<p>So I am going to Saint Mary's this fall and I have started the search for a good laptop to take. I am majoring in business. I do not plan on playing games or videos on my laptop but I do have alot of music and pictures, but I plan to store all those files on an external hard drive. </p>
<p>I want to have a fast computer that can have many windows open at once without being slow. </p>
<p>I am curious as to which model thinkpads are considered best for college students. Do I really need to go with the higher end models to avoid getting a "cheap" thinkpad or are most of the thinkpads pretty solid?</p>
<p>I would appreciate any personal experiences with them or even advice on alternatives to thinkpads.</p>
<p>Any info on recomended memory/accesories would be great too.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help,
Matt</p>
<p>Edit: one more quick thing. My dad seems to think that a college laptop is only going to cost $800-$1000. I told him it was going to be more towards $1500 and because of all the $699 "super specials" that hp runs ads for on tv's he thinks that price is crazy. We can afford the higher priced laptops, so what can I use to convince him $1500 isn't too crazy.</p>
<p>$1500 actually is a lot. You can get a very good ThinkPad (the T400) for just $900. The cheaper ThinkPads, with the exception of the SL series, are not lacking in quality. The only difference is that the R series, which is one of the cheaper ones, has laptops that are physically larger and heavier. The T series strikes a good balance between price and size, while the X series focuses on portability, but at a significant price premium. I’ve got a T400, and it works just fine for me.</p>
<p>However, since you’re not going to be playing games, you don’t need to make any upgrades other than adding some RAM. 2 GB should be enough. I would strongly suggest purchasing any upgrades, such as additional RAM, from [url=<a href=“http://www.newegg.com/]Newegg[/url”>http://www.newegg.com/]Newegg[/url</a>], since OEMs severely overcharge on that.</p>
<p>Playback of audio and video files do not require a very powerful computer, so that won’t be a problem.</p>
<p>T400 is going to run you more than $900. You’re going to want to upgrade to 3 or 4 gigs. You’re going to want at least a 250 hard drive. You’re going to want bluetooth. You’re going to want a camera SD card reader. You’ll probably want to upgrade the screen to an LED with a built in camera. For this, you’re going to pay more than $900 to Lenovo.</p>
<p>You can get the same thing (and more) in a laptop from another brand.</p>
<p>32 bit Operating Systems max out at just over 3 gig of ram. To run 4 or more you need a 64 bit os to use all available memory. Pretty much all computers sold with 4 or more gig of ram are 64 bit. That could be a problem for some applications or older hardware. </p>
<p>When you get a .edu email address you can get the ultimate steal deal (office ultimate for $60) thru the Microsoft website. Just do a google search. Remember all the extra stuff. Like Laptop bag, flash drives, mouse, antivirus, computer warrantee and software is going to drive up the total on that purchase.</p>
T400 is going to run you more than $900. You’re going to want to upgrade to 3 or 4 gigs. You’re going to want at least a 250 hard drive. You’re going to want bluetooth. You’re going to want a camera SD card reader. You’ll probably want to upgrade the screen to an LED with a built in camera. For this, you’re going to pay more than $900 to Lenovo.
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Totally unnecessary. He said he’s going to be storing all his media files on an external hard drive.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=nysmile]
You can get the same thing (and more) in a laptop from another brand.
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You can get the same specs, but you definitely can’t get the same quality. I learned that the hard way, by buying an HP because it was cheap. Now I’ve got a ThinkPad, and it was definitely worth the price.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=swoosh]
When you get a .edu email address you can get the ultimate steal deal (office ultimate for $60) thru the Microsoft website.
<p>The cheapest T400 currently being offered on the Lenovo site is on sale for $800 before adding any upgrades. 1GB ram, 160 HD, 4 cell battery, Vista home basic, and thinkpad b/g wireless for $800 really is terrible.</p>
The cheapest T400 currently being offered on the Lenovo site is on sale for $800 before adding any upgrades. 1GB ram, 160 HD, and 4 cell battery for $800 really is terrible.
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Not as terrible as the build quality on the average laptop from another brand.</p>
<p>Like I said, you can get an additional 2 GB of RAM for just $20, and a bigger hard drive is unnecessary when you have an external hard drive.</p>
<p>The 4 cell battery is a separate issue, but I’ve found that I rarely use more than half of my battery before I can charge it again. Either way, you can upgrade to a 6 cell battery for $20, resulting in a total price of $898, which is still than $900.</p>
<p>And don’t forget that the T series is not the lowest-end ThinkPad available; the R series has lower prices, if you’re so picky about that.</p>
<p>Well, that’s what you pay for reliability. Sure you can buy an HP or a Dell, but you should be prepared to deal with all the hardware problems and short lifespan.</p>
<p>^^^ Even if you want top of the line Vista (Vista Ultimate), there is a similar deal from Microsoft for students on Vista Ultimate as for Office. I think it’s about $60, which is significantly cheaper than any upgrade you’ll have to buy from Lenovo. </p>
<p>To add to this topic, I’d like to ask if any of you have a 9 cell battery in your thinkpad? I think the extended battery life sounds great, but the website says the battery will extend behind the back of the laptop; I’m just not sure if it’ll be a big aesthetic issue or a really minor one. Anyone have experience with this?</p>
<p>Oh, beautiful, thanks for the pic. That’s not really enough to bother me, especially since I’m not exactly buying a thinkpad for the looks. Very helpful.</p>
To add to this topic, I’d like to ask if any of you have a 9 cell battery in your thinkpad? I think the extended battery life sounds great, but the website says the battery will extend behind the back of the laptop; I’m just not sure if it’ll be a big aesthetic issue or a really minor one. Anyone have experience with this?
