Recommend me a laptop! (school)

[ghosstt]

Well, I need a laptop for school. I'm going to be an ICT Major (Information Computer Tech.) so I need something thats got some power. Its got to have a decent GPU (according to the requirments) but Id also like one so I can play some SC2 as well. It's tax free weekend, so I'd like to pick it up real soon, but I'm not sure where to start.

at least 4GB of ram
Quad-Core would be nice
not sure on screen size
battery life has to be above average if possible
Hard drive isn't that important, going to be using an external as well anyways

what do you guys think?

[bicostp]

What brand, if any, does the school support? If you can buy it through them and get a 4 year warranty, they should be able to fix anything that goes wrong with it for free. Having worked at a college IT desk, I *HIGHLY* recommend this.

Dell Latitude E6410s are pretty potent. Core i5 2.4 ghz quad (i7 2.66 ghz quad available), Nvidia NVS 3100M available, available 9- and 12-cell batteries... And to top it off they're not giant creaky plastic things that sag when you pick them up unlike the laptops they sell at Wally World.

Also check to see what kind of discounts on Microsoft software you can get. As far as I know students whose schools participate in TechNet can get Windows 7 Professional for $20-$30. It might work out cheaper to buy a barebones/no-OS laptop on your own and put the cheap copy of 7 on it if the school has no discount laptop program in place.

[limpport]

It's gonna be hard to find a laptop that has good battery life along with beefy power. Don't really wanna start a flamewar or anything, but Macbooks have terrific battery life. They may not be as beefy as other laptops, but a 10 hour battery life (more like 6-7 if you're playing a game) is pretty good. I have a early 2009 white Macbook, and I can play pretty much any game I throw at it. Nothing max settings of course, but that's not really needed on a 13" screen. I dual boot with Windows 7, so if you can pick up a student copy of Windows 7 like Bic said, you'll be pretty set.

Check online in Apples refurbished section. They don't have any Macbooks there, but there are some Macbook Pros. You can get some pretty deep discounts, and they'll still come with the warranty. (linky)

Also, if you're going to get any sort of Macbook, do RAM upgrades yourself. It's easy to do, and WAY cheaper. I like the quality of Macs. They're built solid, but I do agree you are paying for the name sometimes.

[bassmasta]

HP Envy 14. Just came out, so it might take a bit to get one though.
Base $999 config comes with i3 370m, switchable graphics, radeon mobility 5650, and up to 7-8 hours of battery life if you really stretch it. (You could also get the "slice" battery for a few more hours.) $250 more and you can get an i5 450m and a 1600x900 "radiance" display.
SC2 would be fine. They've been having some problems, but apparently its an issue with the whole 5xxx series. Hopefully Blizzard will fix it soon.
EDIT: It also has two fans, so cooling seems to be good.

[Harshboy]

I recently got an Alienware m15x and its amazing so far. Yes it was overpriced but with some student discounts and tax free you shouldn't have a hard time getting it for under $1500. It was my graduation gift.

Mine was $1900 and I got the i7 620M, 4GB of DDR3 Ram, Mobility HD5850 Graphics Card, 500GB Hard Drive, 1920x1080 WLED Display. It holds its own against my main gaming desktop but I won't be taking that along with me. I don't want my dorm to be nearly as hot as my bedroom sometimes gets. Pricey but stylish.

Don't know what your budget is but this thing is one hell of a desktop replacement if you require computing power.

[timmeh87]

Thinkpad! thinkpadthinkpadthinkpad

Mine is 3 years old, 2gb ram, 1.6ghz core2. Intel GMA945 graphics. (model R61i) I installed starcraft 2 on it yesterday, it runs absolutely fine. surprisingly. minimum settings... Could use more ram.

But yeah Ive put this thing through its paces. I dropped it 3 feet onto a sidewalk once. I have accidentally kicked the screen all the way back into a tile floor. Other than some cracks in the plastic, no problems at all.

So I figure if you get one new, then it will probably be pretty awesome. I have one of the lowest-end models from 3 years ago. Your specs aren't even really that "insane", what with laptops coming with 6gb of ram these days. Dont let the Intel graphics scare you away. Graphics is graphics. Intel is even getting better. Who cares if your computer produces 2x more frames than its refresh rate. Its a bunch of penis-waving. At least the battery life is over 2 hours.

I also like the matte black finish, but that's me.

Edit: They are on sale until Aug 11. But previously I got mine new on ebay for 30% off. Check ebay.

Edit2: The T410 has $600 off until Aug 18. $1800 unit for $1200.

* Intel® Core™ i7-620M Processor
* Genuine Windows® 7 Professional 64
* 4GB Memory
* 500GB (7200 RPM) Hard Drive

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/cont ... 50AAAFE461" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ghosstt]

@timmeh: I went with a T510 from the school store. 3 year full coverage warrenty, i5 4 gigs of ram, all the goodies, for about $1300

[timmeh87]

Haha that was fast. What goodies specifically? Theres a ton of configurations.

[ghosstt]

From Lenovo
15.6" HD Anti-Glare LED Display
Intel Core i5-540M Processor (2.53GHz, 3MB L3, 1066MHz FSB)
4GB DDR SDRAM (2 DIMM)
320GB 7200rpm
DVD Multiburner optical drive
NVIDIA NVS 3100m graphics with 512MB
Bluetooth
2.0 MP Camera
9 cell Li-Ion Battery
Integrated fingerprint reader
3yr Depot + 3yr TPP (accidental damage warranty)

[bioniclebert]

+1 vote for Lenovo. Typing this from a Thinkpad t500 that I've owned for a little over a year now. Intel dual core at 2.4ghz is quite fast enough for me and all the games I play (Read: basically anything from Valve). ATI Mobility Radeon 3650HD plays all the games I throw at it reasonably well. 3GB of ram and around 140GB of hard disc space to boot. Rock solid computer with a great warranty. Runs nearly silently even when I'm playing Team Fortress or other games that use the graphics card heavily.

[timmeh87]

I was looking at their lineup today, cause now Im thinking this old R61 cant actually run starcraft to my standards (choking on the 8th campaign level).

So I was looking at L512 maybe. There's a sale on this week. So I ask you guys: Is the build quality still up to snuff these days? Anyone have and experience with the new L-series?

Does your T510 still have the rubberized coating on the outside? Apparently they got rid of that on L. I like that.

[ghosstt]

Not sure to be honest. Don't get it until I go pick it up in a week or two

[timmeh87]

I found a guy who sells refurbs on ebay, for example this

http://cgi.ebay.ca/LENOVO-THINKPAD-T410 ... tops_Nov05" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

to bad someone else snapped it up before I could sell my old one

[mako321]

Lenovo ideapads are nowhere near the quality of thinkpads, just a heads up.