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Notebook for College

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shadow_X27

Registered
Joined
Jun 19, 2008
Hello everyone!

Well, for the past few months I've been researching into notebook computers for college. I will be attending Iowa State University as an Aerospace Engineerer. So, as you can guess performance is a must, especially with some AutoCad programs.

I'm already taking a Desktop that is really powerful, Crysis doesn't lag. However, I would still like a notebook for notes, lectures, and internet.
Macbook Pros seem very nice, but the price is a little high - even though the minimum is a 2.4Ghz CPU. I would like something around $1,000, but anything under $1,500 could also work.

I don't like Toshiba or Compaq, sorry. Used to work for OfficeMax and those things were crap.

Any suggestions?
 
I almost forgot.
The MacBook Pro has a 5 hour battery. Is that good or can you go more than that on another brand?
 
I picked up a Lenovo T61 and absolutely LOVE it. Amazing build quality and price. The only thing it lacks is a dedicated video card, which is fine for me since it is purely for college (you can get it with one if you want though). You can configure them with the new Penryn dual cores, nice sized hard drives and very nice resolution screens (my 15.4" is 1680x1050 o_O). You even get them cheaper if you don't get Windows, which is what I did.

Those "5 hour battery" laptops have everything disabled, screen backlight off, no wireless, etc. My Lenovo can do just under 4 hours with CPU at full speed (no load), wireless on and screen at half brightness....I'm impressed.
 
It sounds like you need a laptop for much the same things that I do. I'm looking at getting something like the Asus EEE 900/901. I had a 15" standard HP and the thing is just too big and heavy to carry around all day. I want something light with good battery performance (4 hrs +) and wireless connectivity to take notes on, check email, type up code, work on papers, etc. The 901 is supposed to be around $600 when it comes out, I think it's an attractive option. The 1000 is also appealing.
 
Yeah, well I'm not buying it for games. Even though I would like to play Gears of War on it. (My favorite game).
Just like Jayws, I merely would like to have something so I can, for example, go to a study room and work on a paper or something.
As for size, 15.4" seems just fine. I've worked with the 17" ones and those can get hot. As for CPU, I would like a Core 2 Duo from Intel.
*I hate AMD*
 
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