<p>Hey there CCers! </p>
<p>After stumbling upon the computer forum and seeing all the "Which laptop?" threads, I thought that writing this guide would help some of you decide. It definitely won't answer everyone's questions, but I hope to help at least most of you out :)</p>
<p>This</a> or That?
Which</a> Brand Should I Get?
What</a> Features Should I Look For?</p>
<p>Laptop or Desktop?
Some of you may be asking yourselves if you should trade in your desktop for a laptop, or just keep your old box for college. As someone who uses both in school, these are points you should consider:</p>
<p>Desktop: A desktop is very useful if you’re a either a gamer, or a media editor, and ease of mobility is not an issue. The advantages of a desktop over a laptop is that a gaming desktop will run much cooler, has better cooling solutions, and is much more reliable than a gaming desktop, while a larger screen size will be great for media editors. Also an advantage is if you’re the type who demands the latest and greatest, upgrading singular desktop parts is much cheaper than replacing the entire laptop.</p>
<p>Laptop: Mobility, mobility, mobility. The obvious advantage of a laptop is the ability to carry it wherever you want. Unlike a desktop, you can bring your laptop to take notes in class, then complete a homework assignment in the library, before getting a quick game of starcraft in while eating at the dining hall. However, due to the laptop’s cooling limitations and nature of the shrunk parts, a laptop is generally not as powerful as a desktop. Keep in mind though that for most users, the lost power wouldn’t have been used otherwise (more on this later).</p>
<p>Apple or Microsoft?
It’s obvious that Apple Macbooks have been all the rave recently, but should you skip Microsoft for Apple?</p>
<p>Admittedly, Windows Vista was a huge flop. I ran Vista Ultimate on my powerful desktop myself for over a year, and I hated every second of it. However, with its new Windows 7 operating system, Microsoft has definitely fixed all the major problems that Vista created. It now allows my laptop higher battery life, no crashes at all compared to before on all three of my computers that run it, and networking is made absolutely easier for me.</p>
<p>As for Apple, these computers are amazingly overpriced for their hardware. Their touted software benefits are also now negated with the release of Windows 7 and recent advances in the software world. Macs are no longer safe from viruses, as the only reason before that viruses for Macs were rare was because Mac OS were not popular. With its resurgence in recent years, however, there have been much more Mac-specific viruses released than before. Also, the mobility of Macbooks have been matched by many, and surpassed by some Windows-based laptops.</p>
<p>Therefore, the only two scenarios when I can honestly recommend a Mac over a Windows laptop are for media editors and for longtime Mac users. For the latter, the learning curve towards switching to Windows might be unappealing, and given their experience with a Mac, staying Apple might be easier for them.</p>
<p>As for media editors, the availability of media editing programs for Macs greatly surpasses that of Windows. There is much more support in the freeware world for Macs, and many of the most professional software are for Macs only (FinalCut being a major example). If you’re aiming to be a professional artist and cost is no option, or you need the best tools available to you, then go Apple.</p>
<p>**
Laptop or Netbook?**
Now that you’ve made the choice to go mobile, you’re faced with the question of “how mobile?” In the past two years, there has been a trend towards smaller laptops with longer battery lives (called netbooks), with the advantage of lighter weight and longer battery life. The tradeoff is a smaller screen and keyboard.</p>
<p>Which one should you choose? With the most recent advances in laptop design, the battery life gap between a netbook and laptop is now closing, with some laptops advertising up to the same 12 hour battery lives that netbooks offer. Also, netbooks are extremely small, and its small keyboard can make for harsh typing and small screen size equaling decreased productivity for some people. Therefore, the only benefit left for a netbook in today’s market is price. Then, if you’re willing to shell out an extra $200+ for a machine you’d most likely be using your whole college career, my verdict is definitely for the laptop.</p>
<p>Which brand should I choose?
