If price isn't a limiting factor...

College Life
1

<p>I'll be a college freshman in the fall, and was looking to purchase a new laptop over the summer. I was awarded a fellowship by the university I plan to attend, which will cover the cost of whichever computer I end up purchasing -- the one condition is that I purchase a PC of some sort (required to run the software needed for my intended major). I plan to use it simply for the basics -- in other words, writing papers, surfing the Web, watching the occasional TV show, and running the specialized programs required for my course of study. </p>

<p>That said, I was hoping for a semi-portable laptop (one I can comfortably take to class or use in my dorm interchangeably) that will be durable, long-lasting, and most importantly, reliable. With these characteristics in mind, what type of laptop (brand, specifics, etc.) do you recommend that I purchase (of course, let's keep a reasonable cost in mind as a benchmark...)? In addition, do you think that it would be advisable for me to purchase some sort of external back-up drive as well?</p>

2

<p>What about a 15" fully upgraded MacBook pro? You could dual boot windows, but you have a very durable, long lasting and reliable notebook. Most PCs do not have all three of those characteristics.</p>

3

<p>^I was told that I’m not allowed to purchase a Mac of any sort, unfortunately :(</p>

4

<p>Either a Sony Vaio Z or Lenovo Thinkpad X/W series. In the case of the Z, depending on the extent of your budget, you can add blu ray, SSD, etc.</p>

5

<p>get the smallest one you can find with a solid state harddrive.
its the most expensive upgrade, but if you’re not doing anything extremely processor/memory intensive, it will be the most fruitful feature you’d be getting.</p>

<p>sonys are pretty nice and have SSDs
[CTO</a> | Customize | Sony | SonyStyle USA](<a href=“http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SYCTOProcess?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&LBomId=8198552921665745555&categoryId=8198552921644569397]CTO”>http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SYCTOProcess?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&LBomId=8198552921665745555&categoryId=8198552921644569397)</p>

6

<p>Lenovo (IBM) is very reliable, and has a reputation for that too. Great performance, and portable (X series, available as tablet or laptop)
T500 - $1,509
core 2 duo 2.53 GHz, 6mb L2cache
vista business
15.4" TFT WXGA
2 GB DDR3 PC3-8500
everything is upgradeable for a reasonable price</p>

7

<p>sony laptops are effing sexy <3</p>

8

<p>if you plan to play any games whatsoever get this
[Newegg.com</a> - ASUS G Series G71G-Q2 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000(2.00GHz) 17.0" Wide UXGA 6GB Memory 640GB HDD 7200rpm BD Combo NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GS - Laptops / Notebooks](<a href=“Not Found: 404 Error”>Not Found: 404 Error)</p>

<p>otherwise get a lenovo</p>