<p>once again, shiny protectors, shells, stickers. There’s isnt many environmental friendly unibody aluminum laptops out there… the only reason you dont see stain on your laptop is because its black…</p>
<p>Although I gotta say the W700ds is pretty awesome, but $3000…</p>
<p>@ Clear my mind
integrated graphics cards DO NOT suck. they consume less power and can take anything u throw at it beside gaming (besides, it’s not like u can do any gaming on a mac w/o bootcamp). i used it a lot for CAD and it worked just fine. and whether a laptop is ugly is completely subjective. I personally think my Thinkpad’s black, plain look is rather sexy ;-)</p>
<p>It used to be that u could get a free HP printer with almost any laptop u buy. dunno if they still have that deal…</p>
<p>First off, thanks for all the replies. Don_Quixote’s replies have been particularly helpful. </p>
<p>Now, the thing about macs is… Well, they’re a bit overpriced in my opinion, and I’m not entirely sure if the price is justified in my case. A 13 inch mac book pro would run me about 1200-1400 dollars, and I’m not sure that would be such a good buy. (although i’m not very experienced with macs, and could be wrong) If anyone wants to tell me how or why a mac is honestly worth the price, then please go ahead. Oh, and i’ve yet to really look at Lenovo’s, so I’ll definitely check those out soon. As for Dell, i havent spent that much time looking at them, mainly because I noticed they didn’t really have something that was 14 inches. 15 seemed a little too big for me, but i think i’ll take a look at some of their 13 inch models. I figured 13 inches would be too small, but after spending some time with a laptop of that size earlier today, it didnt seem too bad… </p>
<p>Once again, thanks for the replies, and keep em coming.</p>
<p>well you get an education discount of anywhere between 100-200 depending on which model you get. you get a ipod touch. 230 dollars. then free printer. another 100. good deal + mac osx is worth the money alone</p>
<p>you should visit your local Apple store and take a look at the white macbook. Don’t even think about going Pro… A white macbook should be able to last for a very very long time. Plus its like crazy cheap after the promotion and rebates. </p>
<p>DONT GET DELL, HP, or COMPAQ. I have had horrible experiences with them including the customer service. You should really visit an electronic store and actually get a feel of the laptops. Its like picking colleges. I fell in love with the sexy and powerful macbook pro and that’s what I bought…</p>
<p>they made the 13 inches macbooks to macbook pros so i think it starts around 1199 without discounts/rebates</p>
<p>With the Cal educational discount, the white MacBook is $950, the 13.3" MacBookPro (aluminum) is $1100. Both have the printer and iPod, although the last day for the free printer rebate is Monday. If you really were going to get a mac, I’d say you might as well spend the extra $150 to get the new model. But seriously, the Mac vs. everything else argument has been discussed into the ground in all different threads, and usually doesn’t go anywhere. Check out the features of iLife on the apple website, and if it doesn’t seem all that exciting to you, you can be pretty well assured that your money is better off elsewhere.</p>
<p>Just to reiterate, it makes a very large amount of difference what model you get when you’re looking at Dell. Dell has Inspirons, which are a little lacking in customer service and build quality, XPS which is right up there with the best of 'em, and apparently there’s a new Dell that’s solid aluminum like the macbooks (it starts up around $2000 though). IMO, if I were looking at a Dell today the 13.3" XPS M1330 is where it’s at. Starts at $800.</p>
<p>I don’t really know about HP or Compaq, although some of the HP notebooks are awfully cool aesthetically… Going in some place like Best Buy is actually a really good idea as Clear my mind said - You’ll probably save money if you buy online, but it’s great to be able to get your hands on the laptops and actually check out the profile, weight, and feel of the computer.</p>
<p>My favorite app store app is don quixote</p>
<p>lol really? i haven’t seen that app, i’ll have to check that out 
i just got the “Brushes” app - coolest thing ever. it’s like paint, except for the iTouch… i’m really lousy at it so far though :/</p>
<p>Don, what grade are you in? I have a feeling you’re a christian for some reason. But seriously like Don said, with the free apple ipod touch, everything evens out. You probably will find that Apple notebooks are better in quality. Remember you can run windows on macs.</p>
<p>buying from the student store doesn’t give u much of a discount unless ur going for a mac. u get much better deals buying it online. try this site:
[Cheap</a> Laptop Deals, Discount Laptops, Laptop Sales](<a href=“http://www.techbargains.com/laptopcomputernotebookreview.cfm]Cheap”>http://www.techbargains.com/laptopcomputernotebookreview.cfm)
a lot of pc manufacturers frequently give out coupons for 20-30% off.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=Clear my mind]
