<p>Hello! Im going to be a business major at OSU this fall and I still need to get a laptop. Im not too picky, but I would prefer a PC. I would not mind getting a Mac, I love the size (my dads work laptop is a PC and its so bulky/pain to carry around. I guess PCs come in all shapes and sizes, but seems like all Macbooks are small and I like that). But apparently having a PC is better for business, and using a Mac is kinda confusing and a pain (though Im sure Id get the hang of it with experience). Not to mention Macs typically are really expensive and I cant stand a lot of the Apple fan boys. </p>
<p>So looks like Ill be getting a PC, but where should I be looking?</p>
<p>Things that are important to me:
-Size, smaller not too bulky/heavy
-Long battery life (not a gamer, so standard use, ie youtube, Netflix, word, Internet/facebook, etc )
-Built in webcam would be nice, but not completely a deal breaker
-What companies have the best warranties/support? Just got a pretty nasty virus on my desktop and Dell was pretty good about helping us restore everything. Although some campuses have tech support and I think OSU has it for free, but Im not sure.
-Good amount of memory. Store a lot of music/ITunes and DVDs on my laptop usually. But most laptops today should fit the bill.
-Integrated WiFi. Should be a given, but I just want to make sure
-Price <$1000 Obviously the cheaper the better, but Im willing to pay a little more for a nicer laptop. I guess an ideal range would be $700-800</p>
<p>Anyone go the refurbished route? Heard you can get some good deals on basically brand new (got returned with a minor problem) laptops. Might look into that, Im sure the company selling would provide IT support if anything else happens. </p>
<p>Im not tech-challenged but I need some help with these kind of things. For example, I dont really understand what RAM means or how much I should have.</p>
<p>Any suggestions? I've been looking around newegg, but would like some extra guidance. </p>
<p>i bought a cheap sony vaio in 2009 for 600. i like it alot and it does everything i need it to. the only thing and i mean only thing i dont like about it is it dosent play blu ray which newer models probably do. Just look for a good processor. i hear all the time intel vs. what is it amd? i don’t really care which.</p>
<p>it has windows 7 and also check out Tigerdirect.com they have alot of good deals now and then.</p>
<p>Pretty easy to fix viruses. Just wipe your drive and reinstall windows.</p>
<p>RAM is Random Access Memory. They are the long DIMM sticks on your motherboard.
RAM is sort of like your workbench. Harddrive (HDD) is sort of like your shed. Your hands are like the CPU cache. Programs are loaded from your harddrive to your RAM when run. It is a lot faster to access the RAM than stuff on the HDD. Its even faster to access the CPU cache, so frequently used stuff is loaded on the CPU cache.
If you don’t have enough RAM, your computer is forced to swap data between the RAM and the HDD, which significantly decreases performance.</p>
<p>I’d recommend going for a cheaper laptop.
You can find lower end i3s with 4 GBs RAM for around 400 dollars.
These typically come with small harddrives however. You can solve this by either switching out the harddrive for a bigger one (HDDs by themselves are very cheap). or you can get an external drive (a lot of laptops come with esata recently). Alternatively you can swap out the harddrive and put the original one in an external enclosure.</p>
<p>I will be going to NYU for music business and commuting constantly so I’ve been looking for the perfect mobile workbook that is high on power and low on weight and size, so I got this recently:</p>
<p>It’s perfect. It’s essentially a full size keyboard with a core i5 processor packed into 2.9 lbs (weight includes battery unlike many misleading advertisements). It’s an 11.6" screen but at a 1366x768 resolution which is better than a netbook and is at the same typical resolution as a 13" screen so it means you get to see the same amount of stuff on the screen at once. It’s about an inch thick and no bigger than a regular 8.5x11 piece of paper. It’s advertised as a 8 hour battery but with realistic applications and use is like 5-6 hours, but still pretty good. As you can see I am super happy with it and your needs sound quite similar to mine. All under $700 shipped.</p>
<p>Oh, and you mentioned RAM, this has 4GB which is more than enough in 90% of cases unless you’re running powerhouse editing or server applications but with this kind of laptop you would not be doing. I spent more than 8 hours researching the perfect laptop before I pulled the trigger on this… you can also check out an Acer 1830T which has very similar specs except but $100 cheaper and has an HDMI port if you like to stream video onto an HDTV or something…but I decided to go with this Acer 8172 because it was 0.2 lbs lighter (yes I’m picky like that). FYI, an average laptop weighs 6 lbs.</p>
<p>Thanks guys, and thanks for the breakdown hamster. </p>
<p>Still hve not gotten a laptop yet. Parents kind of want me to get a Dell but they don’t really care. Have looked into Lenovo’s, they look pretty nice. </p>
<p>Thank you. Any more suggestions? Any place that might be having deals? </p>
<p>Dell laptops don’t have VERY long battery life unless you get an extended 9 cell cell battery. (except the XPS 15z) But they do give you a good bang for your buck!</p>
<p>Asus “U” and “UL” series. You can find them at Best Buy. They can get 8 hrs of battery.
Lenovo is always solid.</p>
<p>Most laptops nowadays give you 4 GB’s of RAM standard which is all you need.</p>
<p>From my experience, when most people start comparing laptops, the specs are mostly irrelevant. Most people that ask will not notice a tangible difference between an i3 and i7, and the same applies for between 4GB and 8GB of RAM. That said, it’s always good to get advice on what to avoid (i.e. if you’re an engineer who plans on running SolidWorks or AutoCad, make sure you get a <em>good</em> discrete graphics card).</p>
<p>For business, any laptop with a multi-core processor and at least 4GB RAM should serve you very well.</p>
<p>The main issues now are the looks and durability. As a student, your laptop will suffer much more abuse than even that of a business user, so if you want it to last, you need to get something at least business grade. That really takes out most of the choices, which are made out of cheap plastic.</p>
<p>Some recommendations:
Dell Latitude E-series
Lenovo Thinkpad T-series
HP EliteBook (probably a bit expensive)
ASUS U-series
MacBook Pro</p>