<p>I'll be entering college as a freshman this fall, and i'm looking for a decently priced laptop. Please no Macs - they're way over my budget. Ideally i'd like a laptop in the $500 - 800 price range. 14-15" screen, multiple usb ports and a SD port, mainly used for college work [i'm a neuroscience major] and watching movies/listening to music. Not much of a gamer. I'd appreciate any help, i'm really not good at this kind of thing!</p>
<p>Looking for the same thing. Like to a T.</p>
<p>[Toshiba</a> - Portege Laptop / Intel® Core™ i5 Processor / 13.3" Display / 4GB Memory / 640GB Hard Drive - Blue - R835-P70](<a href=“http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Portege+Laptop+/+Intel&%23174%3B+Core&%23153%3B+i5+Processor+/+13.3"+Display+-+Blue/2836126.p?id=1218354840911&skuId=2836126&cmp=RMX&ky=2l7iu7WW6y6G6zeAAu6zdTxvwgJl1CVQt]Toshiba”>http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Portege+Laptop+/+Intel&%23174%3B+Core&%23153%3B+i5+Processor+/+13.3"+Display+-+Blue/2836126.p?id=1218354840911&skuId=2836126&cmp=RMX&ky=2l7iu7WW6y6G6zeAAu6zdTxvwgJl1CVQt)</p>
<p>ah just saw the 14-15" guess I’ll look for another</p>
<p>[15</a>" - 16"|$700 - $799.99|Windows : Laptop & Netbook Computers - BestBuy](<a href=“http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olstemplatemapper.jsp?id=pcat17080&type=page&qp=q70726f63657373696e6774696d653a3e313930302d30312d3031~~cabcat0500000%23%230%23%2311a~~cabcat0502000%23%230%23%23o~~f865||57696e646f7773~~f305||24373030202d20243739392e3939~~nf534||31352671756f743b202d2031362671756f743b&list=y&nrp=15&sc=abComputerSP&ks=960&usc=abcat0500000&sp=-bestsellingsort+skuid&list=y&iht=n&st=processingtime%3A>1900-01-01]15”>http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olstemplatemapper.jsp?id=pcat17080&type=page&qp=q70726f63657373696e6774696d653a3e313930302d30312d3031~~cabcat0500000%23%230%23%2311a~~cabcat0502000%23%230%23%23o~~f865||57696e646f7773~~f305||24373030202d20243739392e3939~~nf534||31352671756f743b202d2031362671756f743b&list=y&nrp=15&sc=abComputerSP&ks=960&usc=abcat0500000&sp=-bestsellingsort+skuid&list=y&iht=n&st=processingtime%3A>1900-01-01)</p>
<p>Thank you MNStudent and DylanK! I’ll look at those links.
In terms of value for money, which brand(s) would you consider the best?</p>
<p>HP and ASUS are quite good, and if you don’t mind getting a “cheaper” brand, Acer is also good. I’d recommend against Toshiba; too proprietary and you can count on them needing repairs down the road. </p>
<p>As far as what I’d recommend you’d get, HP’s gorgeous DV6T laptops would have been the best a month ago. There was a 30% off code on $999+ orders, which would have afforded you the i7 2630m processor, vastly faster than any i5 or i3 and as fast as Nehalem, plus a whole host of other goodies.</p>
<p>If anyone can find a laptop within this guy’s price range with an i7 2630m… that’s what he should get.</p>
<p>^^^
Repair stats consistently place Toshiba, Asus, Sony, Apple as most reliable
Dell and HP as worst reliability.</p>
<p>Asus if you want the latest tech
Toshiba if you want inexpensive and reliable</p>
<p>I had HORRIBLE luck with dells. Mine has lasted 4 years but it hasn’t lasted well. I may break down and pick up some more shifts to buy a mac. Wish my parents were rich and could buy it for me. </p>
<p>As a question of opinion, if I’ve got 5k saved for freshman year right now, would it be ridiculous to spend 1200 on a mac? It’ll mean I’ll have 3800 left for incidentals.</p>