<p>I need to buy a laptop for use in College. Maybe you can give me good advice.
A lot of people were convincing me to get a MAC, but for financial and other reasons I wanna stick with Windows.
I wanna waste around 1400 dollars on it. I would go from 1400 up to, lets say, 1600, only if it was really necessary and an excellent investment.
I was thinking bout getting a DELL or IBM from a college store, but lately a lot of people are tellin me the Sony VAIO laptops are the best fot the price range Im aiming for. So Im planning to get the VAIO FS or FE series (online).</p>
<p>Do you play games? Are you going to upgrade to Vista (I assume this a yes)? Do you need a lighter or smaller computer?</p>
<p>I strongly prefer the FS series over the FE, with the superior Core Duo processor (compared to the waste of energy that is Pentium and Netburst) and the Vista-compatible GMA 950, compared to the non-compatible GMA 900.</p>
<p>Assuming you do get the FS series, make sure to have 1 GB of RAM and a Core Duo processor, for very nice multitasking abilities. Get enough HD space, whatever you need software-wise, installation, and other stuff.</p>
<p>For any laptop, Core Duo, 1 GB of RAM (or more), and GMA 950 at least, if at all possible.</p>
<p>I got a Toshiba Satellite S3002 for about 900 bucks new. 100 gig hard drive, core duo processor, although there was only one 512 in the slot, I bought an extra 1gig, and now have 1.5 gigs of RAM. Its pretty light, about 5 lbs..depends what you wanna do with your comp...but id say recording music would be more suitable for a desktop imo</p>
<p>I have the macbook pro...with microsoft office...you can run all the windows software on the macs now, so i dont really see a reason not to get one.</p>
<p>What's your major? You don't want to get too much or too little on your computer because both will end up as a waste of money.</p>
<p>I definitely say go with Dell, though. My laptop from them is kickass...has to be for the programs I'll be running in engineering. They also have the student discount and usually have good sales as well.</p>
<p>well, keep an eye out for dell deals (eg. 35% off), then use your student discount (12% more), and you'll hit $1600 fine. Sometimes they'll give you another $200 off for acc. damage coverage.</p>
<p>I got a e1505, 2.0ghz core duo, 2gb RAM, 100gb hard drive, ati x1400 256mb, SWXGA+ resolution (1680x1050), WinXP MCE2005, tv tuner, remote, soundblaster hb, and 4 years of accidental damage, onsite service, etc for $1542</p>
<p>and there is a 12 inch XPS, that is very very small and portible. Give him a break...</p>
<p>
[quote]
"If you want something small and portable, look at the Dell XPS series."</p>
<p>you have to be kidding
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I have a 12.1'' XPS (the M1210), with very good specs for a computer that size. It's upgradable in a lot of ways too (graphics card, memory, etc). I'm going to UBC, where the entire campus is wireless (including the amazing japanese gardens). I have a feeling I'm going to be walking around a lot, and I don't want to kill myself doing it. </p>
<p>Other good options that I looked at (in terms of smaller notebooks) were the Sony Vaio and Compaq Presario. Both are sold at Staples, which has pretty reasonable prices. Dell has a better waranty though, especially with the accident converage (ie. you spill coffee on your notebook and they replace it).</p>
<p>$1400 is way too much for a laptop. You can get a great quality computer that's powerful enough to meet your needs for hundreds less. I got a top of the line gaming notebook with a 7900 GS for under 1k. If don't need a great video card to game with, you could easily get a machine for less than $800.</p>
<p>I have the Sony VAIO VGN-FS940...I got it for about $850 minus rebates because Circuit City was having a sale--it was about $1100 originally. I love it so much, because it's fast and has everything I need. The graphics card isn't that bad, because I can run Guild Wars pretty decently on medium settings.</p>
<p>I have a sony vaio FS920 and I love it. I know nothing about computers, though. Nothing. But, my dad knows everything about computers and he picked it out for me. He narrowed it down to about three at Best Buy, and I picked the prettiest. Haha. Yeah, I sound pathetic, I know. </p>
<p>Anyways, anyone else hate the mac commercials? They're so pompous. I love the VH1 spin on it, though, lol. iShut.</p>
<p>As far as small and portable go, the XPS M1210 is a joke. Get an ultra-thin Latitude X1 or D420 if you want portability, because the M1210 is a little bulky.</p>
<p>I had a Toshiba for a while...it was a hand-me-down from my older brother. It did really well until his dorm caught fire (a room down the hall from his) and sucked in a ton of smoke.</p>
<p>We fixed it about as much as we could and it did alright before I killed it with Limewire...yeah. Stay away from dorm fires and Limewire and you should be good.</p>
<p>I got a Dell, though, cause I had to customize it to be able to run all the engineering programs I need...and I like Dell.</p>
<p>I bought an M105-S3002 and love it...CompUSA was having a sale too so I got it for like 900 bucks. I did add a gig of RAM to it, but so far so good</p>