 sounds right up my alley. I've tried searching for it but can't find one specced as you listed. Has it yet to be released yet?
I appreciate the help and thanks for opening up eyes beyond Apple and Sager(was really stuck between the two being the best manufactures when it comes to laptops by what I've read and experienced)!

Sorry about that, I thought I posted the link - I was editing my post but I passed out lol. Here ya go. Glad I could help biggrin.gif

$1100 is a pretty fair price compared to last year's model (stripped-down model for $900, to similarly configured for $1150-1250). http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Series-NP700Z5C-S01US-15-6-Inch-Laptop/dp/B0083S3OWW/ref=sr_1_7?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1339722698&sr=1-7&keywords=samsung+7

edit: Also to clarify my first post, I'm not 100% sure whether the 640M LE in the Vaio SE is a Fermi rebrand, or a Kepler. I won't go off on a rant, but Nvidia's mobile naming scheme is preposterous- there is supposedly a Fermi 640M LE, and a Kepler 640M LE. Performance is supposed to be similar between the 2 640M LE's, but I'm pretty sure the Kepler 640M LE is faster.

Also if you're curious about the gaming performance, this site in general is a good guide (. http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-640M.71579.0.html
Refer to this page for a better head-to-head comparison for say, you favorite 5 or so games - it says the exact settings at which each game was tested. http://www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Games-on-Laptop-Graphic-Cards.13849.0.html
Edited by jrbroad77 - 6/15/12 at 2:43pm
Toshiba Portege R835-P50X
(8 items)
 
Lanbox Lite
(16 items)
  		 
CPUGraphicsRAMHard Drive
i3-2310M Intel HD 3000 8GB DDR3 Samsung 830 64GB SSD 
Hard DriveOSMonitorCase
640GB Hitachi HDD Windows 7 13.3" LCD Magnesium Alloy, 3.2lbs 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Phenom II X4 955 BE Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-UD2H MSI Hawk R5770 3x2GB G.Skill DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 250 GB WD Caviar Black Samsung 20X DVD-R/RW Thermaltake MaxOrb 
CoolingOSMonitorPower
Noctua NF-B9-1600 Windows 7 Pro 64-bit BenQ E2420HD, 24" 1920x1080 TT Purepower 500W 
Case
TT Lanbox Lite 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Toshiba Portege R835-P50X
(8 items)
 
Lanbox Lite
(16 items)
  		 
CPUGraphicsRAMHard Drive
i3-2310M Intel HD 3000 8GB DDR3 Samsung 830 64GB SSD 
Hard DriveOSMonitorCase
640GB Hitachi HDD Windows 7 13.3" LCD Magnesium Alloy, 3.2lbs 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Phenom II X4 955 BE Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-UD2H MSI Hawk R5770 3x2GB G.Skill DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 250 GB WD Caviar Black Samsung 20X DVD-R/RW Thermaltake MaxOrb 
CoolingOSMonitorPower
Noctua NF-B9-1600 Windows 7 Pro 64-bit BenQ E2420HD, 24" 1920x1080 TT Purepower 500W 
Case
TT Lanbox Lite 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #5 of 11
6/15/12 at 8:43pm
To be perfectly honest you don't need a very powerful computer for college at all. For the most part and compiling will be of simple programs, and even if it is a larger compile it won't be as time critical as in a professional environment. Most of your stuff will be done by hand, at least for an undergraduate degree.

In terms of user experience you really cannot beat Apple these days, the fact that their software and hardware are vertically integrated in the company makes for a more cohesive mobile experience than companies like Samsung. That being said, the cheapest 15" MBP with educational pricing is still 1700, so it is likely outside of your price range.
Sandy Bridge-E
(20 items)
 
15" Macbook Pro with Retina Display
(4 items)
  		 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsGraphics
Intel i7 3930K C2 4.8GHz ASUS Rampage IV Extreme NVidia GTX480 SLI NVidia GTX480 SLI 
RAMHard DriveHard DriveHard Drive
G. Skill Ripjaws-X 32GB Crucial M4 128 OCZ Vertex 2 Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 
Hard DriveHard DriveCoolingOS
Western Digital Caviar Green Seagate Barracuda Green Noctua NH-D14 Windows 7 SP1 Professional x64 
MonitorMonitorKeyboardPower
Dell U2711 Dell U2211H Topre Realforce 86UB Thermaltake Toughpower XT 875W 
CaseMouseMouse PadAudio
Coolermaster HAF-X Steelseries Xai Razer Goliathus ASUS Xonar STX 
View all
CPUGraphicsRAMHard Drive
i7 2.3Ghz GT 650m 8GB 256GB Samsung SSD 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Sandy Bridge-E
(20 items)
 
