Purchasing a Laptop for college!

[MaTT^]

Hello all,

I've recently been researching laptops for college starting in the fall. I've come to a conclusion that a Dell Inspiron E1705 would be the best choice. I'm a little confused on some minor details of the laptop...

Processor - The E1705 comes from Intel Duo processors ranging from T2300 (1.66GHZ) to T2600 (2.16GHz). I'm looking for a CPU that is a good CPU for gaming and doesn't clog up the system. I'm not sure if a T2400 or T2500 would be better? Is there much of a difference?

RAM - I'm pretty sure I'm going to get 2GB of ram, but am puzzled at which speed I should get. It's either 533MHz or 667Mhz. Is the extra 333MHz worth the money, or will the 2GB shared 533MHz be good?

Hard Drive - I have quite of bit of music on my current desktop (26GB), so I need a good and big hard drive. I'm thinking minimum 80GB. Should I go for the extra 7200RPM drive, or stack up on storage and get a bigger 5400RPM? Remember, I'm alos going to be gaming (WoW and CS), so would a faster HDD be worth it?


That's about it. I'm probably going to be using this PC for gaming and school work. I'm also going to have a lot of music. All opinions welcome, and Thanks in advance!

Matt^

[Encore2097]

bump for answers. debating on laptop or desktop when i go back to college and this thread could decide it

[kayson]

E1705 is definitely a good choice. However, if you're gonna wait until the fall, I strongly suggest waiting until conroe comes out. It'll knock down prices of current prices as well, so you'll have a nice range of choices.

So,

Processor - Again, wait for conroe. If not, I'd say T2500.

RAM - It really depends on how much you're willing to pay. Personally, I'd stick with the 533mhz anyways because the ram probably wont be running at 667.

Hard Drive - Definitely go 7200 rpm. HD is usually a big bottleneck especially with laptops. You'll be glad you got the extra speed, especially if you're gonna be gaming. You could always buy an external storage drive if you need the space.

@Encore,

Everyone I've talked to says go laptop for sure. I think it really depends on your situation. If you're going to live on campus but go home a lot, keep a desktop at home and take a laptop to college. If you're going to live away from home permanently, you might want to consider a desktop. Keep in mind, however, that you can't take notes on a desktop in class :p

[Encore2097]

Well my first year I took a laptop. Never used it for notes in class, took it to the library sometimes to use the uncapped wireless =) Either way, I guess Ill just wait until fall. Thanks for the info.

[infinitevalence]

I have both a desktop and a laptop for school... that and a gaming computer as well as some xeon servers for folding... but thats beside the point

I use my laptop in everyclass but math/science/compsci classes only because its really hard to type formulas :( I strongly recomend getting a low end laptop with awsome batterylife or a drive bay and a second battery for classes and a decent desktop for gaming and having a good time. You really dont need the temptaion of a gaming laptop in class. Also if your laptop is 15lbs you will not want to carry it along with all your textbooks.

Base line a good gaming laptop will cost you $1500+ more likly $2000. where as a decent gaming desktop will cost ~$1000. So rather then spend 2k on a heavy DTR get a cheap 1k laptop and a 1k desktop.

Trust me on this, you will not be satisfied by the gaming performance of a laptop, and the loss in batter life, increase in weight will make you want to leave it in your dorm all the time.

So based on that what do i think you should buy? Well if you want the best performance, wait... the next generation of Intel mobile processors is due out in august, and from the looks of conroe it should be awsome. If they just dont have a cheap one then any of the Core Duo's should be more than enough. For a decent desktop, Conroe + mobo, + 2gb of mem, and a decent ATI card will give you high perofrmance gaming in 85% of the games out there.

[MaTT^]

The thing is, I'm going to a college that is feasible to drive home for the weekends. The dorm rooms are extremely small, and am unable to bring 2 PC's to school. The only reason I'm thinking about a laptop is for the moblie access that i MAY use throughout the year...

