<p>In your opinion, what is the best laptop for a student at FSU?</p>
<p>Macbook Pro!..I don’t know, I just love mine. I bought mine from the Apple store (got a free iTouch with it) and bought the computer package from FSU that had all the Microsoft stuff on it, extended Apple Warranty, etc. I love that it starts up and shuts down much faster than other computers, keyboard letters are spaced out (can’t stand using my mom’s PC…always hit like 2 letters at the same time!), graphics are great, no viruses, battery life is also really good! Plus their appearance is appealing, too. I’m not one of those Apple-obsessed people, but I do love this product. I have an Android phone which functions fine with my MacBook Pro! It is quite a bit of money but these things last forever!! I figure buying one good laptop to last your whole four years of college is better than buying multiple not-so-good ones…but that’s just my own opinion :P</p>
<p>I have not heard any bad report on Mac laptop so far…I guess you get what you paying for.</p>
<p>Second the Macbook Pro. We have two and love 'em.</p>
<p>Just bought a MacBook Pro. Love it! Not cheap, however.</p>
<p>Both D1 and D2 had MacBooks for their undergraduate careers.</p>
<p>Haha, I figured the Macbook Pro. The 13" one is way cheaper than the 15" one. Does anyone know how you can get student discounts when buying a laptop online?</p>
<p>Start here: [Apple</a> Education Store - Find Your School and Shop - Apple Store (U.S.)](<a href=“http://store.apple.com/us-hed/browse/home/findyourschool]Apple”>Education Pricing and Student Discounts - Education - Apple)</p>
<p>You can also go to the FSU Computer Store: [The</a> Florida State University | Computer Store](<a href=“http://computerstore.fsu.edu/]The”>http://computerstore.fsu.edu/)</p>
<p>Make sure to purchase applecare if you are to buy a macbook. Their service time: shipping, repairs and return, take less than 5 days.</p>
<p>Yeah i would go with a macbook pro. I want to waste over a 1000 bux on a laptop that most people buy as a status symbol because it is “hip” to be a mac user. Sure, a 400 dollar laptop can allow me to surf the internet, skype with my friends, facebook my classmates and type out documents so much worse than the shiny macbook pro…</p>
<p>MacBook Pros are very nice, but they start at maybe $1100? If you are on a tight budget you’ll be fine for most schoolwork just buying a laptop for maybe as low as $300 when they go on sale before school starts–just make sure you load Microsoft Office Suite on it and you’ll be all set. You should be able to buy the Office software through FSU cheap.</p>
<p>All depends on budget and what you are going to use it for. I could sit here and recommend hundreds of laptops and never hit one that’s good for the use you’re looking for. </p>
<p>I paid $400 for my Lenovo G530 when I started, and it’s been amazing since. I’m starting to debate replacing it with something a bit more up-to-date since this one is 3 years old, but I am having trouble justifying it when it still works like a champ. I can’t justify $1000+ on a laptop that will be outdated within months (and yes, all laptops, including Macbooks have this problem). </p>
<p>Quite honestly the only people I readily would suggest a Macbook to is a graphics-related major or something similar, as that is where a Macbook excels, but the Windows community has narrowed the gap a great deal there, to where they are almost equal. </p>
<p>@Tallalassie:
With the very good alternatives out there for MS Office, there is no reason to shell out more than a few bucks for the software. OpenOffice, LibreOffice (a slight variant on OpenOffice), and plenty of others that are completely free work just as well as MS Office. The only way I’d recommend using MS Office is if you have access to the Home Use program Microsoft has (you can get MS Office for about $10).
There’s no reason otherwise to pay the $100 or more that MS Office retails for unless you specifically need it for a class (and then, most of them “require” a textbook that contains a longer-term trial of the software, typically ~6 months).</p>
<p>Pasbal, I tried OpenOffice for a short while, but I had some problems with conflicts using the software like sending papers to professors and I started using the MS Office because it seems to be far more compatible with my usage. I don’t need headaches like trying to turn in an assignment at a deadline and it not working for me. I am not that computer savy and I know others can work around problems like I had–it just made my life easier going with the MS Office.</p>
<p>All it takes to fix that issue is when you go to save, you click on the drop down menu just below where you type the document title, and change it to whatever you want- .doc, .docs, whatever. Open Office natively saves things as .odt format. </p>
<p>I’ve used OpenOffice and LibreOffice for a while now (only going back to MS Office when they offered the Beta version of MS Office 2010 for free). Never had a problem.</p>
<p>If you want to save $500+ you might want to checkout the new Dell XPS 15z. It’s aluminum, nice looking and pretty thin (although not quite as thin as a MacBook). That’s what I’d get if I were in the market for a new laptop right now.</p>
<p>“I’m not one of those Apple-obsessed people”</p>
<p>lies…when it comes to computers, yes you are.</p>
<p>I agree with the most recent string of posts, but go the preppy/hipster route if you have money of your own to blow. If not, I’d suggest you make efficient use of other people’s money and get a Windows-based PC (a subset of PCs [such as a Mac] is still a PC, btw) by Dell or HP.</p>
<p>Look for at least 2gb of RAM, 120GBHDD space, and a 1.9+Ghz processor (preferably dual to quad core if you’re a multitasker) in whatever you do choose though.</p>
<p>When the the makebook + free printer come out and does FSU offer that </p>
<p>Sent from my VM670 using CC App</p>
<p>^ Or get something like this: [Walmart.com:</a> Dads & Grads Laptop Bundle with Your Choice Laptop, Case, Flash Drive & Printer: Computers](<a href=“http://www.walmart.com/ip/Student-Home-Office-Laptop-Bundle-with-Case-4GB-USB-Flash-Drive-and-HP-Multi-Function-Printer/10966053]Walmart.com:”>http://www.walmart.com/ip/Student-Home-Office-Laptop-Bundle-with-Case-4GB-USB-Flash-Drive-and-HP-Multi-Function-Printer/10966053) </p>
<p>I still use all the items that came in mine from over a year ago (well I sold the laptop, but the guy who has it is my roommate and it works fine). They all act/look as if I just got them today.</p>
<p>That Walmart bundle looks like a good deal at first, but once you start digging you end up overpaying.</p>
<p>The 4GB flash drives go for about $6-7 all the time (provided you are shopping at Amazon, Newegg, Buy.com, etc). You can get a really good laptop messenger bag for like $10-15, and if you just want a sleeve you can get them for even cheaper (as low as about $5).
