<p>What type of computers are you guys buying? Specifically with laptops, whats good? What do you guys think about the tablet PCs? And which laptops (that aren't tablet) are really good too?</p>
<p>Good question. I've decided to buy my laptop at Stanford not before in order to get a US warranty (I'm currently living overseas).</p>
<p>well, the laptops that are actually sold at stanford (ie through the stanford bookstore) are really expensive. i bought mine through HP before i got to campus and they have an online discount program for college students called APP. check it out. </p>
<p>i'm no computer nerd, so i couldn't tell you what's good or bad. my hp works great though. and from personal experience, more of my MAC friends have had problems than my PC friends. i heard compaq sucked. but again, i'm not comp geek.</p>
<p>i will say that tablet pc's are pretty useless. i mean, usually you either have to take hand written notes for math classes and such just because it's easier...and if you have a laptop you just type notes in more humanities type classes. it's faster to type anyway. so basically typing is faster anyway, and what you have to write you'll want to do on a notebook that you can easily flip through and add to. i think i've seen maybe seen one tablet pc at stanford...at the most.</p>
<p>If you plan on buying a Dell, google "Dell Coupons" before you place the order. You may save a LOT of money.</p>
<p>apple macbooks and macbook pros. (there have been problems reported but i havent had any so far with my macbook pro. also, if you get a mac now, you get a free ipod nano ($180 rebate off any ipod, which is a free nano) and a free printer ($100 rebate off participating printers). yea on top of that, apple offers student discounts (about 10%). apples are just awesome. i dont know anyone not satisifed with their mac. yep i dont feel like going into detail, but i assure you its worth the switch. i find that the biggest reason people dont switch to mac is they're "so used to windows, they dont feel like relearning an operating system", but really, its pretty much the same thing in a nicer interface. it took me like a day or two to be as fluent with the controls and interface as i was with windows.</p>
<p>So you guys wouldn't advise me to buy my laptop at Stanford? Or do you think I should just order it online there?</p>
<p>why wait to get to campus to order it? research now at least. i mean, you'll want to be using your laptop pretty quickly after you get on campus. don't want to wait 2 weeks to get your pc or mac.</p>
<p>but yeah def order it online, don't buy from the bookstore. and if you order online, do what everyone else has been saying. look for coupons online and see if the company itself (ie dell, hp, mac...) have specific academic purchase rates. i know dell and hp do. good luck.</p>
<p>Thx. Ive already researched but I want to see which laptops are the ones most commonly used. I like big screens but I don't think lugging around a 20 inch laptop (or even a 17) would be a very good idea.</p>
<p>dell inspirons 600m, 6000, or 7000, latitudes (610 or whatever?) are the most commonly used ones that i saw last year</p>
<p>Thanks :) That's good seeing as I'm already used to Dell laptops and know them pretty well and was thinking of getting one anyways.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info.</p>
<p>about how heavy do you think a laptop for school should be? What's the max?</p>
<p>I would avoid the 17+ in. screens, or anything larger, if you want to bring it around school.</p>
<p>As I wrote in a separate message, if you are looking to consider a dell, going to <a href="http://www.dell.com/stanford%5B/url%5D">http://www.dell.com/stanford</a> will save you money (up to 12%) in addition to all of Dell's current deals.</p>
<p>With regards to the model, I would take a Latitude if you plan on carrying it around. An Inspiron is good as a desktop replacement, but is a little too big to carry around. Good rule of thumb is 15 inches. Below and it's portable, above and it's good on a desk.</p>
<p>Xiao</p>
<p>thnx</p>
<p>10 char</p>
<p>As ajimmykid mentioned, Apple also offers college student discounts and Stanford is officially supporting them as their preferred operating system. Macs also can now dual boot with Windows, so it's really your best bet-- completely future proof and nearly completely crash-proof. If you do have problems all the IT people at stanford are trained to handle and fix macs. "Dell has seen a steep slide (in market share due to) a lack of innovative and stylish products as well as complaints about its customer service, analysts say" ( <a href="http://biz.yahoo.com/ibd/060705/tech.html%5B/url%5D">http://biz.yahoo.com/ibd/060705/tech.html</a> ). To clarify ajimmykid's comment, the two problems that had been reported with Apple's laptops are a discoloration on the white MacBook (which Apple is offering to replace free of charge) and a whining sound from the early model MacBook Pro's (no longer an issue).</p>