<p>r31ncarnat3d: You seem to be very knowledgeable about laptops. My concern with Asus is that I can’t customize it and I am so used to being able to do so, it frustrates me. Would you have a recommendation for a Windows based laptop that is customizable? I don’t plan to purchase one until July, right before my daughter leaves for college and I do want the new i7 processor with 8 GBs of RAM at 1333 mhz. All I seem to find with this criteria are Dells and HP’s and you and others say they have too many problems. Thanks.</p>
<p>@proud_mom: You’ve been PMed :)</p>
<p>I’m also looking for a laptop for my freshman year. After doing a ton of research I have decided that PCs are a better buy. Now don’t get me wrong, MACS are great computers, but PCs are better because of their software and support. You might use a mac in college but chances are you will be using a pc with windows when you enter the workforce. Many people say mac hardware (especially laptops) are superior to any windows pcs and that is simply not true! Yes, Macs have excellent top of the line hardware, but many pcs do too! Macs are not cheap because they are “luxury” computers. Well pcs have “luxury” computers too. You just have to do some research. A computer that has desktop level perfermance in a 3lb package is the sony vaio z ( [VAIO</a> Z Series PC | Sony | SonyStyle USA](<a href=“http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644570897&parentCategoryId=16154]VAIO”>http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644570897&parentCategoryId=16154) ). That is the link to sony’s website. Other notable pc models that are just as good as macs are the HP ENVY 13 and 15. And even look at many business computers from dell and hp. Just because it is under the “business” section does not mean it is just for businesses. In most cases the “business” laptops are way better than consumer laptops! Consumer laptops are the ones you see at best buy. Also, most of the laptops at best buy are not very good (don’t compare to the quality of macs). But the other pcs that I mentioned earlier easily surpass the mac line. And if you are interested in buying a mac I would wait a little longer. They are going to update them very soon because they still have the same components from over a year ago (in computer years that’s old!). Most laptops have the new i5 and i7 processors so make sure you get a laptop with them because they blow the core 2 duos out of the water. Good luck choosing a laptop. If you give me a price point, I would be more than glad to help you choose a great laptop for school (I help run a tech review website, so i know what I’m talking about).</p>
<p>ALF, Apple uses Foxconn motherboards… that’s not very high quality.</p>
<p>@Pyroza: Not necessarily true. While Foxconn’s low-end are garbage, their high end boards are pretty great. That said, I’m pretty sure Apple doesn’t use Bloodrage-quality motherboards.</p>
<p>This is a great thread, and I appreciate everyone’s time and efforts in spelling out their opinions.<br>
Miami77: What would 1K get me? Which laptop do you think has the best “bang for the buck?”</p>
<p>@Stanford21: I know the question isn’t addressed to me, but what are your needs? “Bang for buck” has many criteria, and before any recommendations you should list out what you’ll be doing on the laptop and what your priorities are (power, mobility, battery life, screen size, etc)</p>
<p>I probably major in applied mathematics, so I need to be able to do some programming. I don’t know how heavy duty that will be. Probably looking at 15 inch screen for portability. Battery life, I don’t know what I should be looking at. Is 6-8 hours good?
Thanks for your help, r31…</p>
<p>I’m not exactly sure what you are looking for, but here are some great computers at your price point: Sony Vaio CW [VAIO</a> CW Series PC | Sony | SonyStyle USA](<a href=“http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644659494&N=4294954315#overview]VAIO”>http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644659494&N=4294954315#overview) Sony Vaio E [VAIO</a> E Series PC | Sony | SonyStyle USA](<a href=“http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644699998&N=4294953240]VAIO”>http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644699998&N=4294953240) Or look at any of these HP computers [HP</a> Official Store — Buy Laptops & Mini Netbooks direct from HP](<a href=“http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/store_access.do?template_type=landing&landing=notebooks]HP”>http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/store_access.do?template_type=landing&landing=notebooks) </p>
<p>Besides those other laptop check out the dell studio 15 [Studio</a> 15(1555) Laptop Details | Dell](<a href=“Shop: Dell Site Map of All Products, Solutions & Services | Dell USA”>Shop: Dell Site Map of All Products, Solutions & Services | Dell USA) </p>
<p>All the laptops that I have picked out for you have discrete graphics and core i5 processors with 4 gb of ram. I also advise you to search on dell’s website because they have some other really nice computers. </p>
<p>No matter what you chose, I recommend having a discrete graphics card (EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT INTO GAMING because this card will also speed up other applications performance like viewing online videos and doing things with graphics like power point presentations or photo editing), any core i5 or better (the core i3s are nice, but you really should have a core i5 if you want this to run faster and last you 4 years of college), and AT LEAST 4gb of ram! All hard drives will have sufficient space. If you get a laptop with the 3 previously mentioned components, then I can guarantee it will run very fast and last at least 4 to 6 years. </p>
<p>And if you want better battery life, select the option to buy the extended battery! Once you narrow it down to a few choices, I can help you decided which one would be the best.</p>
<p>Thanks. I’ll check them out.</p>
<p>I’ve been using Windows and OS X both for years, and I can say without hesitation that Mac computers come with infinitely less hassle and headache. They’re more secure, more streamlined, more intuitive, and yes, sexier. Is that really a bad thing?</p>
<p>@Toward: For ~$500 more than a comparable PC, I’d say so :P</p>
<p>@r31ncarnat3d
Yay I use majestouch blue cherries too : )</p>