<p>I know this has been a beaten down subject, but I have a few questions.</p>
<p>First, I have been building (and maintaining) my own desktops for the past 4 years, and always thought that I’d probably want to have both a desktop and a small, light and cheap ($1000 or less total) laptop for taking to class/the library/etc. However, it seems that many people say that, as an engineering major, I’d never use a laptop for taking notes so using it in class would pretty much be pointless. I’ve heard, however, that using it in the library or other WiFi spots can be very worthwhile if you want to get away from your roommate or whatever to write a paper or just relax.</p>
<p>I’ve been thinking recently, however, that maybe I’d rather just have a nice laptop (around $2000 - yes, I understand its not necessary to spend this much, but computers have become more of a hobby for me). The only problem is powerful laptops tend to get crappy battery life, which would be why I originally wanted to build a new desktop (~$1500) and get a cheaper laptop that would be easy to carry around and could be used for hours without worrying about battery life.</p>
<p>So - the questions:</p>
<li><p>Does the library have outlets where I could plug in a 17" laptop that only gets around 150 minutes of battery life?</p></li>
<li><p>Engineering majors - would it ever be useful having a more powerful laptop of my own in class, or even just a laptop in general?</p></li>
<li><p>Do most people carry their laptops around campus, or is it more typical to just keep it stationed in your dorm?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The reason I am thinking about a 17" notebook would be that it could be at least somewhat comparable in power and overall usefulness to my current desktop (w/ a 20" widescreen LCD) yet would still be somewhat portable (heavy, yes, but a little bit of physical exertion never hurt anyone). I also was originally considering a desktop and notebook because its much easier to upgrade a desktop (this is something we computer nerds do, every year or two), but if the I am going to spend an extra $700 or so initially to get both a desktop and a laptop I may as well just get another $1500-2000 laptop after 2 years.</p>
<p>1: yes there are outlets and even ethernet jacks in addition to wireless</p>
<p>2: laptops in class are, in general, for taking notes not....engineering things</p>
<ol>
<li> most don't carry them around campus from class to class, but some students like myself frequently bring them to the library when we do work there.</li>
</ol>
<p>If you're getting a laptop to be portable and getting having a desktop on top of it, get a small laptop like the dell inspirion 700m. If you want to be really portable i'd say get a small laptop no matter what. you can always get a full size monitor, keyboard, and mouse to plug in in your dorm room like I have. if you don't plan to be too portable a medium sized, powerful laptop like a souped up inspirion 6000 or the Dell XPS line is more down your alley.</p>
<p>i'm just talking in terms of dell because they're the company i'm most familiar with and also exceedingly popular with everyone from students to consultants. obviously there are lots of other good companies out there with various value and quality tradeoffs...you probably know abotu them already.</p>
<p>I decided to go w/ a laptop (only), so I dumped my iBook on eBay and upgraded to the Intel-based MBP. I did this thinking I'd use it for class (I'll be in CAS), but apparetly people don't do that? Either way it should get the job done. What's the need for a desktop? The "light-n-thin" 15-inch types are statring to bridge the gap in terms of performance, which most of us don't need much of anyways. I'm still a HS senior, but having desktop sounds like a pain for college. You'd have to trek back to your dorm every time you want to check your email or write a paper. Plus, the wireless network is there! Use it!</p>
<p>If Mac isn't your thing, check out the Thinkpad Z60 series. Dells have the best in terms of performance/money, but get ready to put their support line on your speed dial...</p>
<p>There are quite a few limitations for notebooks. For starters, hard drive space in them is extremely limited. I have a huge music collection and rip every DVD I own into Xvid/Divx format to store on my computer (50 gb of movies and 25 gb of music, right now). I guess I could use a couple of external enclosures, but that's quite a bit less secure when compared to a locking desktop PC case. Also, while the Core Duo (which is still only 32-bit) has lessened the gap in CPUs, there's still much less flexibility with mobile processors (no overclocking or really any sort of tweaking). And the biggest gap would be in the video card segment, where a GF 7800 mobile GPU really can't touch the latest and greatest in desktops (Radeon x1900xtx). It's also really difficult to upgrade anything in a notebook (really, impossible with the exception of adding more ram).</p>
<p>That said, if I don't ever really need very good battery life, the Inspiron E1705 could very well be what I end up getting (along with 2 external HD enclosures). Is Cornell completely wired (or, unwired I guess) for WiFi access pretty much everywhere on campus, or is it pretty much just the library and a few other hot spots?</p>
<p>If I went the desktop + smaller laptop route, I'd probably end up getting whatever Apple's $999 notebook is at the time or the Inspiron 700m.</p>
<p>Now's the worst time to pick an Apple from the $999 line, it's expected to jump the PowerPC-Intel fence (iBook --> MacBook) around April. Definitely wait for that.</p>
<p>You have a point w/ the HD, but I solved that problem by switching from "I'll rip it for when I want to watch" to "I'll find the torrent when I want to watch." Works for me, idk</p>
<p>I think I heard that they're expanding the WiFi network bigtime, but who knows.</p>
<p>Yes, definitely wait for April. I will be waiting for April as well, though I am going to be getting the 15" MacBook Pro. I want to see if they bring anything new for that line as well. Ahhh, I can't wait!</p>
<p>itsallhappening- Do you like the MBP? I am so excited for it, I'm scared I'm making it out to be more than it really is. How does it compare to your old iBook? Do you like the design, software, etc?</p>
<p>"Qty. 1<br>
Product MBPRO 15/1.83/1X512/80/128VRAM/SD-USA<br>
Estimated Shipped By Mar 21, 2006<br>
Estimated Delivered By Mar 28, 2006" ~Apple Store</p>
<p>Yeah I was definitely waiting until summer (for the rumored 13.3" Core Solo Macbook) anyway so I don't feel so bad about spending the money (I work at a golf club, so income is pretty hard to come by in the winter heh). I also want to see how cheap Core Duo (and Solo) PC laptops get in the summer during the back-to-school sales, because I'm still considering just getting a PC notebook and running Linux on it (and then using the XP license it inevitably comes with on a desktop).</p>
<p>And that's rough waiting a month for a new MacBook Pro. Hopefully the wait will be worthwhile :)</p>