<p>Is there any particular brand of laptop that is recommended for students. I was looking at a few and was wondering if repair and stuff would be faster depending on the brand.</p>
<p>PCs are, on average, easier and cheaper to fix than macs, simply because of websites like Newegg and whatnot. (Especially since, with some issues, you have to get a whole new computer if you use a mac, when, if it was a pc, you could just replace the part). Brand isn’t a huge factor in repairs, except some need more repairs than others :P</p>
<p>Then again, many if not most students get macs. I’d just do some research and decide on the one for you.</p>
<p>We were told that both Macs and PC’s are commonly used and supported on campus. If you decide to go with a Mac, you should consider purchasing from Apple as they are currently offering a free Ipod Touch with the purchase of a computer.</p>
<p>We bought a Dell for D. Before the year warranty was up the hard drive crashed and was replaced at no additional cost. We then purchased a three-year extended warranty to get D through the first three years of college. This summer, she had a hinge and some keys replaced, plus a couple of cosmetic things; the Dell technician came right to the house to fix it. I am hoping that it hangs in for two more years. We, as a family, rarely buy the extended warranties, but it has worked well for us this time. Hauling them around and stuffing them in backpacks is hard on them.</p>
<p><a href=“Especially%20since,%20with%20some%20issues,%20you%20have%20to%20get%20a%20whole%20new%20computer%20if%20you%20use%20a%20mac,%20when,%20if%20it%20was%20a%20pc,%20you%20could%20just%20replace%20the%20part”>quote</a>
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<p>Whaaaa??? Not true at all!</p>
<p>Here is what i suggest </p>
<p>You can buy a nice net book for about $300 from MSI or Dell or wherever.</p>
<p>It seems small at first but it is so much smaller and lighter in the back pack and will have a longer battery life etc. and you get used to it very fast. </p>
<p>Expect it to break about once every 1 to 2 years and then just throw it away and buy a new one. College life is just too hard on laptops especially in the dorms.</p>
<p>Buy Carbonite automatic back up for $5/month so all your data is automatically backed up online in case it breaks/gets stolen/gets lost.</p>
<p>This way you have to worry less about thievery then like a $1200 mac</p>
<p>So you end up paying about $210 to $360 per year for your computer/back up AND you get a new one every year or two so in fact you will have a faster computer in 2 years then your friends who bought a nice one to keep for 4 years.</p>
<p>A netbook? Only if you want to be using a word processor and surfing the internet on a 8" screen all the time… that’s taking cost cutting measures to an extreme.</p>
<p>Here’s another suggestion if cost cutting is the goal and you know your computers well enough that you won’t be tricked into buying a lemon–get a second-hand laptop on Craigslist. We just bought a ThinkPad for our son this way. It was in like-new condition and it cost a fraction of the cost that the same configuration would have cost brand new. Granted, we live in a large metropolitan area with a high percentage of computer professionals, so we were able to find very good deals on Craigslist. And you don’t necessarily have to compromise on the warranty. Ours, for example, is still covered by the manufacturer’s warranty.</p>
<p>And I tend to agree with schrizto. Between my husband and I we own several laptops and a netbook. We bought the netbook (on Craigslist :))so that we could take it with us when we go on vacation. It has a 10" screen and is great for checking email and watching movies on the plane, but I would hate having to use it on a daily basis for anything other than that.</p>
<p>I bought my D a Toshiba Satellite 15.6 in screen with the following specs about a year ago. </p>
<p>Intel® Celeron® processor 900
Features an 800MHz frontside bus, 1MB L2 cache and 2.2GHz processor speed.
3GB DDR3 memory
250GB Serial ATA hard drive (5400 rpm)
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M</p>
<p>It has works very well
very fast. Used for school and facebook.
Then I purchased another for my husband. The Satellite is a Toshiba that is made for Best Buy only I think and on any holiday weekend a version of it is offered for around $350. A very good deal.
If my $1400 HP laptop ever goes I will buy another Toshiba for myself. The only thing that could be improved is the pixel quality for working with photos, but for students that do not need gaming or extra gadgets it is a great deal!
Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. Is there anything in particular that i should be looking for in a laptop for computer engineering?</p>
<p>You’ll get some free software for being a student at Pitt: a single install of Office and some other things. Since you’re in computer engineering, which might involve using software for your classes, you might be better off getting a PC because there’s more applications available for PCs. I’m not too familiar with what else you’d need for engineering though.</p>