2kmaro
Think
Premium,ExMod 1 BC
join:2000-07-11
ColossalCave
clubs:  
| [POLL] Student Laptop Choice
PLEASE - Students ONLY reply - We get many students preparing to head off to school and wishing to determine what a good choice of laptop would be. If you consider your portable to be a good choice then indicate which brand you have here and then please post giving model and other information like monitor size - weight - good points and bad points. Maybe a simple WHY you chose it would help also.
Poll
Which did you choose? |
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view results · flash pie chart
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2kmaro
Think
Premium,ExMod 1 BC
join:2000-07-11
ColossalCave
clubs:
edit:
July 23rd, @10:32PM
| You could cut'n'paste the following as a guide for additional comments:
Make/Model:
Screen Size:
Weight:
CPU:
Essential Extras:
Good Points:
BAD Points:
Why I picked it:
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then think again!
[Edit]:Please take the time to add a few comments about your machines - model and perhaps WHY at least. |
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johnsea66
Cool Down
Premium
join:2003-01-26
Canada
 ·Aliant Communicati..
 ·Red Ball Internet
 ·Rogers Hi-Speed
| Make/Model: HP zv5240ca
Screen Size: 15.4"
Weight: 8lbs (with extra battery, case and power adapter)
CPU: P4 3.00 GHz
Essential Extras: Battery (one only lasts 2 hours)
Good Points: Great gaming, nice screen
BAD Points: Battery life sucks, and its a bit on the heavy side
Why I picked it: Price was right ($200 sale), brand I trusted, loved the screen.
It gets pretty hot though... but only when gaming.
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»monctonhigh.ca
"What is wrong with all the people that say what is wrong with people?" -John Crawford |
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Da Geek Kid
join:2003-10-11
Mclean, VA
|  reply to 2kmaro
I got an IBM StinkPad! it Sox! It's an A31 P4 1.8 Jiga-Hutrz and has the 32MB Grphx RAM and the Monitor got killed and now it'll cost me over 1500 buccaroos to replace it... I laughed... you know, I am gonna take it in to pieces and sell parts... According to eye bee Em the MB is worth 1800, the cpu 800, the keyboard 500, Multi DVD burner is goin fer $250....
I'll spend the money on a brand new PC Dual Core Athlon... |
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ilikeme
I live in a van down by the river.
Premium
join:2002-08-27
Houston, TX
clubs:
·Comcast
| reply to 2kmaro
Make/Model: Dell Inspiron 600m
Screen Size: 14"
Weight: about 4 pounds
CPU: Intel Pentium M 1.5 Ghz
Essential Extras: Internal Wireless, more ram
Good Points: Very good battery life, light weight, lots of ports and other features.
BAD Points: 384MB of ram works but can sometimes be slow. I plan on upgrading that.
Why I picked it: battery life, ports, light weight, features.
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ftzsee
Premium
join:2001-11-22
clubs:
| reply to 2kmaro
Make/Model: Apple Powerbook
Screen Size: 17"
Weight: 6.9LBs
CPU: 1.5GHz G4
Essential Extras: USB mouse, with two buttons and a scroll wheel.
Good Points: •Very thin.
•Beautiful screen, good resolution.
•Good battery life - about 4 hours for light desktop use.
•DVD burning.
•Powerful graphics.
•Perfect hardware/software integration.
•Best wireless system I've ever seen.
•OS X.
•Nice software pre-installed.
•Impressive array of features - backlit keyboard, firewire 800, gigabit ethernet, s-video/dvi out.
•MHz for MHz, this thing crunches RC5 faster than anything I've seen.
•It looks slick. Especially the Apple logo on the back.
BAD Points:
•OS X is difficult for me to use sometimes. Annoying "features" like the lack of an "up" button in Finder, Enter-to-rename; Apple-O to open, and other rather major usability issues preclude me from being as productive as I am with my Linux desktop.
•As Apple's flagship laptop, it's slow - for some things, not all - compared to some of the newer P-M stuff in the PC world.
•Lots of free software that I like won't compile under OS X. Their OS X equivalents cost money.
•Proprietary hardware prevents me from installing Linux on it and having it be fully functional.
•Nothing plugs into the back. Everything plugs into the sides.
•The lid doesn't close all the way, because for some stupid reason, it latches in the middle.
