shopping for laptop

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - San Diego
1

<p>I am assuming most of you guys are shopping for and buying new laptops for college. Becuase I am not really up to date on the new laptops and how good they are compared to other brands/models, I need your help. I guess you can say im a "newbie/noob" when it comes to selecting laptops. I am mostly using it for wordprocessing, powerpoint, excel, internet, research..typical student stuff. Im not into gaming, so i dont need any gaming system things</p>

<p>Basically, I want something that is...</p>

<p>-Student friendly/easy to use/good quality
-Light weight, but durable
-Good Battery life (doesnt have to be like 5+ hours)
-I might watch some movies on it if i am bored (though this is not priority)
-Suitable for individuals who are NOT into gaming
-Looks good/neat design
-Sharp images on screen
-Fast (like for internet)</p>

<p>and also, should I get some antivirus or antipopup spam software? which kinds?</p>

<p>so what laptops can you suggest for me? thanks in advance</p>

2

<p>i'm looking between dell e1405 or e1505, ibm thinkpad z60t or t42 and hp 5210us if that helps. they're all pretty nice systems. i think my dell would be about $700 w/ tax, thinkpad z60t around $800, t42 $1050 and hp about $650. shop for some coupons. thinkpads are on sale right now at the lenovo outlet. the prices i'm quoting are after all the discounts i can find.</p>

3

<p>i'm not sure where you all live, but the circuit city stores in the oc have the sweetest deal on a toshiba satellite, a solid student laptop: roughly 5 pounds, battery life of almost 6 hours, only $600 with a free wireless router, free copier/color printer all-in-one, and free internet security suite.</p>

4

<p>Look into ultra mobile laptops such as the Latitude X1, Thinkpad X40, Thinkpad X60, etc.</p>

5

<p>allswell: i'm a bit iffy on toshibas, so i stay away from them. on the other hand, if you don't mind a celeron processor, there WAS a pretty spiffy deal for an hp laptop for $400 + tax at best buy. but you had to be there a half hour before the store even opened, and it was a few days ago. :(</p>

6

<p>oh...i just saw the deal in a catalog. are toshibas untrustworthy?</p>

7

<p>What's your budget?</p>

8

<p>i don't know about trustworthiness, but like most american consumers i stay with the status quo and don't really change. i've used dell (i'm on a dell right now), hp and ibms before, and they're good enough for me.</p>

<p>note to everyone: stay away from compaqs. our desktop tanked after a few months and it was a nice one too! when we tried to get it fixed through the warranty, they wouldn't honor it or something, i can't remember.</p>

9

<p>Doesn't hp own compaq?</p>

10

<p>yep, they do own compaq</p>

11

<p>Any of the ones at the UCSD bookstore should be sufficient and pretty cheap.<br>
<a href="http://bookstore.ucsd.edu/computers/hardware/notebooks.htm#augt60%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://bookstore.ucsd.edu/computers/hardware/notebooks.htm#augt60&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

12

<p>yeah but i don't like the compaq ones that hp makes, if that makes any sense.</p>

13

<p>Makes sense... Even though HP owns Compaq now, I haven't seen much that has changed concerning Compaq computers/notebooks.</p>

14

<p>There was recently a good deal on slickdeals.net</p>

<p>Intel Core Solo T1350 1.86 GHz
80 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
1 GB PC2-4200 DDR2 memory
SuperMulti DVD±RW/DVD±R DL/DVD-RAM drive
15.4" TrueBrite Screen (1280x800)
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
1-year limited warranty </p>

<p>for $550</p>

<p>You might be able to find some similar cheap deals if you look around and wait.</p>

<p>Dell's pricing system has changed really drastically recently, but in the past the only smart way to buy from them was with a coupon.</p>

<p>You can probably get a laptop that meets your needs for around $500.</p>

15

<p>This is the one I bought and it's pretty good.</p>

<p>HP pavillion dv5237
intel dual core duo 1.83 ghzz t2400
2gb ddr2 ram
120gb hd
15.4" xbrite</p>

<p>$1000</p>

16

<p>I have a compaq 15.4 widescreen and it's pretty sexy... the only thing that worries me is that a widescreen might be too big for class. Got it for $699 on sale.</p>

17

<p>i have a vaio that my uncle got me as a graduation gift and i love it! it looks great, pretty fast, and has an amazing screen. Its thin too, uber-sexy, way better looking than a compaq or hp, though vaios are generally more expensive.</p>

18

<p>Buy a light laptop or you'll end up using your laptop as a desktop.</p>

19

<p>....get a mac get a mac get a mac....</p>

<p>What was that? Who said that?</p>

20

<p>Macs are nice, but expensive.</p>