[Como]

personally i say 5400rpm hard drives, they're just too expensive past 40 gigs for the 7200's, and i game on my laptop all the time.
i had a 40gb 7200, and then an 80gb 5400, and now a 100gb 5400... and i wouldnt go back to the faster 40 for the world.

as for the laptop, i cant find any good information on that graphics processor. at all. Also note that many games are still single threaded and will only use one of those cores, so you gotta get a relatively fast one.

[Schalldampfer]

Won't you wait for Core 2 Duo?

[MaTT^]

Won't you wait for Core 2 Duo?

I'm not sure what Core 2 Duo is, and when will it be released...

[infinitevalence]

it will be out in august, its going to be 64bit and damn fast.

One thing i would look into is building your own laptop. Thats one of the things i did that saved quite alot of $$. i built an Asus Z63A for about $1300. For that i got a lot of laptop.

1.7 @ 2.26ghz
9hrs of battery life with second battery
8x dvd rw dl
14" WS glossy screen
under 5lbs
120gb HD

In your price range you can save alot over buying a 2k dell or something like that. Plus you get a few more choices and they dont cost as much to make.

[zachj]

I got a laptop for college and the only thing it was really good for was bringing home to Cincinnnati (I go to school in Boston)--I wrote an article for the front page a long time ago (link here (http://www.overclockers.com/articles1213/)) which covers this subject. Read it and consider your needs as you think they will be.

Most people go to college and assume they'll need a laptop just because it's what everyone does. People get to college and what they end up doing is leaving it on their desk. They don't take notes on it, they don't take it to friends' houses or go to the library or anything. The only really useful "feature" of a laptop in college is the fact that it's small and doesn't take up a lot of valuable space in an already cramped dorm room.

My suggestion to everyone who asks me (I work at the computer center at my school and get asked almost daily by people who have a failing laptop) is to buy a desktop. They are cheaper, much more upgradeable and much less likely to fail. If you need a laptop for class, buy it after you get there and have determined that you need one. If you do need one, my honest suggestion is to go to our good friend eBay and buy a used laptop which does the basics (expect to buy a new battery just in case the one it comes with is dead or dying). The best laptops are small and light, like the size of a 12" PowerBook/iBook. Don't get anything with a desktop processor, or your legs will be burning and you'll constantly be looking for a power outlet (hard to find in many classrooms).

Z

[scott d]

I got a laptop for college and the only thing it was really good for was bringing home to Cincinnnati (I go to school in Boston)--I wrote an article for the front page a long time ago (link here (http://www.overclockers.com/articles1213/)) which covers this subject. Read it and consider your needs as you think they will be.

Most people go to college and assume they'll need a laptop just because it's what everyone does. People get to college and what they end up doing is leaving it on their desk. They don't take notes on it, they don't take it to friends' houses or go to the library or anything. The only really useful "feature" of a laptop in college is the fact that it's small and doesn't take up a lot of valuable space in an already cramped dorm room.

My suggestion to everyone who asks me (I work at the computer center at my school and get asked almost daily by people who have a failing laptop) is to buy a desktop. They are cheaper, much more upgradeable and much less likely to fail. If you need a laptop for class, buy it after you get there and have determined that you need one. If you do need one, my honest suggestion is to go to our good friend eBay and buy a used laptop which does the basics (expect to buy a new battery just in case the one it comes with is dead or dying). The best laptops are small and light, like the size of a 12" PowerBook/iBook. Don't get anything with a desktop processor, or your legs will be burning and you'll constantly be looking for a power outlet (hard to find in many classrooms).

Z

Well, I just got a laptop before the summer semester started, and I use it every day and i bring it to campus with me every day. I honestly don't know how I made it through undergrad without one. I have a desktop, so my main concern was portability, which is why I got the laptop I did.

Zach: Just read your article, I used to do the same thing @ UF, and it's true, I had to replace a Dell hard drive once or twice a week. It got to be so common that I always checked the hard drive before I checked anything else.

[zachj]

I've got nothing against any laptop or manufacturer (in general), I just don't see much value in a laptop for 90% of the people who buy them. If you need a laptop for portability and to take to class (etc.), you don't need the proverbial uber laptop . . . it's not a sound decision to make. Buy a good desktop and get a cheapo laptop that does what you NEED it to do (new or used). If you actually need access to your laptop even when at your desk, invest in a cheap router and a KVM and you can share files, use remote desktop, VNC etc..

