<p>Alright all, I'm going to be off to Milton in about two more weeks, and I need some help. Short story is is that my laptop, a Dell XPS M1330, crashed because of the motherboard fried out. It was shortly over the one year warranty. After that, I switched to my sister's (back-up for me) computer, again a Dell XPS M1330, which just had another motherboard crash. Needless to say, I've been relying on my mom's BlackBerry PlayBook/laptop (another Dell XPS) for ANY internet access whatsoever (unless you count my phone...but it's not a smartphone :P).</p>
<p>I'd like to hear some feedback on some good laptops to be roaming the campus with (portability isn't the overriding factor as I can deal with 1-2 extra pounds for better performance), and the brand I'm really looking at is a Lenovo. Can anyone make a suggestion for a model/series of Lenovo or another brand?</p>
<p>Oh, forgot, my mom isn't going to let me buy another Dell; I think she's fed up with that customer service.</p>
<p>This is the reason why I haven't been on the boards at all in the past week :(</p>
<p>Apple if you want something pricier, but lasts years. Had the same desktop for six years and it runs fairly well. If I go to BS, parents would consider sending me off with a new MacBook. Check their sites for refurnished options that are around the same prices for HP, Dell, etc. laptops for a great price. I think you can get a 100 dollar gift card for the Mac App Store, but maybe that’s for new ones. Anyway, it’s a great deal and you can get a discount if its for school, or maybe that’s only for new ones too… But you get my point.</p>
<p>An average desktop lasts a lot longer than an average laptop. I wouldn’t buy apple as they are too expensive and you need to buy microsoft office on top of that. Apple looks nice but I would go with function over form.</p>
<p>Build your own like me. Try newegg.com to buy the parts, and assemble it yourself, better performance for less. took me 2 hours to assemble it. Its also a great experience to have, so you can fix old laptops if needed. You can also switch a motherboard for the Dell you have.</p>
<p>if you want something to last all the way through grad school (or even longer), go with apple. definitely worth the $$, and will never be outdated. service is great as well.</p>
<p>That’s an exaggeration. Every year apple upgrades their laptops, so you can have one until grad school, but it’ll be so outdated in terms of processor speed, memory etc. If there is a power surge, it will fry both apple and PC. Then it will be cheaper to replace the PC.</p>
<p>I’m using a Toshiba. It’s not in the pricey range, but it is quite good. But Apple seems to be really popular, so that could also be taken into consideration too.</p>
<p>True, true Invent. Although I have to point out that my brother’s laptop survived around that same time period. OP, if you can, go to the Apple store and see how you like it. Ask some of the workers around or maybe some other people around you to see how it works, although you can go on the website to find videos on how it is. Some people prefer Dells/HP/Toshiba etc, over because they’re more familiar with it and Apple’s may seem confusing. Personally, I prefer Apples because I grew up around them and I think they have a cleaner layout over Dell’s (although that is poor judgement because the only time I really use them are in school). Although, almost anything Dell and Apple provides will get you through the school year. </p>
<p>Although, I have to give points to Dell for the wide variety (:</p>
<p>Thanks all for the feedback. Going to try out some Apple laptops (Lion looks very nice…) this week. I have heard some pretty good things about Toshiba, too, so it’s another possibility.</p>
<p>Do you guys recommend Windows 7/Lion? Right now, I have (or should I say had ) Windows Vista. Thanks again :)</p>
<p>Lion is pretty sick. My mom has it for her laptop, and it’s cheap with all the new features it has ($29.99 with over 150+ something features. May be more.) One of the great features I love is auto-save, which is awesome. And then you can go back to different versions of your file if you don’t like the new one. Plus it’s fast. Like… super. </p>
<p>Windows 7… I’ve tried it and it’s good. Don’t have much experience but I think it’s pretty good, from what I’ve heard and tried.</p>
<p>Windows 7 takes care of all the issues with Vista and it’s good. Apple has like 10% of the market share and is popular with artists and architects types.</p>
<p>I think most of my d’s techie friends at PA actually prefer pcs to Macs, but not sure if any particular brand is preferred. When we purchased her Dell laptop, we got the 4 year full warranty which has come in handy. We’ve not had problems with their customer service.</p>
<p>It came with Vista and that was crappy. To compensate, d went to using Ubuntu. Running two operating systems on one computer created some issues. She’s since upgraded to Windows 7 and it’s much better. If you plan to use Ubuntu, consider getting a machine designed for it.</p>
<p>Try Toshibas or Macs with Windows 7/Lion. Go with Windows if you have been using it for a long time. Saves the trouble of figuring it out in school. But Mac’s compatibility has some problems, like some softwares just won’t run on it. Just a warning.</p>
<p>I have had my macbook for 4 years now and it works the way it did on the day I bought it free of error! It has never had any issues with compatibility and runs new software great. I highly recommend apple hands down.</p>
) Windows Vista. Thanks again :)</p>