Choosing a PC laptop

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>Like almost everyone else here, I'm heading off to college in the fall & I need a computer.</p>

<p>I know I want a PC, definitely a laptop. The most my parents are willing to pay is $1800 for everything I might need - computer, printer, docking station, cords, whatever.</p>

<p>I plan on using word processing, music, movies, Internet... I'm not a hardcore gamer, but I would like the computer to remain fairly usable for the next 4-8 years. (Hopefully through medical/pharmacy school.)</p>

<p>Here's what I was thinking in terms of specs:
- 15.4" screen (nice & big, but not too heavy to carry around)
- fingerprint reader (because I'm a geek and I want one, and for absolutely no other reason)
- Windows Vista Home Premium (I'm probably going to buy XP Pro cheap from my university & have both OS's available)
- Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.0 GHz, 4 MB cache (recommended by my brother)
- 2 GB RAM
- don't care much about graphics card
- TV tuner, so I don't need to buy a separate TV to watch shows
- 100+ GB hard drive. I definitely want to store my music & probably TV shows/movies as well. Thinking maybe an external hard drive might be nice for the space.
- some sort of mouse because I hate laptop touchpads</p>

<p>I'd like a color printer, maybe an all-in-one that scans too, but I'll probably end up getting whatever discounted one they offer when I buy my laptop. :)</p>

<p>I'm not sure how useful a docking station would be, and I don't know whether to buy an extra keyboard/monitor/speakers/what have you. I'll probably study outside of my dorm, but watch movies & such in the dorm.</p>

<p>Right now I'm leaning towards the HP dv6500t; haven't looked too closely at Dells yet.</p>

<p>Opinions? Should I upgrade/downgrade anything? Anything on HP laptops in general (battery life, longevity, etc.)? What about the docking station?</p>

<p>Thank you so much; I'm not hopelessly lost when it comes to computers but I'm certainly not the most knowledgeable person out there either.</p>

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<p>Do you have a Fry's around you? They have a Sony laptop, i forget the name, but it has a 2 x blu ray drive, T7300, 2GB RAM, large HDD, GeForce 8400M, all for $1899</p>

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<p>Almost no laptops come with TV tuners and without spending big bucks the TV tuner will suck anyway. Your best bet is to download your TV or find a cheap TV off Craigslist (you can get a 32" set for 150 bucks all day long).</p>

<p>Lenovo is the way to go, and those are pretty solid specs all around. You've got the right idea.</p>

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<p>don't wimp out on the GPU. get a 256 mb card. maybe an X1400. nothing integrated.</p>

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<p>Video memory has nothing to do with the GPU. If you have enough system memory, it is unnecessary to have extra video memory because any overflow will just be stored there. You will have much better performance from a high end card with 128mb than a lower end card with 256. It is a common marketing scheme to sell the lowest end cards with 512mb memory to make people think they are good, when they really actually suck.</p>

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<p>HP nc8430 or IBM t6_p , either will get you a fingerprint reader and 15.4 inch screen</p>

<p>fingerprint login is great</p>

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<p>the 128mb cards are usable, but not if you want the pc to last 4-8 years.</p>

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<p>As I said, Video memory has absolutely nothing to do with anything. it's mostly a marketing scheme. Especially when they are coming out with physics processors to do physics calculations in games. That will take a huge load of video cards.</p>

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<p>Except hat there aren't physics cards in laptops and won't be for a very long time. And the fact that most of the time the 256 mb card is a 128mb card with the same GPU with more memory. What you're talking about is mostly old practice and you're not going ot get a great GPU on a laptop anyway.</p>

<p>However, since you are going ot be running Vista on jsut about any new computer, RAM is a huge cost and you want ot free up your system memory as much as possible.</p>

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<p>Do you really want me to go through every specification on the card? My Geforce 3 isn't good in any shape or form anymore, even if it was acceptable 5-6 years ago. I had the choice of getting the 64MB card I have or a 128MB card (WHICH ALSO HAPPENED TO BE BETTER IN EVERY OTHER ASPECT LOL). The point is: get a good card if you want to have a PC that will get through 4-6 years.</p>

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<p>Yes, get a good card. But, if there is a choice between CARD XYZ 128mb and CARD XYZ with 256mb and the price difference is $100, it isn't worth it at all.</p>

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<p>I would definitely recommend a Lenovo ThinkPad. I just got one about two weeks ago and it runs like a dream. I think they're about to have another sale so you could probably get good deal on an excellent computer.</p>

<p>If you do decide on a ThinkPad, I'd suggest you invest in an external monitor (unless you get the T_p series which has a better screen, I believe, but correct me if I'm wrong) and an external mouse. I would, however, recommend that you try out the TouchPoint (eraserhead) before getting an external mouse. An external keyboard probably isn't necessary; ThinkPads are known for having the best laptop keyboards.</p>

<p>As for a printer, just get a decent HP or whatever off of Amazon and it'll cost you around $60-100 depending on how great you want your printer to be.</p>

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<p>It's most definitely going to be difficult to have a 8 year futureproof laptop; you'll have to upgrade at some point.</p>

<p>I got a Lenovo Thinkpad T61 fairly recently and it's great; so I would definitely second theothermuse's recommendation. The build quality - screen, keyboard, etc - on this is unparalleled; and I am certain it'll last me a long time.</p>

<p>I also have the 2.0 GHz processor with 4MB cache (the processor one step below this only has 2MB cache; and this is still relatively cheap which is likely why your brother recommended it. Overall, it's probably the best bang for the buck without going too expensive for a processor).</p>

<p>You can choose to have integrated X3100 Intel GMA965 graphics; nobody really knows the potential of it yet as many drivers hvae yet to be released but don't expect that much. Some Thinkpads come with the option of a discrete graphics card, but they aren't anything to be amazed by; I opted out of it because I wanted longer battery life.</p>

<p>If you need any more suggestions or advice, just PM me</p>

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<p>I'd highly recommend a ThinkPad too -- extremely efficient, reliable, and durable computers at a good price. Like MChong, I'm going for a T61 -- you might think about going for that, too, or something similar.</p>