15" Macbook Pro with Retina Display
(4 items)
  		 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsGraphics
Intel i7 3930K C2 4.8GHz ASUS Rampage IV Extreme NVidia GTX480 SLI NVidia GTX480 SLI 
RAMHard DriveHard DriveHard Drive
G. Skill Ripjaws-X 32GB Crucial M4 128 OCZ Vertex 2 Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 
Hard DriveHard DriveCoolingOS
Western Digital Caviar Green Seagate Barracuda Green Noctua NH-D14 Windows 7 SP1 Professional x64 
MonitorMonitorKeyboardPower
Dell U2711 Dell U2211H Topre Realforce 86UB Thermaltake Toughpower XT 875W 
CaseMouseMouse PadAudio
Coolermaster HAF-X Steelseries Xai Razer Goliathus ASUS Xonar STX 
View all
CPUGraphicsRAMHard Drive
i7 2.3Ghz GT 650m 8GB 256GB Samsung SSD 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #6 of 11
6/16/12 at 10:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by TickleMeElmo View Post

To be perfectly honest you don't need a very powerful computer for college at all. For the most part and compiling will be of simple programs, and even if it is a larger compile it won't be as time critical as in a professional environment. Most of your stuff will be done by hand, at least for an undergraduate degree.
In terms of user experience you really cannot beat Apple these days, the fact that their software and hardware are vertically integrated in the company makes for a more cohesive mobile experience than companies like Samsung. That being said, the cheapest 15" MBP with educational pricing is still 1700, so it is likely outside of your price range.

Agreed on the college part. Having just finished a year as an ECE major, I'd say the biggest tax on a computer is gaming with nerdy friends. Eclipse (or whatever), a text editor and Microsoft word will get you through pretty much what you need to get through. Also, keep in mind that different companies offer different educational discounts. Apple's discount for college students now also includes a $100 gift card (plus other discount), Microsoft has the Xbox deal. I was able to get a further discount from a Sony Vaio S (that I ended up returning) because I talked to a salesman on chat. Just food for thought.
WBOX (wood box)
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core i7 860 ASUS P7P55D-E Pro Gigabyte GTX 275 1792MB SOC 4GB G.Skill DDR3 1600mhz 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
Spinpoint F3 1TB x2, Spinpoint F4 2TB x1 Pioneer BDR-206DBKS Windows 7 Ultimate Samsung SyncMaster 24" 
PowerCase
Corsair AX750 WBOX 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
WBOX (wood box)
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core i7 860 ASUS P7P55D-E Pro Gigabyte GTX 275 1792MB SOC 4GB G.Skill DDR3 1600mhz 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
Spinpoint F3 1TB x2, Spinpoint F4 2TB x1 Pioneer BDR-206DBKS Windows 7 Ultimate Samsung SyncMaster 24" 
PowerCase
Corsair AX750 WBOX 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #7 of 11
6/17/12 at 5:55pm
Thread Starter 
I'm leaning towards a 13" Macbook Air and building a decent desktop that I can use for heavier duty stuff. Bad idea? I can get a 13" for $1,149.
Money pit
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
2600K Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H ES GTX 260 (192) 2x2GB Corsair XMS3 
Hard DriveOSMonitorKeyboard
1TB WD Green (Raid 0) Windows 7 Hanns G HH281 28" Logitech G11 
PowerCaseMouse
OCZ 700w Fractal Design Arc Mini Logitech G5 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Money pit
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
2600K Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H ES GTX 260 (192) 2x2GB Corsair XMS3 
Hard DriveOSMonitorKeyboard
1TB WD Green (Raid 0) Windows 7 Hanns G HH281 28" Logitech G11 
PowerCaseMouse
OCZ 700w Fractal Design Arc Mini Logitech G5 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #8 of 11
6/17/12 at 6:02pm
found this samsung series 7 if you don't mind refurb.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2291279&cpncode=33-59072035-2&SRCCODE=LINKSHARE&cm_mmc_o=-ddCjC1bELltzywCjC-d2CjCdwwp&AffiliateID=lw9MynSeamY-OL7WXFnbiKABxw6b_HacMw
TUFF AND TINY
(9 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardRAMHard Drive
Intel Core i7-960  ASUS RAMPAGE III FORMULA  G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 12GB DDR3 1333 320GB WDB 
OSMonitorPowerCase
WINDOWS 7  GATEWAY FPD1976W 19" 1440X900 OCZ / PC Power and Cooloing Silencer 750 Quad 7... COOLER MASTER HAF X  
Audio
LOGITECH 2.1 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
TUFF AND TINY
(9 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardRAMHard Drive
Intel Core i7-960  ASUS RAMPAGE III FORMULA  G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 12GB DDR3 1333 320GB WDB 
OSMonitorPowerCase
WINDOWS 7  GATEWAY FPD1976W 19" 1440X900 OCZ / PC Power and Cooloing Silencer 750 Quad 7... COOLER MASTER HAF X  
Audio
LOGITECH 2.1 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #9 of 11
6/17/12 at 6:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lyfskills View Post

I'm leaning towards a 13" Macbook Air and building a decent desktop that I can use for heavier duty stuff. Bad idea? I can get a 13" for $1,149.