Don, what grade are you in? I have a feeling you’re a christian for some reason.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Ya, I’m a sophomore and a Christian. :)</p>
<p>(i go to WashU though, btw - I’m just taking a summer class at Cal right now)</p>
<p>Checked out that app (the book, app-ified, right?) - that’s awesome, i didn’t know they had books for the iPod like that… craziness…</p>
<p>I know this isn’t one of your considerations, but I just bought an HP Dv4t, and it’s a really good laptop. HP sometimes gets a bad rap, but I’ve never had a problem with them. the whole comp is very sturdy, nice design, top specs and a good price (~$800). Just throwin it out there.</p>
<p>
<a href=“http://www.laptoppicker.com/archives/hp-pavilion-dv2800t-artist-edition.jpg[/img]”>http://www.laptoppicker.com/archives/hp-pavilion-dv2800t-artist-edition.jpg
</a>
^and they’re cool! (sorry all I know about HP’s is that they have all sorts of cool artistic patterns to choose from lol…)</p>
<p>I had a HP dv2700. It was an OK laptop for the price, but it had some serious problems that made me kinda regret buying it. It runs pretty warm when idle and extremely hot when put on load. the glossy trackpad and keyboard gets really annoying as it attracts grease. it looked nice and shiny right out of the box, but gets dull very fast as the cover succumbs to wear…</p>
<p>Dell XPS build quality is very respectable. Macs are nearly impossible to quickly upgrade or service. If you really want good build quality, go for a ThinkPad, but for the OP, ThinkPads might be too expensive. </p>
<p>If you’ve never had a XPS laptop, their Complete Care service plan (every XPS is bundled with 2 yrs of it by default) replaces any and every component within 24 hrs by request and within 48 hrs without any particular request at no extra charge. Trust me, I had my heat sink replaced because it’s one year old and dusty, I had my bezel replaced because some idiot scraped it with a coin, and I had my keyboard replaced because it was dirty. They respect frivolous requests like that as well as major things like replacing a motherboard which my friend had to do after a power surge busted his AC adapter port. All these requests were placed over the phone and in my experience, the calls never lasted more than 10-15 minutes. </p>
<p>Macs look clean and everything, but they’re a pain in the ass to figure out if anything goes wrong. Coupled with that neutered operating system which is pure trash unless you use terminal, you’re paying a hefty premium for your hardware to look shiny. Not worth it.</p>
<p>Although it may not be ‘hip’ or ‘cool’, I have a Dell Vostro 1320 that runs great. It’s very fast and doesn’t stand out, which I consider a plus because thieves will go for the more fancy looking laptops if there’s an option.</p>
<p>clearly there are different ideas about macs, as my experience with them has been a bit different that inconnu’s. I definitely prefer OSX to Vista, for instance, and I’m not exactly sure how you’d be able to say that they’re “nearly impossible to quickly upgrade or service,” since it’s basically the same as any laptop - you just send it in. Even easier if you have an Apple Store nearby.</p>
<p>I don’t really mean to prolong the mac vs. pc argument here though, sorry… like i said before, if you check out the list of features on iLife and it doesn’t seem like stuff you’d use, then you would be “paying a hefty premium for your hardware to look shiny” in all likelihood. Otherwise you could look at the price and consider it. Regardless of what we all think, it really does come down to what the buyer needs…</p>
<p>But yes, Dell XPS is good. Also (and I think they’re a bit cheaper) Dell’s Latitude line is very good quality. I think it’s in the business section on the site.</p>
<p>how is it easy to upgrade if u have to send it in? it’ll cost u both time and money. I bought my Thinkpad T400 with 2GB of ram, then upgraded it to 4GB by buying the ram separately. saved myself over $50 and all i had to do was take out 4 screws. it’s a piece of cake if u even bother to read the manual.</p>
<p>well ya, RAM is the exception. You can change out the ram on a mac as easily as any other laptop, there’s just a little battery panel you remove to give access (it works differently on the new macs, but it still works). I meant for the sort of work that can’t be done at home without voiding warranties and stuff, like upgrading your graphics card (when that’s even possible) or changing out a hard drive.</p>
<p>^that’s a good point by the way, if you’re customizing a computer online (like at Dell.com or Apple.com) it’s often cheaper to buy it with minimal ram and then add more if you need it. Some of those sites can overcharge a lot for that memory… Apple used to be really bad about that, although macs can get away with a little less memory anyway, at least until Windows 7 comes out.</p>
![http://www.laptoppicker.com/archives/hp-pavilion-dv2800t-artist-edition.jpg[/img]](http://www.laptoppicker.com/archives/hp-pavilion-dv2800t-artist-edition.jpg%5B/img%5D){kind=link}
