tbeck

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Jun 4, 2006
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Hey!
I am going to college next year and i need a laptop. Im unshure of what is good to get for this but it must meet certain requirements.

Preferably >$1500
DVD±RW DL
<60GB HD
<512 MB DDR2

It also needs to be able to
connect wirelessly
current games
CAD
photoshop

Basically I dont know what processor to go with here and what kind of gaphics card to look for. I understand what i need elsewhere. I dont know what brand to choose.

Any help would be appreciated there are just too many choices!
 

tyr86

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Mar 28, 2005
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As a fellow college student, I highly recommend getting a convertable tablet. It is very versatile and makes taking notes very easy. Also writing down graphs is very easy with the stylus. I love taking my tablet to class rather than taking 1 of my 5 paper notebooks.

Most laptops come with more than 60 GB HDs now, and you're going to have to pay a little extra for 1 GB of RAM on some.

Your DVD-RW drive with dual-layer will depend on brand.

Take a look at Toshiba, Fujitsu, and Dell.

I have a Toshiba Satellite tablet, btw.
 

g-paw

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Jan 31, 2006
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My wife just got a Dell Inspirin E1505 has an Intel dual core, 100GB hdd, 1GB of RAM, and a DVD burner. I ordered it with the Windows CD rather than the restore disk, $10 extra. As soon as we got the computer I did a fresh install of Windows to get all the crap off it. Only problem I have is that when I use it I have to make sure the palm of my hand doesn't touch the mouse pad but she doesn't have a problem with it. It just has the low end video card and screed but it works fine and cost less than $900. I was getting calls every other day from Dell for surveys and pushing extended warranty but after I told them to put me on their do not call list, they stopped. I would suggest that whatever you get be sure to get a Windows disk not just a restore disk. If you just use the restore disk you get all the garbage (mostly trial versions of program you don't likley want) most of the manufacturers put on their computers
 

waylander

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Nov 23, 2004
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it's funny that you have all those greater than and less than signs reversed...

Toshiba, asus, dell... etc.

If you are interested in gaming at all you will push the limit of your budget, good gaming laptops (you'll want at least a 6800 ultra go and 1 gb of ram) will cost > $2000.
 

angry_ducky

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Mar 3, 2006
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My wife just got a Dell Inspirin E1505 has an Intel dual core, 100GB hdd, 1GB of RAM, and a DVD burner. I ordered it with the Windows CD rather than the restore disk, $10 extra. As soon as we got the computer I did a fresh install of Windows to get all the crap off it. Only problem I have is that when I use it I have to make sure the palm of my hand doesn't touch the mouse pad but she doesn't have a problem with it. It just has the low end video card and screed but it works fine and cost less than $900. I was getting calls every other day from Dell for surveys and pushing extended warranty but after I told them to put me on their do not call list, they stopped. I would suggest that whatever you get be sure to get a Windows disk not just a restore disk. If you just use the restore disk you get all the garbage (mostly trial versions of program you don't likley want) most of the manufacturers put on their computers

The Windows XP CD from Dell doesn't include all the crapware? That's so cool; I might actually consider Dell when I'm looking for a laptop for high school.
 

aydterracer2005

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Jun 5, 2006
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I have an HP ZD8000 that I bought less that a year ago for college that is really nice. I would recommend it, I haven't had any problems with mine. If you want a burner depending on the money I would by one seperately. I didn't get a burner but I was gonna get an external one so I could burn on the fly, I think 2 drives would be a lot better.

- HP Pavilion zd8000
- Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Professional
- Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 520 w/HT Technology, 2.8GHz
- 17.0" WXGA+ BrightView Wide Viewing (1440x900)
- 1.0GB DDR2 SDRAM, 533MHz (2x512MB)
- 60 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
- DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive
- 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) X600
- 54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/ 125HSM/SpeedBooster(TM)
- 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

It was like $1500.00 and I have a job that gave me a laptop so I'm trying to sell it for a $1000.00.
 

MOREPOWERPLEASE123

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Jun 14, 2006
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I would not recomend Dell. Not for a laptop. I am not one of those, "Oh, dells suck, don't buy them" kinda people. At work(I work for a company that does computer work for grocery stores)all we use are Dell's for desktops. Despite all the crap you'll hear from people, as long as you're not going for the $299.00 system, dell's are stable desktops, they just seem about half a step slower than equal computers from other places. Thier laptops on the other hand, they seem to be about a full step behind a compairable system. My boss gave me a dell laptop, I had him turn around and sell it to one of our customers. I went out and got myself a Sony Vaio. I love the screens on the Sony's, they are bright and very readable, and the speed is definately better than the dell(Same specs, except I now have a DVD burner). I love my Sony, and we also bought an HP for one of our customers, I thought that was decent too. I don't have a lot of experience with Acer, Asus, or Gateway, so I can't coment on them, but I've used 2 Sony's, 1 Dell, and 1 HP. My suggestion is stay away from Dell for laptops.
 

unbiased4u

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Mar 17, 2006
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Really? I thought their laptops were OK and their desktops sucked. I don't know, I've never had a Dell Laptop but I have an old Dell desktop. (super old don't ask)

However the ones we have at our school really suck. They are slower than my desktop! The laptops have P4 2.4Ghz and 512MB RAM. They also crash often. They are the older black Dell Latitudes.
The desktops are faster, and quiet, but not super speedy.

I thought Dell improved their quality with their new laptops? I mean, they look good on their website. They are pretty cheap, so if you get one, get an extended warranty.

My dad's Sony Vaio broke down 3 months ago. After the warranty :evil: Oh well, it was super cheap and I guess you get what you pay for :?

So, I think you should look on Newegg.com for some good deals for laptops in your price range. I'm sure you'll find something :)
 

g-paw

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Jan 31, 2006
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As noted above, my wife's laptop is working fine including editing photos and capturing video, Haven't tried rendering or burning yet. She doesn't play games, at least on computers, so can't speak to that. There is a place called jncs.com that sells Asus laptops and prices aren't bad. I bought a mobo bundle from them about 3 or 4 years ago and they were good to deal with. Guessing the support would be better and you wouldn't get all the trashware that Dell, HP, Acer, and the rest put on their machines. Be worth a look. Price wise, checking around, Dell seems to have the best prices especially when you get a Special from them.
 

ScottyHutch

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May 12, 2006
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I had an HP about 2 years ago, and it was loud and heavy. I gave that to my sister, and bought myself a Dell Inspiron 6000. My job has me traveling quite a bit, so I use it both for work and gaming. It has the X300 graphics card that supports Directx 9.0, so you'll be able to run most of the games, but don't count on any laptop competing with a pimped up desktop gaming rig :D