buying a new laptop

[boomshay]

well my highschool graduation is coming up and i should be getting enough money to buy myself a laptop for college... i've started looking around but realized that i have no clue what i'm looking for... so

if you had 1000 dollars, give or take a bit... and you needed a solid laptop for college, what would you buy?

thanks in advance

[Kass]

I would NOT get a dell. I used to have one, it only lasted 2 years. 2 of my roomates have dells and they are messed up. Just my opinion though. My dad has one of the smaller models and he really likes it.. I guess this doesn't really help you.. sorry.

[derivation]

I would NOT get a dell. I used to have one, it only lasted 2 years. 2 of my roomates have dells and they are messed up. Just my opinion though. My dad has one of the smaller models and he really likes it.. I guess this doesn't really help you.. sorry.

Most people are going to have varying opinions on major brands like Dell. That being said, I think that dell does make some good laptops, but they generally aren't the ones most people buy. The insperion series (in my experience) is crap. The latitude series, however, I've had great experience with. You can only buy the latitudes through the business portals, but dell doesn't care who you are.

All that being said, I've become a mac guy and would recommend a macbook.

[Kass]

Most people are going to have varying opinions on major brands like Dell. That being said, I think that dell does make some good laptops, but they generally aren't the ones most people buy. The insperion series (in my experience) is crap. The latitude series, however, I've had great experience with. You can only buy the latitudes through the business portals, but dell doesn't care who you are.

All that being said, I've become a mac guy and would recommend a macbook.

I did have an inspirion.

[597]

I personally perfer Sony Viao or a Mac when it comes to laptops. I actually have both, and they are great. The only think is they tend to be on the pricey side near the $2,000 range. My experiance is if you really only use a computer for the internet and occasional other applications go with a PC. If you use a lot of applications go with a Mac, (in my experiance Macs tend to be a little slower on the internet and have some browser compatibility problems). You may want to consider a desktop since it will be cheaper. I realize laptops are great due to their portability but I never used that function when I was in college (although I do now). So if you really are going to use it in class and tote it around campus go for a laptop. Anyway thats my 2 cents.

[cls515]

Wait until classes begin. Your school may have wireless access and place certain requirements for accessibility. Also, your school should have a campus computer store that sells major brands to students at discounted prices. I know that it is very possible to get a Macbook at the lower end of $1000, which is what I'd buy if I was in the I'm going to buy a new laptop.

Sony is ok. I don't have one but some of my classmates have one. I personally don't see why you have to pay 1.5X prices for the name. I also think because Sony is involved with so many electronics quality decreases.

Apple is all about computing, and they do it very, very well, no matter what anyone says.

A lot of my classmates have Dell because they're cheap. Some love them, some hate them. Never heard anyone say they hate they're Mac, IF they have one.

IBM/Lenovo should also be in consideration. The quality will run with the best, but the price...you pay for what you get.

Macbook>Lenovo>Sony in my opinion.

[ashauler]

Most people are going to have varying opinions on major brands like Dell. That being said, I think that dell does make some good laptops, but they generally aren't the ones most people buy. The insperion series (in my experience) is crap. The latitude series, however, I've had great experience with. You can only buy the latitudes through the business portals, but dell doesn't care who you are.

All that being said, I've become a mac guy and would recommend a macbook.

I agree about the Dell latitudes.....I use a D820 for work constantly, in fact am typing this on it right now. I travel with it all the time and have had no issues after having it for about 1 yr. I think it is out of the price range you mentioned though.

[kevin7]

I love my Panasonic Toughbook fro work. I have dropped it from 4 ft out the truck door already accidentally . This thing is a beast ,too bad it costs 3K

[HersheyWalker]

I use to be a die hard pc fan, but after using a mac for the past year or so, I must say that it is a little workhorse. It's slower than it's pc counterpart and will have a smaller screen, but it has never crashed on me.

If you are pc profficient, go with the pc. You can find all the cracked apps you want on torrents, and it'll be beefier. But on the downside, you'll have to partition your drives to house your data on one side, and your os on the other. Then every month or so you'll have to reformat and reinstall your os. Not that big of a deal, but those moments when you need to fix your computer can come at the most inoportune moments.

I'd say get a cheap mac on craigslist and spend the rest on booze, but that's just me.

[john51277]

Maybe something like this.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...53575&CatId=17

or this......

http://www.officedepot.com/browse.do...385+4294938443

[pub spears]

I bought a cheap Compaq with widescreen a while back for around $550(after rebates) shipped with xp pro. Wouldn't buy another. The 1st & the replacement hard drives make clicking sounds. My cheap Dell at work has performed very well. It was part of digitizer package we got about 18 months ago and it is in a pretty unfriendly environment. Of course I,ve seen many a Dell desktop go bye bye. Probably would not buy either again.

[Bkcloud114]

[john51277]

Beware.........the Mac!!!!

[rpb67]

Lenovo is an IBM and is a great machine.

I use a Sony. It is a great mchine but may be a bit pricey to a college student. I also had a Dell that worked just fine. But I do like this new Sony the better than the Dell.

I suggest Lenovo first for price, if you can afford a bit more go for a Sony.

[heftysmokes]

A buddy of mine has a Toshiba. He swears by it.
I think I saw one at costco for 999, but I didn't look too closely at what the "guts" were so I couldn't tell you if it was a good deal or not.