College/Laptop

[Shayla_IST]

Ok here's the deal, I'm in need of a laptop, and will be getting the money for it in like 2 weeks. I need something that has a comparative amount of power to a desktop, and that will last me a minimum of 2 years. One thing, Intel of AMD? (Dual core a must!) And what manufacturer. I dont like HP's partitioning of an image, b/c if my hd would go, then there goes everything. I also don't want a piece of junk. I'm trying to stay away from Lenovo..(the name alone scares me). What do you all think of Toshiba? They're in my price range of 1200 I think. But I'm out of the loop Please help!

[Speedy]

Hi Shayla,

This is a question that I get asked a lot because of what I used to do for a living.

For brand of laptop, I would either go with a Toshiba or an HP, stay away from Compaq. My personal choice was the Toshiba.


For the processor, while I am very fond of AMD, all of my computers are AMD except for my laptop, I went with the Intel Core 2 Duo. As of current, I believe that the Intel chip performs faster than the AMD chip, but I doubt you will see much difference. If you go the Toshiba route, you're going to get Intel, if you go the HP route, you're almost guaranteed to get AMD.

Check to make sure that the laptop you are buying has at least a 1MB L2 Cache, though if you can get one with 2MB or greater, you will see a greatly improved performance.


For RAM, be sure to not short yourself. This is especially true if you are getting Vista. If you go to a salesperson and ask them, they will usually try to talk you into one with 512MB RAM. This is not near enough and you will be ready to chuck the computer out the window within a few hours. Get at least 1GB of RAM, if you can swing it, get 2GB, your computer will be happier for it.

If you can get the computer with XP on it instead of Vista, I would definitely go that route. You'll get a better battery performance with XP and a whole lot less compatibility headaches.

For a HD, I would suggest at least 120GB, if you can get a 160 you'll be much better off. I know what college students do to their laptops whether they think they will or not, and you'll be wanting that extra space.

On a final note, if you decide to go the Toshiba route, try to get the Portege series rather than the Satellite series. The Portege series is more of a business class laptop and is a little bit more sturdy than the Satellite. That said, my g/f has accidentally dropped her Toshiba, which is a Satellite a couple times and it's never had any issues. They are pretty sturdy laptops.

I've not heard much about Lenova, as far as I know Lenova bought out IBM's consumer line. The few things I have heard about them have been good though.

I hope this helps,

Speedy

[cHiNgY1788]

I would go for something light
especially if you decide on lugging it around all day, probably something under 2.5KG

[renegade600]

IMO, hp is one of the best. You generally get more for your money. I have two of them and never had a problem, at least not one I did not cause.

As far as the partition you dont like, one of the first things you do when you first turn on the hp is to create recovery disks. There will be a popup tellling you create them.
You will hear alot of griping about that partition from those stupid enough not to follow hps advise about creating the disks and then when the harddrive crashes blame hp.

As far as the Lenovo, it just a IBM computer under a new name.

For suggests of good laptops see this from cnet. You will find user and editor reviews.

[Shayla_IST]

Thanks for all the advice. I was personally leaning toward the Toshiba myself. A a Sat. (I can't spell! I suck!) myself. There's a great on on Cnet for about 1100 dollars that's perfect (WITH XP!) And that's the one I wanted so now I dont have to guess! Thanks again for all the advice. (BTW I, my cousin and a couple other people I know had HP Desktops, and no, you DONT get more bang for your buck. Even in Lappys.)

[AnObserver]

Shayla

If you are getting a new laptop for college, have you checked with the school for either recommendations or hardware / software requirements?

Also, after you have made a brand / model selection you may want to check the manufacturer's web site ... several have academic discounts available to college students.

Good luck with school and your new computer.

AO

[Shayla_IST]

Thanks everyone for all the advice. I found out the Penn State will give you XP for free, so I can downgrade from Vista. So life is good!