<p>I'm going to university this September and I need some sort of computer. It going to be mostly for typing out papers, downloading music, and watching the occasional movie.</p>
<p>I'm thinking of buying a new desktop as well as a new laptop. Do you guys think this is a wise choice? By the way...what are a few must need requirements for laptops and desktops these days. I'm so bad with tech, lol...thanks everyone!!!</p>
<p>Minimum for your requirements (that will last all 4 years...you could get by with less but dont count on it) is:</p>
<p>Pentium III 800 or so
256mb or RAM (512 is more realistic and barely costs more but we are talking minimum here)
30gb HDD should get you by with reasonable music needs</p>
<p>but that is really a minimum budget (probobly used) system. Since you are looking to buy multiple computers I am assuming you have a decent budget (and I think that a desktop and a laptop really is the best way to go) and can afford much more power.</p>
<p>In that case I would reccomend a laptop with about the same requirements I gave before (maybe bump up the speed a bit). You can probobly buy a IBM thinkpad (like a T22 or T23) that has come off of a corporate lease and will still be much nicer than a laptop from a cheaper brand that is brand new ($500-$600 range for the T23).</p>
<p>For a desktop, I would bump those stats way up. I would reccomend an AMD system with an AthlonXP 2500+ or faster (Barton core) or even a budget Athlon64.
For ram go for 1gb and for harddrive look for at least 80gb.</p>
<p>If I had more information about your situation, I could provide more exact specifications.</p>
<p>I think you should go ahead and invest in a laptop only. I don't think you need both a laptop and a desktop, because they do the same thing, obviosly. Especially if your out of touch with high tech stuff you won't be able to set up a network very easily so it will be easier for you to do all of your papers all on one machine.</p>
<p>And what is that one machine? A new 15 inch powerbook from Apple. Its probably the best thing you can buy and you will absolutly love it. Go to apple.com to look at it</p>
<p>On the note of taking both a desktop and a laptop to college, I was thinking the same thing. I already have a decent desktop that I've used throughout high school. I was thinking of bringing my PC desktop and purchasing a new Apple laptop, does this seem like a wise idea? I'm decent with computers and know I'd like something new for college, does it make sense to take both, especially since I'll be a plane trip away anywhere I go? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>I am a big proponent of having both except my situation is in someways opposite yours. My desktop is fairly new and has tons of power. It runs windows so that if I ever need somethign specific to run, it will work just fine. I can also keep it upgraded easier than a laptop so it will still be a good preformer as time goes by (gotta play some games every once in a while) and will simply have the power for any CPU-intensive things that I have to do for class (laptops really hate running at full power for very long). I also like to have a computer that is on (playing music and such), and laptops just dont like being on all of the time.</p>
<p>On the laptop side (although a new powerbook would be beautiful), I have a great IBM ThinkPad from a couple of years ago that I got for ~$550 (although it is much better than the $700-1000 ones from cheap manufacturers that are floating around now). I got it with the intent of being a second machine that I could take with if I needed to head to the library or get out of my room. I've got it running Linux so the power is used much more efficiently and it can do a lot more cool things than with windows (much like the powerbooks and OSX). </p>
<p>I think the biggest advantage of having both is that if one has a problem and I dont have time to fix it, the other one is ready to go and has my stuff on it rather than sending me to a computer lab.</p>
<p>Def get a new IBM thinkpad..the new ones are $$ but the technology is unbeatable! You get what you pay for! I mean with the new ones, you can drop them and the machine senses the fall and everything compresses to protect the harddrive..incredible. I wouldn't test it on a three story building or anything though..hehehe Toshiba laptops are also quality, expensive but you get what you pay for again. </p>
<p>Dell has great desktops, with unbeatable prices..just stay away from their laptops!!</p>
<p>Unless cost is a big issue I would stay away from dell desktops. They were great a few years ago and still run just fine but the new ones use nonstandard components and have some quirky bits.</p>
<p>So its ok to go dell for a low end system, but if you are getting something high end look in a PC magazine or something for a company like polywell that will set you up with the real stuff for a fairly low cost (or order the parts and put them together yourself, its as easy as putting together legos).</p>
<p>And yes, stay away from dell laptops and if for some reason you must get one (I have a friend who's parents wouldnt buy any other brand) try to buy it from the small business portion of the website as they usually end up with higher quality things.</p>