<p>I am typing this using a 6 year old toshiba..still working well despite a bit slow.. never gave me any huge problems to deal with..</p>
<p>I'm getting a T61p...I haven't received it yet (shipped yesterday!) but I've heard phenomenal things about them, which guided my decision. They are supposedly the most durable and well-built notebooks available, are the most powerful (non-desktop replacement) notebooks available, and in general are great in virtually all areas. I've heard this both from reviewers and from people I've actually talked to; the only gripe I've heard is about the screen, but this hardly seems to be a widespread or a serious issue, from what I've read. So I would definitely recommend the T61p; Lenovo has really good discounts until August 5th (product lines are being refreshed), so if you want one, you should get it fast...and go through TSW to get the Cal discount.</p>
<p>as for all the sales people at best buy, if it's only your daughter looking at the laptops without you, i would bet that no one will ask if she needs help.</p>
<p>i always find it funny that when i'm going to buy something at best buy i have to wait forever for anyone to even look at me, i'm pretty much their ideal customer, i already know exactly what i want, and i'm paying for whatever(ipod, camera, laptop) in cash.</p>
<p>Diesel, that is funny, do you think that they ignore younger people? </p>
<p>I also tend to go to a computer or Best Buy store knowing what I am looking for. And if I am undecided, I want to read the boxes uninterrupted. What's possibly more annoying is going to a clothing store and being asked if they can help you. How are they supposed to do that? Read your mind? I feel like saying "Yeah, pull every blue shirt you have in size x off the rack and bring them to the dressing room". LOL.</p>
<p>Anyhow, I guess back to the Toshiba vs. Thinkpad situation. </p>
<p>The Toshiba A305 is $699, could buy in store.</p>
<p>I did a Thinkpad T61 (T61p was more $ for more than she needs) with the following combo which came out to $1055.59, as follows: </p>
<p>ThinkPad T61 15 Widescreen - 1 Yr Depot Warranty
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T8100 (2.1GHz 800MHz 3MBL2)1<br>
Genuine Windows Vista Business 6412<br>
15.4 WSXGA+ TFT<br>
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M (128MB)<br>
4 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)8<br>
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)<br>
160GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm4<br>
CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo 24X/24X/24X/8X Max, Ultrabay Slim5<br>
ThinkPad 11a/b/g Wi-Fi wireless LAN Mini-PCIe US/EMEA/LA/ANZ10<br>
No Bluetooth<br>
6 cell Li-Ion Battery60<br>
6459: Express - 1 Yr Depot Warranty7</p>
<p>if you happen to have a copy of XP lying around, you could save some money and just get 1 or 2 GB of memory. going for integrated graphics would help, too, since i don't imagine she'll need a discrete card.</p>
<p>i'm not so sure a 7200rpm drive is the best idea on a laptop. sure, it's a little faster, but it also takes up more power and makes more heat, so i think 5400 is fine. if it were to be used for something beyond word processing and internet, it might be worth it, but it won't, right?</p>
<p>i also think 160 is a bit big unless she stores a lot of music or videos/movies on her computer, though i guess it's better to get a bit more space than you think you'll need.</p>
<p>i think they do, because you know, it's not like we have money or disposable income... </p>
<p>i went to best buy with my dad, i was buying a 37" lcd tv. he wanted to look at cases for his digital camera. he had 2 people helping him right as he walked into the camera section, i waited 20 minutes before i found someone and asked, and even then it was apparent they didn't want to help me.</p>
<p>also, i have a gateway(t-1628) and hp laptop(dv2xxx line)</p>
<p>both would be something i would look into. the hp did have a problem, but they issued a recall for the entire line because the motherboards were bad.</p>
<p>i used the hp for a year in college, putting it in my back-pack with no case, carried it in the rain a lot, dropped it a few times, and it worked great. a lot of people at my school also had it, i'd say just about as many as had any type of apple. and around 75% of the people who had them were girls, so that was sorta a good into a conversation, just an added bonus lol. small thing also, but it has 2 headphone jacks, so that's kinda cool(computer people, yes i know one's a SPDIF, but it works are a headphone jack). and it has altec lansing speakers and they are AMAZING</p>