NOTE TO COLLEGE BUYERS: registering your computer to get Internet access requires you to basically tell the University that your computer's MAC address belongs to you so that they can see who's being naughty. If you get a router, you need to register the ROUTER, not your computer. Hopefully you're savvy enough to figure that out ;)

Z

[Tserrof]

OTE TO COLLEGE BUYERS: registering your computer to get Internet access requires you to basically tell the University that your computer's MAC address belongs to you so that they can see who's being naughty. If you get a router, you need to register the ROUTER, not your computer. Hopefully you're savvy enough to figure that out

some useful advice! :)

[da_spork]

I'd have to say most the people I know from college would just leave their laptops sitting on their desk, few rarely took them to classes. I'd recommend the decent desktop and waiting until you get there to decide if you really need to be portible or not, and if you do, you can just pick up a cheap portable laptop and not empty your pockets on a powerhouse.

Here's my experience from my freshman year regarding computers:
I went into college with only my desktop. Around November I began needing to come home every other weekish and had work piling up and it needed to get done while I was at home. I had some extra cash around from the summer job and got a 12" iBook to take to and from with my all of my work.

[Vengance_01]

well the 1705 is a solid notebook but its to big really to take notes and battery life is a bit short. Its really up to you. Some ppl like the ability to take there pc any where if need be, its quiet, and the 1705 can be had for around 1300 with a 20 piped 7900GS card:eek: and you can just drop in memron aka conroe moblie version. Also if Dell keep up with there trend, A direct X 10 card may come:drool:

[Tumnus]

I have to throw my weight behind zach's opinion. Everyone I know went out and bought 2k laptops for college, and they ended up sitting around in their dorm rooms. If you really want the portability, just take a look at eBay. But you might decide when you get there that you don't need a laptop as much as you thought you did.

[maddog39]

Me personally, would get/build a decent desktop and then for portablilty buy a PDA. I use my PDA in class all the time and I find it the most useful thing ever and does everything I need. Internet, Microsoft Office, and your standard games. :D

[zachj]

PDA- there is certainly some logic behind a PDA, but unless you buy a keyboard it's hard to take notes on it. I don't think the argument for PDAs in class is very strong, save for as a date book/planner. And regardless of whether or not you buy a keyboard, a PDA costs about as much as a cheap laptop . . .

Z

[Recursion]

To some a laptop in school is alot better to some others.


Take me for example, Im a Computer engineering major and My furst year I only had my desktop. It was a Horror, because everybody else well mostly everybody had laptops. So when I had to go to CSE lab and go see my Ta's or teacher it always would have been alot easier to have a laptop, bring up eclipse and my code, ask the TA to help or fix and the be on my way.

I always had to sit at the 1 or 2 terminals the Ta's had and then log in and eclipse was slow as hell over the network. Also in lab we would be sometimes given psudocode and Id have to hand write it very fast, which always seems to result in errors,. where as I could have typed it alot faster than i write and would have saved alot of time.


Other than My comp sci and enginerring classes, I saw Zero need for a laptop. id much rather have a desktop for all other reasons.


Thogh Il be getting a IBM Thinkpad t60 or wbnatever newer model they have when the memron comes out.

[alinosa]

i have to weigh in on this as well... i'm an EE student at UTSA and i recently purchased a laptop for the specific reason stated by VincentP. We work with xilinx to model hardware, and every time i had a problem or question, i'd have to wait for recitation (semi-mandatory tutoring/lab) or office hours and then have to load my project from my flash drive. This always took forever. Instead of a regular laptop, i got a tabletPC. My worry with a laptop was that i would not get the most bang for my buck: i worried that i was spending cash on computer for a SINGLE class. SO, with my tablet i can take notes in EVERY class. I can run the software i need to for my EE classes, and i get great battery life because i don't have a power hungry discreet video solution. (for the record i got a gateway tablet model 2618) i get ~5 hours on a full charge.