Advice needed on cheap yet reliable notebook for college.
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General Questions
1) What is your budget?
Under $900. I'm a a fairly simple guy and don't see the need for an over-the-top notebook for a small Christian college.
2) What size notebook would you prefer?
a. Ultraportable; 12" screen or lessB or C; a laptop that is light enough to carry around campus. I would prefer at least a 15 inch screen, but 14 is fine.
b. Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen
c. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
d. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen
3) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
Definitely music, so excellent sound quality a must, and a somewhat large and fast harddrive. I've read the new 100gb 7200rpm's are out, but also rather pricey?
Possibly the occasional game. I do have a few ROM's and Emulators I want to transfer over. Definitely keeping it old school, maybe throw in some Monkey Island here and there. I have no need for my comp to run F.E.A.R or Quake 4, but if I can get a processor that can, it'd be fantastic. The new Elder Scrolls would be amazing fun in college, but it's not a must. The newest game I see myself playing is Warcraft III or Age of Empires.
Also, I will be taking notes, sending email and IM's, and taking digital photo's.
4) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
I will for sure take the notebook all around campus with me. Whether it be for note-taking in class or playing music under a tree, my laptop will be my life. Or at least the music on it :).
5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
Zelda.
6) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
HP has a rather sleek and well-priced selection, and I hear they have excellent customer support. I'm currently looking at the v6000, v5000, and the v2000.
7) How many hours of battery life do you need?
Doesn't matter. I'll have it plugged in during class time, but preferably 6 hours since that seems the average.
8) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
I don't mind.
9) What country are you buying this in?
United States.
Screen Specifics
10) Would you prefer standard or widescreen?
Widescreen for movies, but it really doesn't matter either way. Just the prettiest and most vibrant screen possible.
11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?
StandardWhatever's prettiest.
a. XGA -1024x768 - Large and easy to read text + graphics icons, but you fit less stuff on the screen.
b. SXGA - 1400x1050 - Compromise resolution between XGA and UXGA.
c. UXGA - 1600x1200 - Very small text and graphics icons, you can fit lots of stuff on the screen.
Widescreen
d. WXGA or WXGA+ - 1280x768/800 or 1440x900; Wider viewing version of XGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
e. WSXGA+ - 1680x1050; Wider viewing version of SXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
f. WUXGA - 1920x1200; Wider viewing version of UXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
I like shiny things, so definitely glossy.
Build Quality and Design
13) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
Not so much, I'm more quality over vanity, but that doesn't mean I want some plain and drab notebook.
14) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?
Within the month of July and I want it last last at LEAST four years.
Notebook Components
15) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 120GB?
I'd prefer the 100GB 7200 RPM, but nothing less than 80.
16) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD-ROM, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-RW drive?
One that saves and burns DVD's, please.
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I've looked around the forum and different websites, but decided just coming out and asking is the best way to reaching a conclusion.
Basically, I want a a cheap, portable stereo/notepad. Wireless capabilities a must, pretty screens (I like HP's Brightview, although I haven't seen it in person), I prefer more than an 80GB harddrive, at least a gig of RAM, and which ever processor gives me the most bang for my buck. I understand all this at under 900$ seems a bit much, so when I say prefer, I mean I can settle for less. A notebook that is fast and future-proof is preferred, which is why I want the 7200RPM drive and a sexy processor.I just want something that will last.
Also, what is the difference between the AMD Sempron 3400+ & AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-56 mobile technology?
Thanks for any suggestions and God bless.
Matthew 7:7
Answer:
Re: Advice needed on cheap yet reliable notebook for college.
well Matthew you should check out dell e1505 , they just got the coupons back meaning, you can use the 30% of 999 again and save like 300 bucks and use that money, to get truelife, 80 gb 7200 rpm hd , 1.83 ghz proscessor should be ideal for you, and that should fit in your price range good.
~Arman
Answer:
Re: Advice needed on cheap yet reliable notebook for college.
I'd take a look at the HP DV2000t. You can configure one with Core Duo, 100 GB HD, 1 GB of RAM, a DVD burner and free shipping for $960 after rebate. It doesn't have the 7200 rpm drive, however.
You could also look at the Compaq V3000T for a similar price, but i think the DV2000 is better looking.
Answer:
Re: Advice needed on cheap yet reliable notebook for college.
Welcome to the forums; thanks for filling out the FAQ.