<p>the gateway also works great, but the speakers in it are worthless. it was $750 and has a AMD 2.0ghz dual core, 250gb hard drive, 3gb ram, realtek a/b/g wireless...imo a really good deal, and i'd think it would be ~$50-$100 less now(got it around 2 months ago). it's built really well(100 times better than the gateway laptop i had a few years ago), but maybe not quite as well as the hp.</p>
<p>another plus is it had an hdmi out, and can be hooked up to an HDTV to watch HD movies(love torrents)</p>
<p>If your daughter is going to be using a laptop for the basics: word processing, e-mail, web surfing, and playing an occasional movie, any basic laptop will do. Hard drive capacity and additional memory can always be added later (and much cheaper than going through the manufacturer). Speed…? I have never been able to stress any processor (from the old Z80 series to the present day duo/quad core Intel’s) while typing. The same goes for e-mail. Loading websites? My heart does not ache if a website takes a whole second longer to load. And a whole second is eons in computer time. Majoring in math, science or engineering is another matter. Speed, graphic capabilities, memory and hard drive space do count when you use specific software packages. </p>
<p>Laptops are like cars. Any car can handle the stop and go of urban driving which is the same for laptops used for most basic tasks. Like cars, laptops can break down. The most vulnerable areas: hard drives, screens and liquids dumped on keyboards. And most of these problems are due to user error rather than manufacturing defects (batteries are another matter). There are only a limited number of hard drive and screen manufacturers in the world. A bad batch is a bad batch. </p>
<p>Since so few people really put their laptops under real stress, spending more money for greater speed and higher graphic capabilities makes little sense. Going back to your original post, I would take a serious look at the R61 Lenovo. It does all the basics well, is built well and has (according to the Lenovo website) anywhere from 6.5 to 7.5 hours of battery life. The Toshibas typically run fewer hours (from my experience). </p>
<p>Even though the R series Lenovo ThinkPads have better battery life and can last through a day’s worth of note-taking, e-mail checking and surfing, most students leave their laptops back in their dorm rooms. In the many threads about taking notes in class, most students end up using pencil and paper (unless you have a Tablet PC where you can take written notes on the screen). So even battery life may not be a major consideration.</p>
<p>Unless there is a very specific computer/software need in your daughter’s major, a basic laptop will be fine. For the solid construction alone, I favor the ThinkPad (even though I’ve used many Toshibas without problems).</p>
<p>In any event, consider the extended manufacturer’s warranty (accidental damage) and be sure to add your daughter’s laptop to your homeowner’s insurance policy (theft or loss). Take pictures of the laptop and write down the model/serial number. Save the receipt. Buy a jump drive to back up important documents, homework and e-mail addresses.</p>
<p>"It does all the basics well, is built well and has (according to the Lenovo website) anywhere from 6.5 to 7.5 hours of battery life"</p>
<p>Trusting a manufacturer about the battery life on their laptops is like trusting a 30-something woman about her age. I'd look around various computer forums to get more exact figures. When I was looking at the ThinkPads (the cheaper ones), none of them met my battery life expectations, so I ended up with my HP. If battery life is a huge concern, definitely go to cnet and notebookreview for their handy drain tests.</p>
<p>Hey all. I went out and looked at the Toshiba again, also looked at an HP Dv66663CL. But after doing that, I read some reviews, and dismissed the HP right away, and the Toshiba not long after. </p>
<p>Created many different configs of the Thinkpads under the "R" and "T" series, and ultimately ended up buying this tonight, before the discounts end:</p>
<p>ThinkPad T61 15 Widescreen
