<p>I am in the market for a new laptop and the Portege has gotten pretty good reviews from various sources. Does anyone have any experience with the Portege R835-P56X? Is it a good laptop? Looking at the Ross School of Business.</p>
<p>the reviews you read on reputable sites are going to be much more helpful than insights from people on CC</p>
<p>there are no unique qualities you need in a computer for Ross – just get whatever you would get otherwise</p>
<p>sorry if i didn’t really provide the information you wanted in the last post…</p>
<p>In my experience, Toshiba laptops are pretty good. Traditionally, they are known to be very reliable and fairly priced.</p>
<p>I actually just bought that laptop a month ago after 2 friends recommended it to me and am planning on applying to Ross as well! So far, it’s been great. The two main things I was interested in were weight (since I’ll be carrying it to and from classes) and battery life (who wants to lug around a charger unnecessarily?) and it’s perfect. A little over 3 pounds, super light, and the battery lasts forever! (I believe around 8 or so hours, but don’t quote me on that.) Price was great too.</p>
<p>Sounds good but my only question is, is 13.3" screen big enough?</p>
<p>I personally think 13 inches is the optimal screen size for a college student. This is purely from the standpoint of carrying your laptop around. In terms of resolution, though, from what I’m seeing online that model is 1366x768. This resolution isn’t terrible, but it’s not great either.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I have seen at least 5 cases of battery problems with Toshiba laptops. The battery connector in the back gets loose, which disconnects the battery from the power line. If you ask me, I would NOT buy a Toshiba in a million years. They are built very poorly compared to Dell and Lenovo laptops.</p>
<p>For the same price, you can get a nice Dell Vostro (excellent laptop line) or get the best of the best with Lenovo Thinkpads. Dell and Lenovo are the best when it comes to a durable laptop. Processors, RAM, etc… don’t change much between brands.</p>
<p>For transportation and mobility, Lenovo Thinkpads are built small and Dells are built in a variety of sizes. But size REALLY shouldn’t be a factor at all. You don’t want to deal with faulty hardware.</p>
<p>More info on the battery. I opened up my cousin’s to try and fix it- i soldered the battery line to the connector. I put A LOT on there, thinking it would never become loose again. After putting the laptop back together, it worked for a grand total of 2 hours. The thing came loose again. Maybe i suck at that stuff, i don’t know…but yeah I don’t think you want to deal with this crap.</p>
<p>I don’t doubt what iamsocool has seen … but all the studies I can find list Toshiba as one of the most reliable.</p>
<p>Maybe they have changed or maybe I saw only a certain line of their laptops. Either way, reviews are the best way to go…but seriously, consider Dell or Lenovo.</p>
<p>don’t listen to what iamsocool said about size…</p>
<p>almost any college student you ask about laptops will tell you that size is one of the most important factors. Even if it doesn’t sound like 1 lb or 1-2 inches makes a difference, I assure you the difference is significant and very noticeable when you’re commuting around campus with your computer</p>
<p>13-14 inch screen size is optimal, 15 inches is the max I would go.
do not get a laptop that is much more than 5 lb</p>
<p>You transport your laptop maybe 1% of the time you use it. Wouldn’t you rather have the benefits of the 15 inch screen over the conveniences of carrying a 12 inch?</p>
<p>btw, mine is 15.6 inches and 4.5 pounds</p>
<p>but that’s just me…</p>
<p>you’re an incoming freshman, right? I don’t mean that in a demeaning way… it’s just that a lot of people do not understand the importance of a laptop’s portability until they actually need to commute with it. I think you’ll understand what I mean once you get to campus and classes start. </p>
<p>to answer your questions, many students always have their laptops in their backpack, so it’s a lot more than 1% of the time. If your vision is good then there are no real benefits of having a large screen if the resolution is the same. </p>
<p>your laptop is pretty light for that screen size. may i ask what laptop you have?</p>
<p>Yeah…hah you’re right, i shouldn’t be one to talk, yet. I guess it depends on how much you walk and how big of a person you are. </p>
<p>And I have the i5 version of the Dell Vostro 3550…it’s around 5 pounds</p>
<p>in my experience, it really doesn’t matter how “big” you are. i know someone who is about 6’7’’ and extremely athletic who refuses to purchase a laptop larger than 13 inches after he brought a gaming laptop to college his freshman year. another one of my friends got a thinkpad w510 freshman year, and ended up switching it for a thinkpad t410i with his high school brother because it’s just inconvenient to have a big/heavy laptop.</p>
<p>Also, correct me if i’m wrong but the vostro you’re referring to shows up as 5.5 lb. That is significantly different than the 4.5 you mentioned earlier. You’ll be fine, though. I personally have a thinkpad t410 w/ a 9cell battery, and it’s about 5.3 lb i think.</p>
<p>oh is it? well it feels liter than that…</p>
<p>that lenovo you’re carrying around makes me feel better, though</p>
<p>Whatever you do, don’t get a Dell. They may be built well, but plastic is a terrible heat sink. I can’t use my Dell Studio for more than 45 minutes without it shutting down from overheating. Maybe things have changed since I bought my laptop two years ago, but this is just my experience.</p>
<p>If there is a Dell you can get with a metal casing, that might be okay.</p>
<p>Mine is made of metal…but it isn’t an xps</p>