Question:
Help me find a 12" laptop! Im a college student! = Poor
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General Questions
1) What is your budget?
less then 800..cheaper the better of course
2) What size notebook would you prefer?
a. Ultraportable; 12" screen or less
3) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
college stuff, word, excel, powerpoint?, and maybe durring the breaks, games, however i dont care much bout the quality as long as the games can run with minimal lag (wow, cs, wc3, etc)
4) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
home to school, i commute by subway
5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
not really, but durring the breaks, maybe wow, cs, wc3
6) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
not really
7) How many hours of battery life do you need?
3+
8) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
i dont mind
9) Please select your country's flag as a post icon and tell us what country are you buying this in?
U.S
Screen Specifics
10) Would you prefer standard or widescreen?
widescreen
11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?
Widescreen
d. WXGA or WXGA+ - 1280x768/800 or 1440x900; Wider viewing version of XGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
not important i think
Build Quality and Design
13) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
not really, but itd be nice
14) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?
i was waiting for black friday however, i dont think they are having any deals on 12 inch laptops if so, i would be out there freezing my ass off.
Notebook Components
15) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 160GB?
doesnt matter
16) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD-ROM, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-RW drive?
yea, dvd burner.
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Answer:
Re: Help me find a 12" laptop! Im a college student! = Poor
i think you're going to have to raise your budget if you really want a 12". either that or you're going to have to go for a larger footprint; 14 or 15"
Answer:
Re: Help me find a 12" laptop! Im a college student! = Poor
check out the Dell outlet for a M1210, or check through the Dell Coupons for a M1210 deal. But I'd consider something like a 14" w/ dedicated or a 15.4" e1505 (use Dell Coupons to get killer deals).
Answer:
Re: Help me find a 12" laptop! Im a college student! = Poor
drumfu is correct, 12" is ultra-portable and a bit more costly than the other sizes.
The following are good budget choices for ultraportables, as well as having future upgradeablity (except for the 12.1" notebook with the Pent-M). I made sure you got at least 512mb RAM and DVD/CD-RW so that its doesnt seem too low end.
:D For 12.1" (at a college student budget): :D
Averatec 3715-ED1 Notebook PC (Refurb) - $579
Screen: 12" XGA
CPU Type: AMD Sempron 3000+ (1.8 ghz) (AMD Turion 64 Ready)
Card slot: 1 x Type I/II PC Card Slot
Communication: Modem, LAN and WLAN
Hard Disk: 60GB
Memory Size: 512MB DDR
Operating System: Windows XP Home
Optical Drive: DVD/CD-RW Combo
Averatec AV2260-EH1 Notebook PC - $699.98
Screen: 12.1" WXGA
CPU Type: AMD Turion™ 64 MT-32 (1.8 GHz)
Graphics Card: VIA K8N890CE (Via/S3G DeltaChrome IGP 64MB)
Card slot: 1 x Type I/II PC Card Slot
Communication: Modem, LAN and WLAN
Hard Disk: 80GB
Memory Size: 512MB DDR
Operating System: Windows XP Home
Optical Drive: DVD Burner (Dual Layer)
Averatec N2370HM1E-1 Notebook PC (Recommended) - $749.98
Note: Offer Valid: 10/15 - 10/28 (Reg $899.98)
Screen: 12.1" WXGA
CPU Type: AMD Turion™ 64 X2 Dual Core (1.6 ghz)
Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce Go 6100
Card slot: 1 x Express Card Slot
Communication: Modem, LAN and WLAN
Hard Disk: 100GB 5400rpm SATA
Memory Size: 1024MB DDR
Operating System: Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Optical Drive: DVD Burner (Dual Layer)
- $899
Screen: 12.1" WXGA
CPU Type: Intel Pentium M 740(1.73GHz)
Graphics Card: Intel GMA900
Card slot: 1 x Type I/II PC Card Slot
Communication: Modem, LAN and WLAN
Hard Disk: 60GB
Memory Size: 512MB DDR
Operating System: Windows XP Professional
Optical Drive: DVD Burner (Dual Layer)
Hope that helps,
-Gophn
Answer:
Re: Help me find a 12" laptop! Im a college student! = Poor
You're pretty much limited with a budget of $800 but if you're lucky then check out the dell outlet and find a core duo m1210 with an nvidia go 7400 (or intel GMA950 if you're willing to sacrifice some gaming)
Answer:
Re: Help me find a 12" laptop! Im a college student! = Poor
Averatecs new 2300 series 12" notebook is going for $800 at most stores right now. Not the best quality the world has seen, but at your price its the best you can do.
1.6GHz turion x2, 1GB ram, 80GB hdd, DVDRW, 4 lbs, Go6100LE integrated graphics, and not that bad of a design. all in all its a pretty good notebook.