Not a bad idea, but could you clarify on this heavier duty stuff? In terms of schoolwork, any i5 dual-core can give you enough performance. I personally just have a laptop and a 23" 1080p monitor that I hook it up to back at my place, and it works quite well for me (if I haven't said it yet - I don't game when I'm away at school). 13" screen is a decent size. My only caveat is since you'd be buying a desktop and laptop, it's not the most economical solution - I'd go with a Portege R835 for $700ish (it only weighs 3.2 pounds, really its barely heavier than an Ultrabook).

Edit- @Nuclear I think you might've convinced me on the Sony. For me personally, I'm not a big graphics guy, I'd probably have to look over the Samsung and Sony some more. I used to have a Thinkpad T510 15" with 1080p panel, and it was nice (as in, insane image quality), but the resolution admittedly was overkill, even for CAD - 1600x900 would work almost as well on a 15" I feel. If I had a bigger budget I'd probably go to something like a Vaio SE though, I'm a screen guy. Oh and I'm quite jealous of the free PS3 offer, I still need to fix mine mad.gif no GT5 until I bust out the heatgun and pray it works.
Edited by jrbroad77 - 6/17/12 at 6:28pm
Toshiba Portege R835-P50X
(8 items)
 
Lanbox Lite
(16 items)
  		 
CPUGraphicsRAMHard Drive
i3-2310M Intel HD 3000 8GB DDR3 Samsung 830 64GB SSD 
Hard DriveOSMonitorCase
640GB Hitachi HDD Windows 7 13.3" LCD Magnesium Alloy, 3.2lbs 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Phenom II X4 955 BE Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-UD2H MSI Hawk R5770 3x2GB G.Skill DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 250 GB WD Caviar Black Samsung 20X DVD-R/RW Thermaltake MaxOrb 
CoolingOSMonitorPower
Noctua NF-B9-1600 Windows 7 Pro 64-bit BenQ E2420HD, 24" 1920x1080 TT Purepower 500W 
Case
TT Lanbox Lite 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Toshiba Portege R835-P50X
(8 items)
 
Lanbox Lite
(16 items)
  		 
CPUGraphicsRAMHard Drive
i3-2310M Intel HD 3000 8GB DDR3 Samsung 830 64GB SSD 
Hard DriveOSMonitorCase
640GB Hitachi HDD Windows 7 13.3" LCD Magnesium Alloy, 3.2lbs 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Phenom II X4 955 BE Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-UD2H MSI Hawk R5770 3x2GB G.Skill DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 250 GB WD Caviar Black Samsung 20X DVD-R/RW Thermaltake MaxOrb 
CoolingOSMonitorPower
Noctua NF-B9-1600 Windows 7 Pro 64-bit BenQ E2420HD, 24" 1920x1080 TT Purepower 500W 
Case
TT Lanbox Lite 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #10 of 11
6/17/12 at 6:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jrbroad77 View Post

Electrical engineers don't really do CAD work (then again, even for mechanical engineering major.. the CAD stuff needed for classwork is easy enough to run on a Core 2 and integrated graphics). AFAIK, it's mostly schematics for PCBs, programming (not very CPU-intensive) wiring diagrams on Visio, etc. And probably controls stuff, MATLAB, and so on. So you wouldn't need a really fast system for it; i5 dual-core would suffice although i7-quad won't hurt biggrin.gif .
The thin/light, and gaming requirement are a bit hard to do in a single system. There aren't really any 14" laptops with good graphics, >1366x768, thin, and light. Ironically.. there are some 15" laptops.
I'd personally go with the Samsung 7, 15.6". New Ivy Bridge quad, Nvidia 640M graphics, backlit keyboard, weight is about 5.2 pounds, <1" thick. For the price, it's pretty similar to the 2012 base-model Macbook Pro 15 in terms of specs/dimensions/features.
Sony Vaio SE 15.5" has a 1080p IPS panel, only downside being there *might* still be an issue with reds showing up as a bit red-orange. It'd be my 2nd choice, the Samsung has faster graphics (640M LE in the Vaio is a Fermi rebrand), 1600x900 means you can play a decent amount of games at native res, and you can't really beat the aesthetics of the Samsung IMO. But the Vaio SE is the lightest 15" laptop I'm aware of, at 4.4 pounds. http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644768015&facetlist=true
Envy 15t is thin, but not light - it's not that much heavier than the Samsung 7.. but still. It can game pretty well, at least if you downscale to 768p or 900p in-game. http://shopping2.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/HP-ENVY/A6U26AV?HP-ENVY-15t-3200-Notebook-PC