For $900, Dell and HP are your two options - the HP dv5000t is a solid choice and has better quality by a good margin that its competitor, the Dell E1505. Right now, you can get one with good specificatinos for the money. I configured the folling for $904 after $50 rebate:
-XP Media Center (check with your college if you need XP Pro)
-Core Duo T2050
-15.4" WXGA BrightView (free upgrade)
-1GB RAM (free upgrade)
-128MB Go7400
-80GB 5400RPM hard drive (free upgrade)
-Super Multi DVD Burner
-Wireless (free upgrade)
Now, it doesn't have the hard drive you wanted, but for $900, you probably aren't going to get a 100GB 7200RPM.
Answer:
Re: Advice needed on cheap yet reliable notebook for college.
Lenovo N100 might be worth a look. Six hours is not average for laptop batteries.
Answer:
Re: Advice needed on cheap yet reliable notebook for college.
Okay, I agree with the others on HP and Core Duo to stay in your price range.
[/b] Under $900. I'm a a fairly simple guy and don't see the need for an over-the-top notebook for a small Christian college. You could look at a Turion at the local Best Buy or Circuit City. It won't be as fast as the Core Duo, but they are often around $650-$750, if that makes a difference to you. (Core Duo will be right at $900).
[/b] Definitely music, so excellent sound quality a must, and a somewhat large and fast harddrive. I've read the new 100gb 7200rpm's are out, but also rather pricey?
Possibly the occasional game. I do have a few ROM's and Emulators I want to transfer over. Definitely keeping it old school, maybe throw in some Monkey Island here and there. I have no need for my comp to run F.E.A.R or Quake 4, but if I can get a processor that can, it'd be fantastic. The new Elder Scrolls would be amazing fun in college, but it's not a must. The newest game I see myself playing is Warcraft III or Age of Empires.
Also, I will be taking notes, sending email and IM's, and taking digital photo's. 100 Gb 7200 RPM HD's will throw it out of your price range and not required for what you want.
I'm probably one of the few on here that knows emulators and ROMS - You will want a fast processor for these, but graphics card is unimportant. However, most any ROM that will play at all will play on a basic Turion - i.e. either it will do fine or it needs a Pentium 4 at 10Ghz, so upgrading won't matter. Avoid Celeron and Sempron's just b/c you can afford better. Probably what I said applies to Age of Empires - Zelda as well, Turion and integrated graphics should be sufficient, any thing beyond is gravy.
F.E.A.R and Quake 4 are graphics card dependent, not processor. The Go 7300 or the ATI 1400 in the E1505 might barely handle them at greatly reduced settings, but probably not. Probably won't happen for $900.
Taking digital photos with the laptop???
6) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
[/b] HP has a rather sleek and well-priced selection, and I hear they have excellent customer support. I'm currently looking at the v6000, v5000, and the v2000. I'd would look at all of those. Customer support varies. My wife had one (HP) and we just bought another HP for her, so I guess that's a good sign.
7) How many hours of battery life do you need?
[/b]Doesn't matter. I'll have it plugged in during class time, but preferably 6 hours since that seems the average. 6 Hours is high unless you get the bigger battery. Core Duo will do better on battery life.
13) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
Not so much, I'm more quality over vanity, but that doesn't mean I want some plain and drab notebook. I tend to like the HP styling.
14) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?
Within the month of July and I want it last last at LEAST four years. Well, that rules out Dell :D (j/kidding). HP has better quality of the budget brands. IBM/Lenovo is tops, but doesn't seem like a good fit to me. Fujitsu/Asus are good also, but probably at least $200 over your budget.
Also, what is the difference between the AMD Sempron 3400+ & AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-56 mobile technology? The Turion X2 blows away the Sempron.
Basically it goes like this:
Celeron - sluggish, okay if all you want to do is web-surf and E-mail.
Sempron - AMD competitor to Celeron - slightly better.
Pentium M or Turion 64 - Single core processors - Turion is 64-bit which is useful for Vista if you wanted to upgrade to it - decent performance, but not the fastest.
Core Duo or Turion 64 X-2 - Core Duo is dual core 32-bit. Turion 64 X-2 is new dual core 64-bit. Turion X-2 has only been out for about a month. Early reviews tend to favor the Core Duo.
Merom - Not released yet - 64-bit sucessor to Core Duo. Expected to be a pin-compatible upgrade to Core Duo, but unconfirmed.
Thanks for any suggestions and God bless.
Matthew 7:7 Appropriate tagline:)