Contrary to what company advertising would lead you to believe, some brands are definitely better than others. Here’s a quick guide:</p>
<p>HP: I admit, they had a bad reputation up until recently in the laptop industry. Their machines had horrible battery life, were as heavy as a brick, and died every other day. That said, the company seems to be making excellent strides with its new dv3t series. The laptop has been gaining rave reviews, and with its 9 hour battery life and 4 lb weight, I have to give HP a second chance. Although still preliminary, there are also scatterings of unofficial reports online that their dv3t has superior quality to previous HP models. If you’re willing to overlook the past, definitely consider HP.</p>
<p>**Dell: **Avoid at all costs. Unlike their competitor HP, their laptops still seem to be focused on cutting manufacturing costs more than anything. The build quality feels a bit cheap, mobility and battery life are almost non-existent, and they also have a horrible reputation for quality. With nothing in their line-up that interests me, I have to recommend you skip over Dell completely.</p>
<p>Acer: This Taiwanese company is definitely making a name for itself now. While the majority of its laptops seem unappealing for the college student, its Timeline series needs to be checked out. Offering the highest battery life I’ve seen of a laptop, at 12 hours of power and <4lbs, this is great for the average college student. Acer also has above-average quality control, and already has garnered a great reputation among the professional IT world.</p>
<p>Lenovo: These are business laptops, pure and simple. They are extremely high quality, generally powerful, and are very mobile. The only downside to this brand, however, is their design. Lenovo believes that “professional” equates to black boxes, and the elegant designs from other manufactuerers is missing here. If you can get over the lack of asthetics, and walk around with a black box in your hands the entire day, then also consider Lenovo.
**
Sony:** Anyone who’s ever heard of laptops has heard of the Sony Vaios. Unfortunately, my verdict is a “no”. Sony laptops are extremely overpriced, lack the battery life and mobility that other brands now offer, and have only average quality. You can find similar machines in terms of computing power for much, much less at other brands for higher quality. Save yourself some time and money, and skip Sony.</p>
<p>Asus: Although relatively unknown to the mainstream computing world, Asus has been a major player in the enthusiast market. Although its foray into the laptop market is recent, its been highly successful. I’ve personally used an Asus laptop myself (Asus u81a, discontinued) for college and I absolutely love it. It’s more recent offerings (UL30A) have even more battery life for lower weight than their previous laptops. Also a pro is that in a recent survey of failure rates amongst laptop brands, Asus had the lowest rate, and therefore the highest quality. I’d look to Asus before going anywhere else.
**
Toshiba:** Once restricted to the budget computing market, their recent advances in mobility also earns this company a second look at. Quality is definitely above average with this company, and its earned a great reputation for itself over its many years of operation. This company definitely deserves some consideration.</p>
<p>Apple: This is an excellent company in terms of quality. The laptops last for a very long time, its mobility is great, and the Macbooks in general are very powerful. That said, the Macbooks are extremely overpriced for their hardware, and the Windows vs OS X argument is briefly summarized above. As stated before, I’d only recommend Apple to the longtime Mac users or those striving to be professional artists.</p>
<p>What features should I look for?</p>
<p>CPU: The core of the computer, the CPU is the singular part that determines the majority of a laptop’s speed. For most users who will use their laptops for nothing more than web surfing, word processing, powerpoints, and watching videos, an Intel Celeron or Intel Pentium Dual-Core should be more than enough power. If you’re into gaming, media editing, or running multiple programs at once, then consider upgrading to a Intel Core 2 Duo. As for processing speed (GHz), usually the lowest speed processor of each model should be more than enough, meaning if a company offers you a 2.1 GHz Core 2 Duo or 2.3 GHz Core 2 Duo, you’re going to get better value with the 2.1 GHz as the 200 MHz increase will be barely noticeable.</p>