•The touchpad only has one button. This is a bad design decision and it has no good excuses. Yeah, I'm talking to you, Apple fanboys.
•It's very expensive. More expensive than what it is worth.
•Like the rest of Apple's products that don't sit on a desk all the time, it's not particularly robust.
•When the CPU is at 100% utilization for a little while, the fan comes on, and the fan is loud.
•Community composed almost entirely of hippies and idiots.
Why I picked it: Besides the good points, I was interested in it because of the Unix-ness of OS X. I knew I'd install Linux on any PC laptop I purchased, but the longer I looked, the more features I wanted, and the higher my budget grew. Then I looked at the Powerbooks and quit looking at PC stuff.
Bottom line: If you can afford it and you're comfortable with using OS X, then you probably already have one. Avoid the 17" - 15" is much more practical. |
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yock
The Internet Is For Porn
Premium
join:2000-11-21
Fairfield, OH
| reply to 2kmaro
IBM Thinkpad R51 2883-2xu
Centrino Package
P-M 1.5
Intel 2200 B/G Wireless
512MB RAM (256 stock)
Why? The thing is a friggin' tank. It isn't as light as many other notebooks, but it goes in and out of my car several times a week where it gets tossed around with my books. The price was right when I bought it back around October/November ($1200 at the time). I also like the IBM software (for the most part) but this wasn't a buying decision. This little Pentium M machine has served me well for most any task so far, and I can't see it letting me down anytime soon.
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alg
It's just a shot away
Premium
join:2001-04-10
Austin, TX
clubs:
·Earthlink Cable Mo..
| reply to 2kmaro
Make/Model: Dell Latitude C610
Screen Size: i think 14"
Weight: ~5 lbs
CPU: 1000 MHz P3M
Essential Extras: Internal wireless
Good Points: Gets the job done for my needs, 5 hr battery
BAD Points: Screen looks kind of washed out compared to other notebooks, no DVD RW or CD RW, 10 GB hard drive.
Why I picked it: I was looking for a 1 GHz+ notebook and I found this one at a really good price on eBay and decided to go with it. I think I get really lucky with it considering I was basically taking a gamble but wound up with a good system at a good price. |
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Pat77
join:2003-12-28
Asbury Park, NJ
edit:
August 1st, @12:35AM
| reply to 2kmaro
This is my first laptop, but I like it better than my sisters Toshiba.
Make/Model: Dell Latitude D610
Screen Size:14.1"
Weight:4.67 lbs
CPU: 1.6Ghz Pentium 730
Essential Extras: Extra ports
Good Points: battery life, size, weight, keyboard, warranty, dedicated graphics card
BAD Points: screen a little washed out around edges
Why I picked it: My school required this laptop for their business program. If you already have a laptop you cannot use yours, you must use one from them. If I had a choice I probably would have got a dell 6000. |
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2kmaro
Think
Premium,ExMod 1 BC
join:2000-07-11
ColossalCave
clubs: | Seems I've run out of [ACCEPTED ANSWERS] to hand out - please accept my simple thumbs up instead. Thanks very much for helping out here.
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then think again! |
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Epikos
Surpass The Usual Or Ordinary
Premium
join:2003-07-27
Portland, OR
 ·Comcast Digital Vo..
·Comcast
| reply to 2kmaro
Make/Model: IBM T42p
Screen Size: 14.1
Weight: less than 5 pounds
CPU: Pentium M 1.8ghz
Essential Extras: Drive bay Li-Ion battery for those long lectures!
Good Points: Light weight, nice wifi features, HD Active shock protection has saved my HD many times
BAD Points: Needed a BIOS and embedded controller flash out of the box to fix a problem going into and coming out of stand by.
Why I picked it: Got one at work. I love it so much I had to buy one for personal use.
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fire100
Premium,MVM
join:2001-11-21
Twin Lake, MI
clubs:
| reply to 2kmaro
I am both a teacher and a student in the MBA program.
Make/Model: Dell Inspiron 700m
Screen Size: 12.1 Inches
Weight: 4.2 lbs
CPU: Intel Pentium M (1.80 GHz)
Essential Extra's:
DVD +-RW drive
Internal ABG Wireless
Wireless Remote
Good Points:
Small and easy to carry
Quiet (even when the fans run)
Durable, good machine!
BAD Points:
The keyboard took a bit to get used to.
Dell Tech support (use chat, much better!)
