<p>Hi I am debating between these three laptops for a chemical engineering major. </p>
<p>I have discounts through my school for HP and Dell, and there is a Dell warranty on the campus so i wouldn't have to ship the computer out for repairs. </p>
<p>After setting each up with similar specs
4 GB RAM (do i need more than this for ChemE?)
500 GB Hard Drive
Core i5 540 (is i7 worth it?)</p>
<p>the thinkpad is the most expensive at 1500 the Envy 14 is next at 1350 and the Studio 15 is the least expensive at 1100.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any thoughts on which to choose or on the specs? I'd like this laptop to be useful for all 4 years.</p>
<p>Son’s Dell Studio 15 lasted 10 months–needed a new power cord, new keyboard when the keys started popping off and wouldn’t snap back on, the top doesn’t close all the way leaving on side raised up about 1/4 inch, wireless kept cutting out, and finally complete hard drive failure/crash. We were going to throw it out, but decided to take advantage of our 3-year Dell complete care/in home repair coverage. After numerous phone calls (and frustration dealing with language barrier on the phone due to heavy accents on the other end), Dell sent a technician out to replace the hard drive and give us a new power chord. Technician was at the house about 5-10 minutes and left telling us that the computer will reconfigure itself and be fine. That was an understatement. After more hours on the phone and downloading missing drivers, the laptop now works. Do I trust it?–NOT ONE BIT. Son replaced it with a MacBook Pro 13 inch and will keep the Dell as a spare laptop.</p>
<p>Good luck if you decide on the Studio. If you do purchase it, make sure you buy the Complete Care/In Home repair coverage. Doing this will boost up the total cost but not buying it could cost you later in repair/hardware costs.</p>
<p>I hear a lot of anecdotal evidence on the studio 15. My best friend’s studio also broke after 1 year. His plastic hinge split like a toy. The internet is just buzzing about these problems.</p>
<p>The thinkpad is strong with metal reinforcements inside.
Envy 14 is good. Check out the dm4t and the dv6t series.
Sony Vaios are decent too.</p>
<p>The i7 is not worth it unless you’re doing hardcore stuff. Waste of battery and LOTS of heat. Think of it, before 2010, chem engineers survived with core 2 duos.</p>
<p>For years I have been a Dell lover, but after owning a couple of Dell laptop, such as Dell Xps and Dell Latitude, I haveto admit Dell laptops have hardware design issues, so stay from them if you can. </p>
<p>Take example the Dell XPS m1530, heating issues, video card becomes overheated, freezing problem, etc, motherboard is crappy. </p>
<p>What ever you do buy Lenovo, but on other hand, Lenovo is a Chinese company. I support buy American, so get the Acer. Acer is build in California, or at least some of the assembling process is done here .</p>
<p>Support America buy laptop made or assembled in USA. </p>
<p>My studio 14z works great after a bit more than a year. Unfortunately, it’s not the greatest design (who solders on memory? really?) and the build quality isn’t great, but I try to take care of it. So far, though, I’m not impressed with Dell’s recent wares: mine basically replaced the disc drive with extra heat vents, but the new ones look bulky and a bit more flimsy. The best quality laptop, besides/maybe even including macs, is the Thinkpad. It’ll last a long time, and take abuse to boot. You pay for that a bit in that you often don’t get the highest quality monitor, or pay more for the specs you want, but if you’re going to pay for quality, and don’t care too much about aesthetics, get the Lenovo.</p>