<p>RAM: There is a common misconception that more RAM is always better, but this is not true. More often than not, the average person does not do anything inteisive enough to call on all 4GBs of RAM. For most users (school, web, video), 2GB is enough, while 3GB should be used by multitaskers while 4GB should only be reserved for media editors and gamers. That said, if a company offers you a free upgrade, there is no reason to take them up on it. Hey, it’s free!</p>
<p>Video Card: For the average user, a video card is definitely not needed. The same argument used for the RAM applies here: it’s power that won’t be used. Meanwhile, a dedicated video card will draw additional power from the laptop, lowering battery life. Integrated graphics is more than enough for most users. Even while using Intel’s 4500 GMA integrated graphics chip, I’m still able to play Sims 3 perfectly fine. I’d only recommend a dedicated graphics card for those of you who are gamers or media editors; for almost everyone else a graphics card is overkill.</p>
<p>Networking Card: With the introduction of 802.11n (Wireless-n), most users are confused to the advantages of g vs n wireless cards. Suffice it to say that n is faster and has longer range than g, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you should get the wireless n card. To reach wireless n speeds, you need both a wireless n card and a wireless n capable router with very high speed internet. The latter is something very expensive, and unless you plan on using the University internet, you more than likely will not be able to afford the internet.Also, the only true benefit of wireless n would be the ability to download large files extremely quickly. Unless you’re into downloading files over 1GB in size, then wireless g would be more than enough for you.</p>
<p>Harddrive: For most users, 320GB (today’s standard) is more than enough space. That’s enough space to hold 80,000 MP3s, 45 DVDs, 8,000,000 word documents, or (for you audiophiles), 7,000 FLAC files. The only people who I’d recommend an upgrade to a higher capacity harddrive are those who store a lot of videos, do media editing, or like to store disc images. Keep in mind though that if you run out of space, an external harddrive will be relatively the same cost while is much more convenient for storing non-program files. As for solid state disks, at the moment these should be skipped over. Although their read times are superior to harddrives, the cost is just too high and the extra speed unused by the average user.</p>
<p>**Screen Size: **There are basically three classes of screen sizes: <12”, 13”-15”, and >16”. For the sub-12” screen size, you are in the netbook category, whos pros and cons are debated above. To summarize, you’re better off skipping this section. The next, 13”-15”, is the sweet spot for a combination of power and mobility. 13” and 14” laptops are especially great as they can be found for around 4lbs, while the loss of the extra inch or two of screen size doesn’t affect productivity. The last screen size class, 16”+, are very heavy, and with its large screen size have horrible battery lives. This class is only good for complete desktop replacements, and more than likely will not be suitable for in-class use or a life without its power adapter.</p>
<p>Battery: In short, more cells equals longer battery life. How long a battery can last, however, depends both on the type of battery and the laptop model. The easiest way to find true battery life time is to google “[Laptop model] battery life review” and find a review for your laptop’s model, then looking up the battery test. For college, you should look for a battery life 5+ hours of battery life. For the battery options, I suggest you stick to the stock 6-cell battery, as the 9-cell varieties will jut out of the laptop, look ugly, and add to the laptop weight. If you really need more power, I suggest you instead invest in two 6-cell batteries, and swap out the battery when the first starts to die.</p>
<p>Which Laptops Should I Get?
These laptops are my own personal recommendations. I chose these laptops with the typical student’s needs in mind: weight, battery life, and reliability. While these are not the most powerful laptops out there, these have more than enough power for normal usage: typing essays, creating powerpoints, watching videos, surfing the web, playing music, and even light gaming.
