<p>I'm looking for a laptop for freshman year in college and I'm thinking about getting one that has a 17 inch screen...would this be too much for carrying back and forth b/w classes (should i stick to a 15.4)? I'm also trying to decide which brand...I've looked at dell and hp (hp looks really nice with its new laquered finish but its also a bit more expensive)...any reccomendations?</p>
<p>If you're going to use your laptop for gaming and watching movies as well, then go with the 17". Otherwise, the 17" is not really necessary.
As for brand, I've used Dell most of my life and I'd recommend Dell computers, hands down.</p>
<p>check out macbooks, they are amazing.</p>
<p>Generally, you won't need a laptop for classes. Why use one of those when you can use the cutting edge technology of pen and paper? (Wow, I almost can't believe I'm writing this considering my username)</p>
<p>But anyway, from what I've seen, whenever people have laptops out in class they're usually fooling around, playing solitaire, checking facebook, reading blogs... etc. etc.</p>
<p>There were also a two rather extreme cases of laptop usage in class... first was two people questing on WoW together (while in the same classroom on different computers), second was some guy watching lesbian porno for the 90 seconds before class started.</p>
<p>But I digress... you won't really need your laptop for taking notes.</p>
<p>Dell is the most cost-effective... hands down. Other brands you could look at include Thinkpad for their performance, durability, and reliability, Macbook (although I HATE Macs with a passion, I still acknowledge they're good comps), ASUSTeK for a good range of notebooks as well as a good balance of cost-efficiency, performance, and reliability. </p>
<p>Try to avoid Acer, HP/Compaq, and Vaio (Vaios look nice and have nice performance, but they're way overpriced and they also have a reputation for being slightly unreliable)</p>
<p>haha the irony..</p>
<p>yeah macbooks are awesome!! but they can be quite costly.. $$</p>
<p>i thought Dell laptops heat up pretty quickly if you leave it on 24/7</p>
<p>
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i thought Dell laptops heat up pretty quickly if you leave it on 24/7
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Well, mine's a relatively high-end model (read: heats up more) and I've never had problems with overheating when leaving it on for several days at a time.</p>
<p>get one w/ a good battery life</p>
<p>They're not really that costly...since they just got yet ANOTHER processor upgrade.....both the macbooks and macbook pros. You should be able to pick one of the older ones up at about a 30% discount.</p>
<p>get a macbook.
I love mine.</p>
<p>Lenovo/IBM makes the best laptops. Then Asus then apple/.</p>