Why I picked it:
Needed something lighter to carry around with me, was carrying a 9 lb HP with me everyday before this laptop.
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Ctrl Alt Del
Premium
join:2002-02-18
edit:
August 4th, @07:43PM
| reply to 2kmaro
Make/Model: Dell Inspiron 8600
Screen Size: 15.4 inch widescreen (1680x1050)
Weight: 8 or 9 pounds
CPU: 1.7 GHz Intel Pentium M
RAM: 640 MB of 333 MHz DDR
Hard Drive: 60 GB 7,200 RPM
Video Card: ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro
Optical Drive: 4X DVD+RW Burner
Essential Extras:
- If getting an Intel CPU, get the Pentium M processor. It's superior to the Pentium 4 in some ways, and provides excellent battery life (5 hours!).
- Get an optical mouse. Using the trackpad or thumbstick as your primary mouse device becomes a pain. Nothing has yet to replace a good optical mouse when your notebook is sitting on your desk.
- Get a backpack designed with a laptop section, the more cushioning the better. Carrying around your laptop in a laptop bag and your books in your backpack gets old very fast.
Good Points: Pretty much everything. I love my notebook. It's also VERY quiet.
BAD Points: Because it's from Dell's home user line (Inspiron) and not their business line (Latitude) it feels somewhat flimsy and makes noises when moving around. However, it survived my freshman year at Virginia Tech (freezing cold trips to class, drops, bumps), as well as holding a college Physics book.
Why I picked it: Price/performance ratio. I got a very powerful computer with excellent battery life at $2,600.
What I use my computer for: 53 running processes, lots of Visual Studio 2003 C++ coding, internet & AIM, listening to my digital music library, watch TV via Hauppauge WinTV USB, Outlook email and calendar, Word, FrontPage & Dreamweaver, Acrobat Reader, Photoshop & Fireworks, MATLAB 7, VMware, or some combination of those. Sometimes I do some audio or video editing too.
Recommendations: I continue to suggest getting the right Latitude for you from Dell's Business section. The Latitude D810 is a more powerful version of my notebook (which I would buy in a heartbeat if I sold my 8600). The Latitude D610 is smaller and lighter (and cheaper) with slightly lower specs, but an excellent choice if you don't need the horsepower of the D810.
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toronto2001
Premium
join:2001-08-10
Markham, ON
| reply to 2kmaro
Make/Model:HP ZE2120
Screen Size: 15.0 Inches
Weight:2.9 kg
CPU:Intel Centrino 725A (1.60 GHz)
Essential Extras: Intel Wireless Pro, Dual DVD Burner, 512 DDR Ram.
Good Points: Price, features
BAD Points: Lack of a powerful videoc card, excess junk software
Why I picked it: It was on sale @ my local giant electronics chain.
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adam416
join:2005-01-02
Pontiac, MI
| reply to ftzsee
said by ftzsee  :Make/Model: Apple Powerbook BAD Points: •It's very expensive. More expensive than what it is worth. Want to buy a dollar for $5? |
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SCSI6_
@comcast.net
| reply to 2kmaro
Make/Model: zv5240us
Screen Size: 15.4in
Weight: 6.5lb (apx)
CPU: 3.0Ghz
Essential Extras: Roll out RJ-45 Cable & Mini attachable surge protector, small mouse...
Good Points: FAST!
BAD Points: about 1hr battery life
Why I picked it: It was the most expensive one when i got it & i got HP discounts. So i paid almost nothing...
I also travel a lot now and would like to point out that a case with rollors is best... |
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HappyFrappy
join:2000-10-04
North
clubs:
| reply to 2kmaro
Make/Model: Apple PowerBook
Screen Size: 12.1"
Weight: 4.6 lbs (with power adapter its ~5 lbs)
CPU: G4 1.33Ghz
Essential Extras: USB or bluetooth mouse, if you do presentations for classes a bluetooth phone makes a useful 'clicker' and gives a good impression to profs/classmates!
