Which laptop would be best for college?

Question

I need plenty of space for music, photos, and documents. Wireless capabilities, DVD capable, CD burner. Able to run multiple applications. Does such a thing exist?

Answer 1

This is a hard question and is ultimately an individual answer for everyone which will be based on how much you want to spend, what you want, and what your school requires. I spent about 2 weeks researching before I finally found my perfect computer, but I realize that my computer (as well as my configuration) is very specific for me and may not suit other people (which is why I don't recommend it to people.)

Your requirements don't actually seem all that demanding....you'd be surprised. CD/DVD burners are fairly standard these days, higher capacity hard drives are cheap, wireless (and INTERNAL is very nice) modems are relatively cheap, and a newer processor (maybe DUO, but doesn't have to be) can handle a lot of stuff that you throw at them, providing you don't bog down your 'puter with LOTS of installed junk.

A couple pointers:

1. Make a list of what you are looking for in the PC, including price range, what your school REQUIRES, and what you WANT (which may be VERY different if you like extra goodies). This gives you a base to start from so you don't get off track too much.

2. Go to the major PC magazine websites as well as consumer reports and other reputable websites and research the computer reviews.

3. Once you find about 5 or 6 computers (or hopefully less) that you feel fit your requirements you can then research those even closer. You can type in the model number in Google or Yahoo and pull up as much information as you can, including FORUMS where people can give personal experience. Look at the pros for sure, but pay extra attention to the cons and decide if they are things you can live or don't care about, or if you should not consider that computer.

4. LASTLY....call the computer manufacturer directly (especially if it's a big company like HP, DELL, etc) and tell they you are a college student and ask if you are eligible for discounts. I almost bought my HP directly through the website, but after calling them I wound up with like a 12% reduction in price PLUS a $100 rebate.

5. Also, It imay be VERY LATE to wait after school starts, but Thanksgiving will have some AMAZING sales on computers if you're willing to go to Costco, BestBuy, etc in at like 4 or 5 in the morning and wait in line to get them!

Good luck!

Answer 2

The best I can tell you to get for college is a macbook. Trust me I've been through three laptops in the past month and a half. Dont buy the dell Inspiron E1505 that was the worst one that I purchased. If you are going to get a laptop that is a pc I'd recommend getting an HP dv6000z, it works well, but you gotta really watch out with this new windows it has many bugs and flaws that it really needs to work out. Overall though, I think that you should just get a macbook. This reason is it has practically everything on there ichat where you can see on talk to people who own a mac, aim, or aol screen name, imovie you can make movies on there which movie producers use macs to create movies. Theres also a time machine on the notebook where if you have already permanetly deleted something, you can go to past dates on where you could have deleted it and actaully restore the program or item that you deleted! There are so many other features on here like the cd burner and wathcing dvds that you want. And just to let you know there are no viruses that macs can get, because macs cant get viruses. Overall this computer has everything you will ever need and it is pretty much one of the best on the market with this new windows it makes your pc pretty slow and difficult to use. I think you should get a mac all the way man hope this helps you.

Answer 3

First off the people above me have no idea what there talking about when they say go with mac! Mac sucks so much, from expierence trust me! Alot of programs won't work with it and some wireless routers arn't either!! PC's are better because they have more things that are compatable with them!
But back to your laptop situation! What you want to do is stay away from makes such as Acer, Compaq and most worst of them all Toshiba!! Those brands right there are some of the worst and slowest computers that i have ever come across!! What you should go with is either HP or Sony like the vaio's! Those to brands are the best bang for your buck!!
What you want to go with is either a Centrino or a Intel® Core™2 Duo mobile processo!! Those to processors right there are with out a doubt no hands down the fastest out there! Other proccesors out there are Cellaron, you would want to stay away from that because you will notice a decrease in speed!!
- When purchasing a laptop Go with something that at least has a 1,500GB or higher Ram and something with a 200GB Hard Drive or bigger!! THey will be a little price but if you shop around there are good deals out there!! But anything less in memory wise for what your tring to do will slow down your computer!!
-Almost every computer out there comes with a CD and DVD Burner and a wireless card built in!! Only the cheaper model's don't have them!!
-Get the extended warranty wwith your purchase like a 2 or 3 year one! Because working with laptops all of my years! I have seen about every 1 out of 10 customers comes back with some sort of manufactures default with there comp.! Yea it does come with a 1 year!! But just to becareful try to o the extra lengh if you can!
One more thing to get the best deals on lap tops, if your sopping off line, go to Best Buy! Even though the staff isin't that knowledgeable the computers are the best prices around!!
if you have any more questions just send me an email to my address!! "[e-mail]"!
Hope i was of any help!!

Answer 4

Most of what you want exists in most laptops on the market today. Take a look at the battery life. That should help you decide.

My Acer Aspire is a desktop replacement (17" screen) but only has a forty-five minute battery life so its not really portable without access to an electrical outlet. It's also heavy due to the large screen and full size keyboard. Having to lug this thing around all day would suck.

I don't like dells (too pricey!) but my work laptop has a great battery life - 4.5 hours.

Answer 5

If you are looking for one you can take to class for notes and to do homework when you are not in your room you will want a light one so that you can carry it around. If you put this priotrity first and get something in the 4-5 pound range that cuts down your choices.

If you are looking for one to only use in your dorm room then weight is not a factor and you have an almost unlimited number of choices. In fact if I were in that situation I would not even get a laptop. I would get a desktop. It is cheaper to buy, cheaper to repair, and cheaper to upgrade by putting in a bigger disk and more RAM memory. You can also get a big LCD monitor since you are not moving it around.

Looking at laptops lately the ones at about 4 pounds or less are way overpriced (add a $1000 for extreme lightness). There are Dells and Lenovos and even some Toshibas that are in the 5-5.3 pound range. Their prices are comparable and their memory and disk space are comparable. They also have 15 inch displays which cuts down eyestrain.

Answer 6

I have bought scores of computers over the years working in schools and colleges.

Recently I decided to buy a new laptop as a gift for my wife. I purchased a MacBook from the apple site (look for the refurbished section of their page).
It cost about $1600 and is amazingly easy to use. It detected our home wireless network on it own, it located an iTunes library on another computer on our network and connected to it without my wife having to do anything.
It has a slick video camera built in, so we now video chat for free with our kids (who have similar Macs) using Yahoo Messenger.
It is so media friendly that it comes with a remote so it can be used as a way to watch DVDs. It can also run windows (not included) if you really need to.

Answer 7

Get an Acer Ferrari notebook computer or a Dell Lambourghini laptop. These two are top notch and have plenty of hard drive capacity and awesome video card to boot!

Answer 8

Consider buying a HP Pavilion Notebook PC (dv-series)

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/store_access.do?template_type=computer_store&landing=notebooks&a1=Brand&v1=HP%20Pavilion&aoid=1426

Answer 9

I would suggest getting a desktop, if you have the room.

EVERY college student things that s/he needs a laptop, when in the end it becomes the #1 stolen, lost, and abused item in college!!

If you want ALL of that, get a desktop. It's going to be better in the long run AND retain some value in 4 years if you want to sell it for some profit.

Answer 10

Check out the notebook computers from Dell. I've owned Dell Inspiron notebooks since 2003. They are powerful, reliable, versatile. Get as much hard drive as you can and maybe add an external hard drive for more storage. The documents probably won't create huge files, but your music and photo storage will.