<p>Naturally, I can read the specs in the brochure we got from UNC about the four laptop options, but does anyone have input about something they absolutely love or hate about the computer they selected?</p>
<p>DS is leaning toward the ThinkPad W500, because it seems the most powerful in so many different ways. He has been frustrated with his 2 year old Dell (don't ask, I don't know what model), mostly because the 99 GB hard drive has been at capacity for 99% of the time he's owned it.</p>
<p>I would welcome any and all opinions about any of the models available this year. Thanks.</p>
<p>Basically, any computer that you get your kid will work fine at UNC. I actually used a Dell last year, and had no problems. The same goes for my friends that used Macs, Compaqs, and anything else you can think of. Basically, CCI computers tend to be more expensive than other computers, which is a factor since you are buying the new computer out of your own pocket. That being said, the support you get for those computers is pretty amazing. Any problems you have with your computer, you can take it in and get it fixed. While it is getting fixed, CCI will loan you a loaner laptop. This definitely would have helped me last year, because my computer crashed with about 3 weeks of school left.</p>
<p>From what I have seen, the people that complain about the CCI laptops tend to be people who got them for free and used them instead of buying their own computers. I hope that helped, and if not, just let me know. I don’t know too much about the specs of the models being offered this year though.</p>
<p>eh, i wouldn’t buy from unc then… i find the warranties overpriced and not worth it… the only warranty u need is theft protection… other than that, a 1-2yr manufacturer warranty is good enough…</p>
<p>…I haven’t looked around myself for the best laptop deals out there, but a friend of mine recommends buying an asus laptop off of newegg.com… here is one that is similar price to the thinkpad w500…
[Newegg.com</a> - ASUS N90 Series N90SV-A2 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo T9550(2.66GHz) 18.4" 4GB Memory 1000GB HDD 5400rpm BD Combo NVIDIA GeForce GT 130M - Laptops / Notebooks](<a href=“Not Found: 404 Error”>Not Found: 404 Error)</p>
<p>it’s processor is slightly slower, not much though, but it has an awesome display size and resolution, a much better graphics card, a bluray drive, a nice card reader, and two 500gig hard drives running in RAID, which is nice not only because of the 1TB storage capacity but also because the hard drive is one of the most likely parts to fail in a laptop… so if it does, u’ll already have another one in there to use as a backup (of course u’d have to install another OS if the OS was on the HD that failed…)</p>
<p>the only downside is that it’s 3.5lbs heavier… i don’t consider weight to be a big deal, but some people do…</p>
<p>…oh and just fyi, the battery life on the CCI website and brochure is very sketchy… i’ve never heard of a laptop getting 10.9hrs of battery life… at least not during use…</p>
<p>eh, depends on what he needs it to do…also on how much ur willing to spend… but sense ur asking this question i assume you might be willing to pay for the more expensive one…</p>
<p>if he just uses the computer to browse the internet, play videos/music, and do school work, the R400 would probably be the best option since it’s free…</p>
<p>but if he plays video games on the computer or uses graphics intensive programs go with the W500… it has a better graphics card and better processor…</p>
<p>I wouldn’t advise the X200… it’s appears to be kinda like a cross b/t a netbook and a laptop… it has a smaller screen, lightweight, and no cd-drive… IMO, if you need something light and portable that doesn’t have to perform well, you might as well pay ~$400 for a good netbook and carry that when you don’t want to carry your laptop…</p>
<p>I like my CCI. I didn’t get a grant, but I got one through the school anyway. I’m glad I did. About halfway through the year I had MAJOR issues downloading a program I needed for Chem. After doing everything they could (and I mean, like the entire staff was huddled around my laptop at one point) the Tech folks just gave me a new hard with the program already installed. Don’t think Dell could do that for you over the phone.</p>
<p>Then again, I don’t know anything about computers, so getting a standard model without anything custom wasn’t an issue for me.</p>
<p>What I would recommend for everyone, regardless of make/model is to carry around a flash drive on your keys (So you can work in the computer labs in between classes and not have to carry around your laptop all the time) and also to invest in an external hard drive to back up your files.</p>
<p>@UNCgal: back up what files? the school work or programs or media? cause it’s a lot easier to backup the school work on a flash drive… i know i had like 50 files for school by the end of this past year on my flash drive… programs don’t really need to be backed up unless maybe you bought it off the internet…</p>
<p>only thing you might really need an external HDD to back up would be if you take a lot of pictures or videos… or if you have a ton of music that you want on a hard drive…</p>
<p>Yeah, it’s all about the music for me. I brought a TON to school. I didn’t want to slow up my laptop by having them all on the hard drive so the external was great for that, as well as having a backup that I couldn’t accidentally send through the wash. I’d back up right before I flew home for breaks in case anything happened to by laptop on the trip.</p>
<p>i’ve actually had my flash drive go through the wash before and come out working. i think, if you just make sure that it’s completely dry before you use it, it’ll be fine. or maybe i was just lucky. i’m not willing to try again to find out lol…</p>
<p>having your hard drive full of music won’t actually slow down your computer…</p>
<p>off topic: have you heard of anyone at UNC getting caught for illegal downloading?</p>