Laptop to last four years (college), $1500-$2000

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2580799&CatId=4938

or this if you have a mouse and bag

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2355976&CatId=4938

You should really consider the Thinkpad X220 or X230 tablet.

These tablets are not the same as iPads/Android tablets. The X series tablets have a Wacom digitizer, meaning they're pressure sensitive and geared towards writing/drawing. Writing on these honestly is just as good as writing on paper. But there are many advantages compared to taking notes on paper, such as:

-You can switch colors/pen widths in less than a second, making color-coding easy
-You never run out of ink/paper, and you'll never have to worry about forgetting or losing a notebook for a certain class (and you don't have to carry multiple notebooks around!)
-You can write directly on your class powerpoints/PDFs without having to print them out

I had a T61 when I entered college 4 years ago, and for medical school I'm going to be taking my X200 tablet.

Being able to have all of your class notes (text + drawings/diagrams) stored in one place, readily accessible and searchable, is very convenient. You can also have your notes stored on Dropbox so that they can be accessed from any computer and even most smartphones.

Also, my X200 tablet gets about 7 hours of battery life on an 8-cell battery, and the X220 tablet should be even better. Both of these tablets only weigh around 4 lbs, so they're easy to carry around. Thinkpad build quality is also legendary; I've dropped my T61 on numerous occasions and it still works perfectly.

Oh, and I forgot to mention. Light gaming is definitely possible on an X220t or X230t. If you're going to be doing gaming, the X230t's Ivy Bridge iGPU is quite decent for most games (assuming you don't max out all the settings).
Edited by 996gt2 - 6/22/12 at 11:32pm

Whatever you do, STAY AWAY FROM THE EDGE SERIES!

That is if you want it to last more than a year.

You should try out an X series tablet if you get a chance. I'm typing this post from my X200t right now, and one of the things I like best about it is that it's a no-compromises, full-fledged laptop. When you want to take notes, just flip the screen over and you have a Wacom tablet. When you want to use it as a normal laptop, flip the screen back, and you've got full laptop hardware and a full-sized keyboard. The X220t/X230t is available with options like two drives (mSATA SSD + 2.5" hard drive/SSD), i7 CPU, etc. So you're definitely not losing anything in terms of performance, save for GPU performance (but if you want a laptop with a powerful GPU, it's not going to be portable). A few years ago, ultraportables sacrificed a lot in terms of performance, since they used ultra low voltage CPUs. But today, that isn't really the case anymore. The X230t, for example, is available with the Core i7-3520M Processor, which has a turbo clock of 3.6 GHz.

One last thing about the Thinkpad X series tablets, and something that most people overlook when buying a laptop: since the X41 tablet, X series tablets have all come with IPS or S-PVA screens. Both technologies are superior to TN panels, which are found in most computers today. I have an IPS screen in my X200t, and the viewing angles/color accuracy are much better compared to a standard TN panel. Once you've used an IPS panel, it's hard to go back to TN. Unfortunately, most laptop and desktop monitors on the market are still using TN panels.


Anyway, here's the link to the X230t, you should definitely check it out. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions.
http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/laptop/thinkpad/xtablet-series/x230t/
Edited by 996gt2 - 6/22/12 at 11:45pm

Yea as a college kid myself I wouldn't go with a tablet lol

The laptop I linked is a beast for the price and I think the 2 more inches in screen size would only be a good thing, it's not going to make it harder to carry.

For a 14" business-class laptop, I'd only consider a Toshiba Tecra R940, Thinkpad T430 or T430s, or the unreleased Thinkpad X1 Carbon. Not at all a fan of Dell Latitudes or HP Elitebooks. You could get this R940 with a 3-year warranty + accidental, an i5, 2MP webcam, AMD 7570M graphics (decent amount faster than HD 4000 for gaming) for $1200 or so; only downside being, I don't think it has a backlit keyboard. http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cdetland.to?poid=2000035728

Or you could get a Thinkpad T430s with similar specs, onsite warranty instead of having to ship it out, minus discrete graphics, plus backlit keyboard, for $1450 or so. Or with 4 year warranty + accidental for $1550. http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=625170B995934B6EFED1F0FA956B4E9A

Another option- there's nothing wrong with getting a consumer laptop if you'd prefer - just make sure to get a warranty(in general, they're more likely to break, hence the higher warranty prices). Really, Thinkpad warranty might be overkill, but then again it's a 100% guarantee it'll last the 3 or 4 years (or if they can't repair it, you'd get the current equivalent model at no cost),

Seconded, X-series tablets are the only ones worth buying. The X230t has a "indoor" multitouch option, or a standard "indoor/outdoor" tablet touchscreen option (the latter definitely is IPS, former probably isn't). And everything else you mentioned. 12.5" screen, convertible tablet, full-size keyboard, full-power CPU etc. make this a beast of an ultraportable.

Asus G75 is absurdly large and heavy; weighs about 9 pounds, and it's huge. I can clearly tell the difference between carrying a 14" 5 pound laptop and a 15.6" 6-pound laptop. The 15.6" is so large that it makes the entire back of the backpack stiff, very uncomfortable. 17.3" won't even fit in most standard backpacks without stretching them out. 14" feels much better in a backpack. On the other hand, anything under 14", and you can barely tell it's in the bag. This is while usually carrying ~2-3 textbooks and a binder.

How small of a screen can you settle for when on the go? You can use another screen when at a desk. Why I'm asking because there's a Clevo(Sager) that's 11inches and outside of the GT650m being just decent for gaming it's pretty much a beast when you throw in the i7 (which is close to a 2600 desktop CPU).

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np6110-clevo-w110er-eta-4222012-p-4343.html?wconfigure=yes

But what programs are you absolutely going to be in need of using?