<p>Also dead wrong about video cards only being necessary for people who play computer games…you’d be surprised about the sort of sophisticated processing your graphics card is capable of. If you want to do anything with 3d modeling or simulations, you’re going to need a decent graphics card.</p>
<p>You may consider building a desktop instead of getting a laptop - you can always get a job and buy a cheap netbook to bring to class if you want something to take notes on, but I find that I spend most of my time reading webcomics and not paying attention if I bring my computer to class.</p>
<p>Another thing to keep in mind is that the vast majority of Linux distributions aren’t optimized for battery life or for the efficient use of laptop components - you will often actually get better performance and battery life with Windows. If your computer is laggy, I’m guessing it’s more of a ‘you have too much random crap installed’ problem than a ‘Windows sucks’ problem.</p>