<p>i was thinking about what laptop i sould get for college. ill be an engineering major, either chemical or mechanical, idk if that matters. im not that great with computers, so ill need something thats pretty hassle free and you dont have to mess with too much to get it to do what i want lol. preferably one that doesnt randomly decide to go zombie. also, i would like something that has a LOT of space for music. something with a pretty decent battery life. im not a gamer so i dont need some fancy gaming computer. i really dont know that much about computers... any advice? and please explain why a certain laptop would be best. please and thank you!</p>
<p>oh and i dont care about looks at all… as long as it gets the job done</p>
<p>What is your budget? What computer do you currently own/have owned in the past?</p>
<p>Don’t worry, these days, any Windows or Mac computer are pretty easy to get started on and won’t die on you if you take care of it. And they don’t need much taking care of, anyways.</p>
<p>A really good website to browse for anything computer-related would be newegg.com</p>
<p>I’m not completely sure, but I would imagine civil/mechanical engineers do a lot of work in programming and using CAD. This means you want a decent processor and good RAM - 4GB is enough RAM for anyone unless you are a serious gamer or video editor.</p>
<p>my budget is probably less than $1000. i have a dell desktop right now and i hate it, my dad has a dell laptop and i hate it too lol i dont plan on getting another dell</p>
<p>Ya, the old Dell’s are just pieces of plastic crap. Only the more expensive XPS or business line is worth it.</p>
<p>From you description I suggest you look at:
Macbook- $999
Asus U and UL series- all under $1000, a lot of models under “superior mobility” [ASUSTeK</a> Computer Inc. - Notebooks](<a href=“http://usa.asus.com/ProductGroup1.aspx?PG_ID=1quIC6RvvlvcvNbn]ASUSTeK”>http://usa.asus.com/ProductGroup1.aspx?PG_ID=1quIC6RvvlvcvNbn)
Acer TimelineX series- all under $1000, find on amazon.com
Lenovo T410
Lenovo ideapad V and Y series</p>
<p>Both windows 7 and mac osx run very well. As long as you don’t do anything stupid both will run fine. All current laptops come with plenty of HD space to hold like 20,000 songs.</p>
<p>Just a thought - at my daughter’s school freshman had the option of asking FA to adjust their award to include a computer purchase as a one time consideration. I’m sure this was in the form of loans for most (they also had a small scholarship for very low income students for computer purchase as long as it was purchased through the university). You might want to see what kind of options your school offers to make sure you can get the computer that will make you happy. Macs are expensive to begin with but I haven’t heard anyone sorry they bought one.</p>
<p>thanks, ill be sure to check that out. oh and i know that some laptops u have to get like an external thing for a disc drive or whatever, id prefer a laptop that just has a disc drive built in. i know im probably not using the right terminology lol.</p>
<p>I picked up this on sale for $799 last August: [Amazon.com:</a> Toshiba Satellite A665-S6065 LED TruBrite 16-Inch Laptop (Black): Computer & Accessories](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Satellite-A665-S6065-TruBrite-16-Inch/dp/B003MVZ8UG]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Satellite-A665-S6065-TruBrite-16-Inch/dp/B003MVZ8UG)</p>
<p>It’s got plenty of power, lots of features, performs great and I don’t have any complaints.</p>
<p>
Do you mean a CD Drive? Most laptops have CD drives.
All of aStyle’s suggestions are pretty good.</p>
<p>yeah i guess thats what i meant lol</p>
<p>goldandblue92 - Have you checked with the college you will be attending? Many schools have preferred computers that come with all of the software and diagnostics that you will need for propoer operations on campus and for the program you are enrolling in. They often offer better school pricing and onsite repair and tech support. Some schools even include the computer as part of the tuition package (Wake Forest is one that comes to mind). I suggest checking out this possiblity so that you have the right computer for your school.</p>
<p>I find it much more optimal to spend a bit of money getting a solid desktop and then the rest on a portable laptop. That way, you can get the best of both words.</p>
<p>Remember: $500 desktop gets you features approximately equivalent to a $3000+ laptop.</p>
<p>^This. I will be spending ~$800 on a quad core 3.5ghz desktop with 8 gb of RAM and a good graphics card, then ~$500 on the ASUS EP101 to carry around campus. Better performance than buying a laptop, more mobility than buying a laptop, and even combining these two items, its cheaper than a laptop.</p>
<p>I just bought an Envy 14 laptop a few weeks ago: dual core i5 2.66->3.33ghz processor (chosen for portability over i7), good graphics card, 6gb of RAM, 1600x900 resolution. I’m typically with you excelblue and Mathemagician1 but because of the new Sandy Bridge processors, I was able to snag this with a $500 coupon. I could have gotten the more expensive 17" Envy, but this one has about a 7 hour battery life, and portability was a must have.</p>
<p>another question: a few of my friends who are pretty tech-savvy reccomend mac. they have macs and told me that they hardly ever get viruses. what do you think?</p>
<p>There are very few viruses for Macs, that’s true. However, for Windows, that doesn’t mean you WILL get a virus. If you have any antivirus program and exercise common sense, then it’s very difficult to get a virus. I’ve been virus free for as long as I can remember.</p>
<p>If you are already used to Windows, then stick with it, as there’s very little advantage to switching towards one or the other.
Also, Mac hardware tend to be a little overpriced, and the cheapest Macbooks start out at $1000. You can easily get any Windows laptop for $500 that would be good for the average user. People say that Macbook has really good battery life, but I’m not sure.</p>