Student Laptops?

Question

I will be attending the Univeristy of Texas at Austin where i will major in history, and i need help finding a good laptop. What kind of laptop do you recomend, or what specs should i look for in a good laptop?

Answer 1

Just a note, word of warning about Dells. They have to be sent in to get fixed, no other dealer of computers can or will repair dells.We have no local walk in shops here in minnesota. It nulls your waranty if anyone but dell opens the case.
I think your better off going to a local store and seeing what they can offer that can be worked on locally if break downs/ problems occur.

Answer 2

Any kind that's light. If it's more than about 5 or 6 pounds, you won't want to carry it around anywhere. As for specs, a dual core processor and at least 1024MB ram. If you're going to be doing any gaming, you'll want one with a dedicated graphics card, such as GeForce Go 7600 or the ATI equivalent.

Answer 3

go to http://dell.com do not get anything else, yes they may be a little more expensive than other brands but they are very reliable, they have a good support staff (you can actually understand them unlike other brands.) i would go for one that has windows professional, make sure that it has; microsoft word, powerpoint, etc (it should be microsoft works or something) make sure to get a power cable, and extra batteries are always handy. windows media center is always good too, for when you want to relax with your favorite movies or music. make sure you will have usb ports- i think all models do, but just as a precaution make sure. i would call dell, as they can always make better deals, and give discounts that you normally wouldnt get over the internet. hope that helps.

edit
to the person who says to get something from a store i have this to say,
1. they will overcharge you for the simplest things
2. they aren't trained as much as dell operators.
3. stores close, ex. best buy opens at 10 am and closes at 10 pm on weekdays, and 10 to 6 on sundays. whereas dell support is 24/7 for any problems.

edit
and dell doesnt charge you $60 an hour like the geek squad at best buy

Answer 4

Good specs.......... basically get as much memory as you can afford......... don't get one with a "trackpoint" as the one on my toshiba was horrible to use.... much prefer the touchpad like on the Kensington WEBRACER mouse hooked up to my desktop PC right now.
Some personal recommendations
ALIENWARE Area-51 Series (from $1,049 USD)
http://www.alienware.com/product_detail_pages/Area-51_m5550/area-51m_overview.aspx?SysCode=PC-LT-AREA51M5550-R3&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT

ALIENWARE Sentia m3450 RoadWarrier (from $869)
http://www.alienware.com/product_detail_pages/Sentia_m3450/sentia_overview.aspx?SysCode=PC-LT-SENTIA-3450&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT

DELL, TOSHIBA + SONY make good laptops too........ but ALIENWARE make the best (and coolest) PC's of any kind, particularly if you need one for graphics intensive tasks (gaming, huge image / audio / video files, etc) or large hard drive.

Answer 5

I recommend the HP Compaq Presario V6000T. Get it here:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Usage&v1=Everyday+computing&series_name=V6000T_series