I bought the Sony myself last week on Sony Store. The 640M LE is not a Fermi rebrand. It's a Kepler part. Kepler cores are much weaker than Fermi core, which is consistent with how its 384 cores are a little slower than the GTX 460M's 192 cores (see 640M instead of 640M LE for closer clocks with the 460M). Personally I chose the Sony over the Samsung. They both look nice, but the weight itself and alone is much more important when it comes to college. Resolution wise, having 1080p also gives a lot more workspace especially if he will most likely be doing pSpice for circuit works.

The one I bought directly is equipped with an i7-3612QM and 2GB 640M LE (they force you to select the 2GB version with the quad), and that ran me $1115 with the 7200RPM 500GB HDD which I'll pull out to use as an external drive in favor of installing my own SSD in there. I'll probably almost never use that power, but I'd like to have it just in case. It's a lot cheaper if OP goes with the dual core i5 and integrated graphics. However, after being 3 years in college, I find it very useful to have a good resolution, numpad, and battery life. Another big reason why I chose the Sony over the others is the option to install a sheet battery which knocks battery life to around 10 hours and the total weight would only be about the same as last year's MBP 15". Also, logging into student account gives you a choice of either a free PS3 or Vita, so the gaming is covered there. tongue.gif
Blue Fever
(32 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsGraphics
Intel Core i7 3930K Asus Rampage IV Extreme EVGA GTX 670 FTW 2048MB (card 1) EVGA GTX 670 FTW 2048MB (card 2) 
RAMHard DriveHard DriveHard Drive
32GB Samsung DDR3-1600 Samsung 830 128GB Hitachi Deskstar 7K3000 7200RPM 64MB cache SATA... Hitachi Deskstar 5400RPM 32MB cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 
CoolingCoolingCoolingCooling
Bitspower Z-Multi 250 reservoir Swiftech MCP-35X pump Swiftech MCP-35X pump Black Ice GTX 360 radiator 
CoolingCoolingCoolingCooling
Black Ice GTX 360 radiator EK Supreme HF EK-VGA Supreme EK-VGA Supreme 
OSMonitorMonitorKeyboard
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Panasonic TC-L37U22 1080p 37" Samsung 2494LW 24" Logitech G19 
PowerCaseMouseMouse Pad
Corsair HX1000W CaseLabs MAGNUM T10 Logitech G700 XTracPads Ripper XXL  
AudioAudioAudioAudio
Creative X-Fi Titanium HD Matrix M-Stage headphone amp Beyerdynamic DT880 600 Ohm Onkyo A-905X amplifier 
AudioAudioAudioOther
Astro MixAmp Pro Onkyo D-062AX bookshelf speakers Dayton SUB-100 AVerMedia Live Gamer HD 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Blue Fever
(32 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsGraphics
Intel Core i7 3930K Asus Rampage IV Extreme EVGA GTX 670 FTW 2048MB (card 1) EVGA GTX 670 FTW 2048MB (card 2) 
RAMHard DriveHard DriveHard Drive
32GB Samsung DDR3-1600 Samsung 830 128GB Hitachi Deskstar 7K3000 7200RPM 64MB cache SATA... Hitachi Deskstar 5400RPM 32MB cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 
CoolingCoolingCoolingCooling
Bitspower Z-Multi 250 reservoir Swiftech MCP-35X pump Swiftech MCP-35X pump Black Ice GTX 360 radiator 
CoolingCoolingCoolingCooling
Black Ice GTX 360 radiator EK Supreme HF EK-VGA Supreme EK-VGA Supreme 
OSMonitorMonitorKeyboard
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Panasonic TC-L37U22 1080p 37" Samsung 2494LW 24" Logitech G19 
PowerCaseMouseMouse Pad
Corsair HX1000W CaseLabs MAGNUM T10 Logitech G700 XTracPads Ripper XXL  
AudioAudioAudioAudio
Creative X-Fi Titanium HD Matrix M-Stage headphone amp Beyerdynamic DT880 600 Ohm Onkyo A-905X amplifier 
AudioAudioAudioOther
Astro MixAmp Pro Onkyo D-062AX bookshelf speakers Dayton SUB-100 AVerMedia Live Gamer HD 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Laptops and Netbooks
Overclock.net › Forums › Mobile Computing Forum › Laptops and Netbooks › Laptop for college