Need A Laptop For College....build Or Buy? Help W/ Both Please...

dude_56013

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I'm a junior in highschool and will be going PSEO at a college next semester (term starting in january) so I have until then to decide what laptop I need....as always..I come here to CF because everyone knows what they are talking about here!

First question is whether or not I want to build or buy my laptop....I have vast experience building PC's, but I'm guessing they are two totally different scenarios...so I guess if you HAVE build your own laptop before, please tell if you think it was a good idea or if you'd never do it again...and also how hard it was on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the hardest)

In any case, build or buy, I'm on a budget but am willing to slurge on it if needed because it is a tax write-off for my parents anyways......here's my baseline specs

Atleast a 120 GB HD

2 GB RAM (min.)

DVD/CD Burner


Wireless capable (for on campus and home use)

Decent sized screen (from idk 14-17" i suppose)

Now here is where things get tricky for me since I've never built a laptop before....

I have no clue what CPU to go with...I'm guessing I want a dual core....mostly since my intel core2 duo has been great in my desktop pc.....but I'm not sure if Intel or AMD is a better value..so you'll have to clue me in there....

I don't know what kind of Mobo to run either, again, no experience with laptop mobos

Also, I don't know if I want an intergrated or seperate graphics card.....I'm not really sure if I'll be doing any video editing or gaming, but it would be nice for the power to be there if need be....

I'm probably forgetting something but you can clue me in on that as well...I have checked Newegg.com for prices on prebuilt laptops and they are WAY out of my price range...about $1300 and higher......my budget is to really try and stay well below $1000 ..but who knows......

One last thing I thought of was buying a crappy prebuilt and just upgrading it...tell me what you think about that as well......

Thanks a ton

Zac
 
I dont know a whole lot about laptops, but I dont think you can build them. I wouldnt go for crappy and upgrade either. I would just buy one prebuilt from dell.
 
thanks....by build i mean barebones...they get cheaper and cheaper by the day...people like asus and msi sell them...it basically just a screen, mobo, and sometimes a GPU that it comes with and you buy and install the rest of the components..its a lot cheaper.....sorry but after my first dell desktop and the notebooks my school bought, i'll never buy a dell again in my life....just my thing......

anyways..no matter what whay i go i still need help on choosing components...

if you wanna check out what i mean by DIY barebones go here its a 2005 write-up so the prices have dropped even more im assuming
 
If you buy a barebones system from like asus for laptops, that has only the motherboard and case, the rest you configure. My work does this and I have built two laptops. SInce the motherboard is already installed, 90% of the work is done for you. After that it's relitivly easy. That hardest part is finding compatable CD drives.

If you are unsure, just buy a pre-built. I would recommend Acer or HP. Could you also tell me what state you live in? If you live in Wisconsin I have another option for you.
 
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