Good Points:
-Thin(0.1 thicker than a 15/17" PowerBook)
-5 hours with light usage or 3hrs with MS Word 2004's recording feature
-Light weight and small
-Bluetooth
-Decent GPU with dedicated memory and dvi output (nVidia Geforce FX Go5200 64mb)
-The design and keyboard (I had an earlier 15" AluPB and loved the keyboard feel)
-iLife bundle
-OS X
-Great tech support and hardware quality
BAD Points:
-dull screen vs the 15/17" PBs
-lousy resolution for the price
-Apple has 256mb of memory onboard the logicboard so you're stuck either maxing out at 768mb(cheap option) or 1.25GB(a bit pricey)
-Slot-loading optical drive can't use DualDisc albums, if you try it'll risk the possibility of a scratched disc or jammed drive!
Why I picked it:
Last year my parents wanted me to go light instead of always taking my heavier 15" PowerBook to classes. Education discount was a huge decision factor and last year the cram & jam offer gave $200 back on the iPod. Considering universities are moving away from Windows in various departments and or placing strict requirements of their IT staff inspecting+required updated security software on all student PCs... I opted for another PowerBook instead of a Harvardized T series Thinkpad. |
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lt_wentoncha
Red6
join:2002-05-12
000000
| reply to 2kmaro
I highly highly highly recommend thin-and-lights; anything more than 6lbs and you're just asking for trouble. They usually have the longest battery power as well. I have had a Compaq Armada M300, Evo N400c, Evo N410c, and I'm working on an Evo nc4000. Consequently, I recommend Compaq Evos. A bit pricey, but they're business notebooks that come with business support and 3 year warranty. Dell and Compaq thin-and-lights are good ways to go.
iBooks or 12" Powerbooks are also great choices. Applecare is actually sort of cheap now (~$149) and come with video editing tools right out the box, along with iTunes and all those other Apple goodies.
Seriously though, I see other students lugging around Toshiba Qosmios and other 15" behemoths; in my opinion it's not feasible to lug one around classes all day; I tried my Freshman year and ended up leaving my Presario 2800T at home.
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CChoi83
join:2002-01-03
Manhasset, NY
edit:
September 18th, @11:37PM
| reply to 2kmaro
Make/Model: IBM T42 2379-R9U
Screen Size: 15" SXGA+ 1400x1050
Weight: 6.2 with included 9-cell LiIon battery
CPU: Pentium M 745 1.8GHz
Essential Extras: Swapped out the original Intel 802.11b/g internal card for the IBM 802.11a/b/g internal card, added additional 512MB of RAM for a total of 1GB (1024MB)
Good Points: Thin and light, great performance, security features galore (ie. security chip, fingerprint reader, big security feature set in software as well as hardware, Active Protection for hard drive, great Wi-Fi, Blue Tooth, build and material quality is top notch.
BAD Points: None really. I'd rather get the T42p (at the time), now T43p or the next "p" designated T-series models.
Why I picked it: I'm an undergrad student and I work for my parents company this I have a lot both school and company work on it. Thus, I needed a laptop that could excel in both areas while ensuring portability and ruggedness (I would buy an Itronix or Toughbook if I had the 4-5K to spend). The security features are great and give me that extra confidence in data integrity. Also, I love the look and feel of ThinkPads. I don't like things that look playful or a bit "childish". They look very unprofessional. I like clean lines, dark colors or metal, nothing surperfluous... I want the essential executive's toy. So I chose a TP and I will never go back. I am looking at Panasonic though for a ultraportable though. I AM A TP WHORE!
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T42 2379-R9U | 1024MB RAM | IBM 802.11A/B/G Mini-PCI II | Extra AC Adapter | 6 & 9 Cell Battery | Pelican Case 1490 CC2 | Tumi Large Computer Sleeve | Samsung SCH-I730 | SE HBH-300 |
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johnsea66
Cool Down
Premium
join:2003-01-26
Canada
·Aliant Communicati..
·Red Ball Internet
·Rogers Hi-Speed
| reply to johnsea66
said by johnsea66 :Make/Model: HP zv5240ca Screen Size: 15.4" Weight: 8lbs (with extra battery, case and power adapter) CPU: P4 3.00 GHz Essential Extras: Battery (one only lasts 2 hours) Good Points: Great gaming, nice screen BAD Points: Battery life sucks, and its a bit on the heavy side Why I picked it: Price was right ($200 sale), brand I trusted, loved the screen. It gets pretty hot though... but only when gaming. Um, ops, I didn't mean it was $200 I meant when I bought it, it was 200 off, 
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»monctonhigh.ca
"What is wrong with all the people that say what is wrong with people?" -John Crawford |
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