**
[Asus</a> UL30A](<a href=“ASUS Laptop UL30 Series Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 4GB Memory 320GB HDD Intel GMA 4500MHD 13.3" Windows 7 Home Premium UL30A-X4 - Newegg.com”>ASUS Laptop UL30 Series Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 4GB Memory 320GB HDD Intel GMA 4500MHD 13.3" Windows 7 Home Premium UL30A-X4 - Newegg.com)**
Asus is my personal favorite laptop manufacturer. Although relatively unknown to the mainstream market, they have created a name for themselves in the computer enthusiast communities for their reliable yet powerful motherboards. I personally use an Asus laptop myself and couldn’t be any happier with it.</p>
<p>This specific model, the Asus UL30A, boasts 12 hours battery life with a Core 2 Duo and a 320GB Harddrive. This can handle any schoolwork you throw at it, and is perfectly capable of all the uses stated above. Its CPU and RAM allows for multitasking, and its thin body is light enough to carry anywhere. Although not recommended, you can get some light gaming in on here. My girlfriend actually just got this on my recommendation, and she absolutely loves it. Something to note with this laptop, however, is that it does not come with a CD/DVD drive, which might not bode well with some users.</p>
<p>[HP</a> dm3t](<a href=“HP® Computer and Laptop Store | HP.com”>HP® Computer and Laptop Store | HP.com)
Although I haven’t been a fan of HP for years past, this laptop has me rethinking that stance. At its standard configuration, this laptop has a battery life of 9.5 hours and can handle all the tasks mentioned above. However, its Celeron processor might struggle with multitasking as compared to the Asus, and it does not come with a CD/DVD drive, but HP gives you the choice of buying an external drive. Those of you who feel more comfortable with the HP name should definitely consider this laptop.</p>
<p>[Acer</a> Timeline](<a href=“Acer Laptop TravelMate Timeline Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 4GB Memory 320GB HDD Intel GMA 4500MHD 14.0" Windows 7 Professional 32-bit (including a downgrade right to Windows XP Professional) TM8471-6306 - Newegg.com”>Acer Laptop TravelMate Timeline Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 4GB Memory 320GB HDD Intel GMA 4500MHD 14.0" Windows 7 Professional 32-bit (including a downgrade right to Windows XP Professional) TM8471-6306 - Newegg.com)
Unlike the previous two laptops, this model of the Timeline has a bigger screen at 14" instead of 13", and comes with a CD/DVD drive installed in its body. Its Core 2 Duo also allows it to multitask well, and the laptop comes with 8 hours of battery life. If you have to have a DVD drive yet would still like a laptop that has excellent battery life, this might be the laptop for you.</p>
<p>Final Notes</p>
<p>As stated before, this is only meant to be a general guide, and might not suit everyone’s needs. The laptops suggested are also aimed at the average student. Those who do media editing or do heavy gaming might want to consider different systems, or even a desktop instead of a laptop.</p>
<p>I hope this guide has helped you. If you have any further questions, feel free to leave a question on here or e-mail me at some<em>random</em>guy61[at]gmail.com. </p>
<p>Thanks for looking! :)</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but your opinions are full of s***. You disqualified yourself with your thoughts on win7 vs apple…</p>
<p>briangt comment is useless. fanboy alert</p>
<p>Thanks for this review. I find it more pertinent than most of the magazine reviews I’ve read which don’t do a good job of balancing CPU vs RAM vs graphics needs. What about Gateway? They’ve been down for a number of years, but I’ve heard and read that they are rolling out some fairly feature-packed laptops at good prices. Build quality improvement also mentioned. I’m also a believer in HDMI output on a laptop as I enjoy the option of hooking up to a big screen on the cheap.</p>
<p>I am not a fanboy of microsoft or apple.</p>
<p>I will admit however, I am a fanboy of facts.</p>
<p>
Not really, proof?