I don’t recommend an inkjet printer at all, just because the ink can dry up and costs much more to replace than the toner in a laser printer. The price of that Canon inkjet printer is $30 (that’s what it sells for in the local Walmart). </p>
<p>That means that the value of the first laptop listed (the refurbished Compaq with the Celeron 900 processor) needs to be $365 - $7 - $15 - $30, or about $312. Since these laptops new are about $300 all the time in stores, and go as low as $250 new while on sale, this bundle at first seems like a good choice, but with a little research it isn’t as good as it seems. </p>
<p>It also doesn’t help that May and June aren’t known as months for good deals on computers. Good sales ramp up in mid-July and last through about mid-September, as all of the stores want people to buy them for back to school. </p>
<p>For comparison, here is a much better laptop than the Compaq at Walmart, for $400 new:
[Dell</a> Inspiron 14R Core i3 Dual 2.53GHz 14" LED Laptop for $400 + free shipping](<a href=“http://dealnews.com/Dell-Inspiron-14-R-Core-i3-Dual-2.53-GHz-14-LED-Laptop-for-400-free-shipping/466053.html]Dell”>http://dealnews.com/Dell-Inspiron-14-R-Core-i3-Dual-2.53-GHz-14-LED-Laptop-for-400-free-shipping/466053.html)</p>
<p>Also, here’s the link to the 4GB flash drive for $7 I was talking about:
<a href=“http://www.mwave.com/mwave/SKUSearch.asp?px=DN&scriteria=BA47645[/url]”>http://www.mwave.com/mwave/SKUSearch.asp?px=DN&scriteria=BA47645</a></p>
<p>Here’s also a new laptop comparable to the Compaq at Walmart for $300 from Best Buy:
<a href=“http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Satellite+Laptop+/+Intel&%23174%3B+Celeron&%23174%3B+Processor+/+15.6"+Display+-+Black/1846161.p?id=1218296198127&skuId=1846161&cmp=RMX&ky=28TLy7jjo1JkqYMkF17e3DS70zwgpuZGd&ref=10&loc=01[/url]”>http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Satellite+Laptop+/+Intel&%23174%3B+Celeron&%23174%3B+Processor+/+15.6"+Display+-+Black/1846161.p?id=1218296198127&skuId=1846161&cmp=RMX&ky=28TLy7jjo1JkqYMkF17e3DS70zwgpuZGd&ref=10&loc=01</a>
It’s got a newer processor, 1GB more RAM, plus it comes with a 1 year warranty (the Compaq only comes with a 90 day warranty).</p>
<p>Yeah, I was just posting an example so no one thought that a deal that conveniently adding a random printer justified the price of a MacBook. I do disagree with the “overpaying” statement though. At least, last year when I was shopping around for all those things, it was practically impossible to find a good laptop backpack for under $10, a 4gb flashdrive for $5, and a 15+" laptop, and all-in-one printer for the $350 it cost me.
Tech-savvy shoppers can, of course, find better overall deals; it’s just harder to beat having all of those things for that price. I just usually don’t care too much about laptops as long as they can do the basic school tasks and websurfing since I build my own actual desktop to use for heavier purposes. </p>
<p>Btw, that’s a great laptop deal! I’ll have to bookmark that website.</p>
<p>Yeah, I know how you feel about how the ease of getting it all at once sometimes is worth more than saving a few bucks here and there buying everything separate.</p>
<p>Just so long as people don’t pay $10-15 for a 1GB or 2GB flash drive like Best Buy and similar stores charge, it’s all good. </p>
<p>Plus, to help counter the typical offer of Buy a Macbook, get a free <a href=“typically%20either%20a%20printer%20or%20an%20iPod%20Touch…%20or%20both”>whatever</a> that Apple puts on most summers, Microsoft has countered:
Buy a Windows 7 PC (desktop or laptop) for $699 or more (not $999+ that Macbooks start at) and get a free Xbox 360 Slim 4GB console:
[Microsoft</a> Offering Students a Free Xbox 360 with PC Purchase | PCWorld](<a href=“http://www.pcworld.com/article/228419/microsoft_offering_students_a_free_xbox_360_with_pc_purchase.html]Microsoft”>Microsoft Offering Students a Free Xbox 360 with PC Purchase | PCWorld)</p>
<p>Granted, it’s not the best idea to bundle a laptop with a video game system, but it’s an interesting offer if you’re into video games.</p>