<p>Hey, I'm pretty sure that I will be enrolling at Cornell this fall. I was checking out the different laptops that you can buy through the Cornell store website and noticed that they only sold Apples, Dells, Acer, and Asus laptops. I wanted to buy an HP but from my sister's own personal experience, buying from the college is a good idea because of their warranty policy. If I were to buy an HP, would there be on-campus tech support for HP even though they don't directly sell them and if they don't, how difficult/burdensome is it to send it out to be repaired if I do need to send it out? Would it just be better to buy one of the ones that the Cornell store sells?</p>
<p>Good question, i too would be interested in some advice on the pc front.</p>
<p>the price that comes from buying an extended warranty isnt worth it…</p>
<p>if you’re not in engineering you dont need a fancy laptop…if you’re not looking to spend too much…than go for the $800 dell/hp/etc…</p>
<p>by the time you graduate (heck even by your junior year) the pc will be worthless…</p>
<p>First of all, why do you want HP? HP is junk… And you don’t even need to spend $800 on a laptop is you just need it for basic use. A $400 laptop probably be sufficient.</p>
<p>And I agree about the extended warranty, they are practically scams.</p>
<p>Lastly, a desktop is better than a laptop. I have both and use my desktop 99% of the time and go week without even turning my laptop on. I find myself more productive on the desktop for whatever reasons, my 24" monitor certainly doesn’t hurt though, it is just easier to use (and if you get a desktop, get someone to custom build one, store bought computers are junk).</p>
<p>what specific type of laptop is suggested for a pre-med majoring in biology?</p>
<p>…there’s absolutely nothing wrong with hp laptops…in what way are they junk? </p>
<p>Also, you can always just get a laptop mouse monitor set up and connect your laptop in when you want to use the bigger monitor. Its a matter of two connections.</p>
<p>get a macbooooooooooook! :)</p>
<p>get the cheapest notebook and install ubuntu on it ^_^</p>
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<p>No specific laptop is required. Buy whatever you are most comfortable with, but check out cit.cornell.edu to make sure your laptop meets the minimum requirements.</p>
<p>Any other opinions? At this point I’m leaning towards just buying my own laptop and not through Cornell</p>
<p>I had a PowerBook and did not buy it through Cornell.</p>
<p>i dont know about the tech support, etc, but i say just buy the laptop you want. i was also considering buying through the school but i dont think saving the tiny bit of money was worth me not getting the laptop i wanted. i customized a sony vaio to have the specs i want, but i doubt you need a computer with any bells and whistles. get the HP that you want.
even if you cant do something on you computer that you need to for school, there are always computer labs</p>
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soo, you’re saying that someone in engineering would need a ‘fancy’ laptop? if so, what kind?</p>
<p>The trick is to get an EeePC and be the cool kid pressing tiny little keys.</p>
<p>Engineering doesn’t require “fancy” laptops, though it might sometimes be helpful to have a powerful machine to run CAD software and stuff. I bought a $500 Acer that has served me well for two years. It’s almost silly to adhere strictly to a particular brand; just go for the best deal you can find. If you don’t see yourself carrying around a laptop, then you should definitely go for a desktop; they are much cheaper and better. Buying through Cornell really doesn’t offer much of an advantage.</p>
<p>Im only a freshman and have gone through two laptops and a switch from pc to mac. If you are going to stay with pc i definitely suggest a Sony because they seem to be the most reliable and i have gotten a LARGE number of good comments about them. If you must get a dell or hp customize it. And if you can afford it get the new mac book…its awesome.</p>
<p>If you cant afford it wait a couple weeks when you get here and budget increase a laptop from the financial aid office. You can only do it once during your four years but they give you up to $2000 to choose whatever laptop you want. Its a great deal.</p>
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I’ve never heard anything about this. Can someone describe this a little more specifically?</p>
<p>You can request a budget increase for a laptop, but it’s only in the form of a loan. You’ll have to purchase the computer first and provide the FA office with a copy of the receipt (this was the procedure when I was there…it might be different now).</p>
<p>Yea its something they dont like to talk about much for obvious reasons. But if you have financial aid then you most likely qualify to do a budget increase. I know because i have done this. You are allowed two per year and there are things such as gym membership, clothing costs if you came from a western state, housing costs, and other stuff that you can budget increase. Depending on your aid they will give you the money back in grant( if your lucky), or they will increase your loan. I recently did a budget increase for a laptop which you can only do once, so take advantage of it because you can get an awesome computer for $2000. You can buy the lap top and then fill out the form and they should give you the increase. However, I think its more reliable to ask for the increase first, and then they give you a refund check. My dell basically failed me and thats what I did. Now I have a macbook.</p>
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<p>Cornell will add $2,000 (avg value of a good laptop) to your Estimated Cost of Attendance and calculate your financial aid in this manner…</p>
<p>most people will only end up getting approved for a loan and not necessarily grant (free) money…</p>