Also look at the Averatec 2100 series. I never liked the 2200 series much, prolly cause of the sis gpu. Honestly, those things dont even run flash online games smoothly. THe 2100s ATI and 2300s nvidia will be much better, even if they are still integrated.
Be wary of the 3000 series from averatec. heard about way too many problems from them.
Answer:
Re: Help me find a 12" laptop! Im a college student! = Poor
Just added the Averatec 12" notebooks, I would recommend the Averatec 2300 series notebook with AMD Turion 64 X2 because it has a pretty good configuration for the price... and has decent gaming card (nvidia 6100).
-Gophn
Answer:
Re: Help me find a 12" laptop! Im a college student! = Poor
As many have said so far, there is a price premium for small ultra-portable/portable 12.1-13.3" form factor laptops. With a student budget, the best you can do is find a 14.1" "mainstream" form factor machine, which would be a tad larger in width and depth and about 1-1.5lbs heavier.
The Toshiba Satellite U200/U205 is listed by Toshiba USA "starting from US$899". However, for that, you would only be getting: Celeron M 420 (1.60GHz, 1MB L2 Cache), 512MB DDR2-RAM, 40GB HDD, CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive, Intel GMA950 graphics, 12.1" WXGA LCD, No WiFi or Bluetooth. The standard battery will give you 3-4 hours of life.
5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
not really, but durring the breaks, maybe wow, cs, wc3
You'll want a dedicated graphics or at least integrated ATI or NVIDIA graphic chipsets if you so much as want to run games smoothly. The current set of Intel graphics just wouldn't cut it.
I also suggest you look at the following:
Dell Inspiron E1405
A popular 14.1" widescreen model, starting from US$669 and coming in at 5.3lbs, although a tad thick at 1.52".
A config with an Intel Core Duo T2300E (1.66GHz, 2MB L2), 512MB DDR2-RAM, 80GB HDD, Intel GMA950 integrated graphics, 14.1" WXGA+ (1440x900) Ultrasharp TrueLife (Glossy) LCD, DVD+/-RW writer, 802.11b/g WiFi, 6-cell battery, Windows XP MCE 2005 will cost US$745.00 (as ofthe time of this post).
HP/Compaq V3000Z Series
A 14.1" widescreen system, starting from US$449 with an AMD Mobile Sempron processor. It weighs in at around 5.3lbs and only around 1.02" thick.
Configured with an AMD Turion MK-36 (2.0GHz, 512KB L2), 1GB DDR2-RAM, 80GB HDD, NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150 graphics, 14.1" WXGA LCD, DVD+/-RW writer, 802.11b/g WiFi, 6-cell battery, Windows XP Home will only costs you US$683.99 (as of the time of this post).
HP Presario dv2000z Series
Basically the same as the V3000Z series but under the HP Presario name.
Configured with an AMD Turion MK-36 (2.0GHz, 512KB L2), 1GB DDR2-RAM, 80GB HDD, NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150 graphics, 14.1" WXGA BightView (Glossy) LCD, DVD+/-RW writer, 802.11b/g WiFi, 6-cell battery, Windows XP MCE 2005 will cost US$754.99 (as of the time of this post).
Lenovo 3000 N100 Series
The most affordable Lenovo system, weighing in at 5.6lbs and 1.2"-1.5" thick.
A system with Intel Celeron M 420 (1.60GHz, 512KB L2), 512MB DDR2-RAM, 100GB HDD, Intel GMA950 integrated graphics, 14.1" WXGA VibrantView (Glossy) LCD, DVD+/-RW writer, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, Bluetooth, 6-cell battery, Windows XP Home will set you back US$799.00, or, US$699.00 with the current $100 mail-in rebate offer.
I'd look at the HP/Compaq models as they have the best graphics out of the 4 above, but if you are not going to play any 3D intensive games on it (i.e. any games which are not released within the last 2-3 years), then the Dell offers the best processing power having the Dual Core Intel CPU (and at 1.66GHz the Core Duo will equal the performance of the Turions running at 2.0GHz even under single-threaded applications).
Answer:
Re: Help me find a 12" laptop! Im a college student! = Poor
nice recommendations angrymob.
The 14.1" notebooks with the nVidia GeForce Go 6150 are pretty nice.
But I feel that for this particualr situation that the Averatec N2370HM1E-1 is the better bang for the buck ultra portable notebook.
Since it has a fully loaded configuration (12.1" LCD, Turion X2, 1gb DDR, 100gb HDD, nvidia 6100 go) for only $749
Answer:
Re: Help me find a 12" laptop! Im a college student! = Poor
Gophn, I was typing this post while you were updating it with the Averatec system. And I wasn't aware of Averatec that you recommended.
Actually, I'll agree with you, for a 12.1" Ultra-portable having a Turion X2 CPU and NVIDIA GeForce Go 6100 graphics, AND under the poster's budget of $800, it's actually a darn good machine. :)