“negated by the release of Windows 7”
Windows Seven is still a mess and I have received several blue screens on my copy. OSX is loosely based on UNIX which is totally different than Window’s kernel. OSX has a completely different API and uses a bizarre programing language basically found only on Apple products. Not to mention OSX and 7 have totally differnt UIs…
How many Mac viruses are there now? three? You can’t possibly say the only reason there were no OSX viruses was because of their low popularity…</p>
<p>
Who says there are more freeware programs available for OSX? This claim is just ludicrous. There is much more freeware on Windows, this isn’t even debatable… </p>
<p>More professional media software on OSX? Wow, Apple Products as an example!</p>
<p>You can do everything you want on Windows too and there is much more media software available for Windows than there is on Mac. Avid! and Adobe are both on Windows and so is Max…</p>
<p>You really have no idea what you are talking about here…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Ultra-Portable (non-netbook)
Mac Book Pro: 13", 4 GB RAM, 500GB/5400RPM, 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo = $1499
HP dv4i: 14.1", 4 GB RAM, 500GB/7200RPM, **Intel Core i3-330M 2.13GHz, 3MB ** = $930 ($780 on sale from HP)</p>
<p>HP provides a more powerful laptop for $569 to $769 less.</p>
<p>Desktop Replacement
Mac Book Pro: 15", 4GB RAM, 500GB/7200RPM, 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo = $1899
HP dv6t Quad: 15.6", 4GB RAM, 500GB/7200RPM, 1.6GHz Intel Core i7-720QM Quad Core = $1240 ($1040)</p>
<p>For a difference of $659 ($859). Just for ****s and giggles, this is the HP machine you can get for close to the price of the Mac. In order to come close to the price of a Mac, I had to include features that aren’t really even usable, like 8GB of RAM and 640 GB of memory.</p>
<p>Intel(R) Core™ i7-820QM Quad Core Processor (1.73GHz, 8MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to3.06GHz
8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
640GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 320M - For i7 Processors
15.6" diagonal High Definition LED HP Brightview Widescreen Display (1366x768)
LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support
Webcam + Fingerprint Reader
Intel Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth
No TV Tuner w/remote control
HP Color Matching Keyboard
12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Integrated 56K Modem
Microsoft(R) Works 9.0</p>
<p>all for $1769.</p>
<p>You can get a MacBook with similar specs to your “Portable” laptop for $1250 roughly 25% more, and you are comparing the company with the lowest failure rate to the company with the highest failure rate.</p>
<p>And the Macbooks are 1/3 of an inch thinner, weigh less and generally are better constructed.</p>
<p>as for the macbook pro - apple hasn’t refreshed these models in a while, once school season comes around the prices will drop back into the 25%-30% premium again.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If you want to drop almost $800 for 1/3 of an inch and a multitouch mouse pad, please, by all means, do so.</p>
<p>Another reason to consider a Mac: If you don’t love the Win OS and your college is a Mac campus (the computers in most offices being Mac, etc.). If you’ve always used Win and the campus is Win, buy Win; same for Mac. </p>
<p>Full disclosure: I have to use Win and Mac at work, and I hate Win. If saving money up front is more important than all the time of use after purchase, buy Win.</p>
<p>Macbook Pros are going to be updated sometime within the next few weeks with Arrandale processors, so it’ll be interesting to see what they do with the prices.</p>
<p>On our campus an analysis revealed that departments would save money if they switched to an Apple environment. Apple hardware had a longer half-life, administrative staff could perform more tasks and would require fewer IT staff to maintain.</p>
<p>Well, I guess this guide is better than nothing…</p>
<p>I would reiterate that this is very general and not to be used as a source to decide your investment.</p>
<p>I would point things out, but all I would have to say is buyer beware. Educate yourself.</p>
<p>Wow, I definitely did not mean for this thread to explode the way it did…</p>
<p>The reason I advised against Macs was because of their price. I wrote this guide with the typical college student in mind, and most college students don’t have too much money to spend.</p>
<p>Macs are nice, and I’m crosstrained on both myself too, but a typical Macbook costs $1000 while a MacBook Pro costs $1200, while a comparable PC costs $800.</p>
<p>If you’d rather go for a Mac and can afford it, by all means go ahead, but the reason why I advised against it is because if you’re already on finaid like most students and are struggling with bills, that $200-$500 difference could go a long way, especially in this financial environment when a lot of schools are raising their tuition fees.</p>
<p>“The reason I advised against Macs was because of their price.”</p>
<p>This is because your primary concern is upfront cost, not long-term benefit.</p>
<p>In my opinion, this is a great option:
[Newegg.com</a> - ASUS P50IJ-X2 NoteBook Intel Pentium T4400(2.20GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory 320GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi Intel GMA 4500M - Laptops / Notebooks](<a href=“ASUS Laptop Intel Pentium T4400 4GB Memory 320GB HDD Intel GMA 4500M 15.6" Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit P50IJ-X2 - Newegg.com”>ASUS Laptop Intel Pentium T4400 4GB Memory 320GB HDD Intel GMA 4500M 15.6" Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit P50IJ-X2 - Newegg.com)</p>
<p>Lenovo ThinkPad</p>
<p>That’s all I have to say.</p>