Intel® Core 2 Duo processor T8100 (2.1GHz 800MHz 3MBL2)<br>
Genuine Windows Vista Business 64<br>
Recovery DVD Genuine Windows XP Professional Downgrade DVD
15.4 WSXGA+ TFT<br>
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M (128MB)<br>
2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)<br>
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)<br>
120GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm<br>
CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo 24X/24X/24X/8X Max, Ultrabay Slim<br>
Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN (supporting Centrino Pro)<br>
No Bluetooth<br>
Wireless WAN Ready - Integrated Antenna with no Provider Card Installed<br>
6 cell Li-Ion Battery<br>
6459: Express - 1 Yr Depot Warranty<br>
System expansion slots PC Card Slot & Express Card Slot
Card Reader 4 in 1 Media Card Reader
Country Pack North America with Line cord & 90W AC adapter
40Y9213 1 Year ThinkPad Protection </p>
<p>Total cost with coupon codes and student discounts on the site came to $1,037.97. It's a bit more than I wanted to pay, especially since I could have gotten the Toshiba A305 or the Lenovo R61i for $699+tax, but that's just because I am shelling out so much money right now. I guess that I'm taking my chances no matter what I get her, but ultimately it seemed better to pay the extra few hundred to get a computer known for reliability with the Core 2Duo and the better screen and a few other perks. </p>
<p>The computer came with Vista Home, and the college required XP or Vista Business, so I ended up paying more to get the Vista Business with an included XP downgrade.</p>
<p>She's not a gamer at all, but I will hope that this will cover her needs for the next few years.</p>
<p>Thanks to all for your opinions.</p>
<p>The Toshiba has much higher specs than the other model and I would expect it to cost more. The Pentium dual-core line is Intel's lower-end processors - okay for basic stuff but can be slow for some applications.</p>
<p>The Toshiba has Vista x64. Not all applications will work on Vista x64 or Windows XP x64. I bought a Dell XPS M1330 laptop for $999 two weeks ago and took it on a trip to a conference and it worked out quite well. The laptop is loaded with equipment: huge disk, 4 GB RAM, camera, media reader, remote control that stows inside the laptop, 5+ hours battery life on the cheap battery, plays DVDs without booting Windows, Blue Tooth and light and small. But I had problems with some applications that wouldn't run on Vista x64 so I installed an XP virtual machine and run those applications on the VM.</p>
<p>You should get at least 2 GB of RAM if you're going with Vista. Especially if you're getting a laptop with integrated graphics as it will use up to 256 MB of system RAM. Vista uses up 1.4 GB of RAM on x64 which is why Vista x64 systems come with 4 GB. I'm not sure how much RAM Vista (32-bit) uses.</p>
<p>I've had about five crashes on the system though I was doing engineering with an unsupported environment and a fair amount of hacking. I think that this is more of a Vista issue than a hardware issue.</p>
<p>I like the Dell M1330 quite a bit for portability, battery life, disk space, memory and the other luxury features. I also have a 17 inch MacBook Pro with high specs, a Compaq Presario r3000z and a bunch of older laptops. Dell had some serious quality problems a few years ago but their stuff seems pretty solid these days if you go with the XPS or Latitude lines. I've purchased a few Dell desktops in the past few years and they are all fine. I'm not sure about Vostro laptops.</p>
<p>Changing disk drives is not a big deal for laptops unless they're superthin or superlight. If you're unsure about the model that you're interested in, go to the manufacturer's website and take a look at the user and maintenance guides to find the directions on changing the hard disk. If there are no directions, then it might be quite difficult to change the hard drive. On some models, I can swap a disk in under two minutes.</p>
<p>Congrats on finding one that worked for ya. I was going to say, if you're worried about physical abuse, Bestbuy offers wear/tear and spill warranties if you buy one from them. But no matter what, you definitely want to load it up with a bunch of free anti-virus and anti-spyware programs, and get rid of the built in Norton/Symantec/McAfee crapware before its trial expires.</p>