Need a Laptop

[superman22x]

So... going off to college. This is actually my friend that needs a laptop, I'm bringing my desktop.

Budget $1500-$2000. He wants it to last all 4 years. Internet, reports... the college life. Extended battery would probably be something good to factor in the budget.

 

[01001010]

Any specific size?

 

[superman22x]

I think any size is fine.

 

[01001010]

Dell XPS M1530

HP EliteBook 8530w

Lenovo ThinkPad W500

Lenovo ThinkPad T500

Apple MacBook Pro 15"

 

[superman22x]

What I decided was... Alienware. For about $1500 I get

C2D 8600 @ 2.4ghz
2gb of DDR3, but for $60 on Newegg, I can get 2 sticks of 2gb each to make 4gb, and get rid of the two 1gb sticks
500GB in RAID 0(2x250gb 7200RPM)
8x DVD burner
wifi

Think thats a good deal right there? With the Ram, it comes out to 1600ish.

 

[dude_56013]

You are paying for a name. Alienware is sh**. Seriously. They don't really use anything anyone else doesn't besides their fancy little cases. Plus, the battery life will probably be crap.

01001010 helped me out in my laptop thread a few weeks ago, and though I didn't choose any he found, his suggestions were still great.

I got a Sony Vaio FW-490. You can find it on their site. I customized it to this:

16.4" widescreen with XBRITE-FullHDâ„¢ LCD technology (1920x1080)
320GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [7200 rpm]
Large Capacity Battery
WLAN (802.11a/b/g/n) with integrated Bluetooth® technology
ATI Mobility Radeonâ„¢ HD4650
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8700 (2.53GHz)
CD/DVD playback/burning
Black
Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium 64-bit
2GB DDR2-SDRAM (DDR2-800, 1GBx2)

And I grabbed a 4GB RAM kit on the 'Egg for cheap. It came out about the same to upgrade the HDD to a 7200RPM on Sony's site, so I just did that..I didn't need an extra 120GB 2.5" drive laying around that I had no use for...I of course also got the larger battery since I thought it would be nice.

The total came to $1,069.13. (not including tax) Not bad for what I'm getting. My actual total was a lot more because I got a deal on a 2 year warranty with accidental damage handling cuz my mom wanted me to get it . So if you ordered 2 accessories and a warranty, you got $150 off, which was a really good deal. I think that deal is still going on.

 

[GibsonSGKing]

What I decided was... Alienware. For about $1500 I get

C2D 8600 @ 2.4ghz
2gb of DDR3, but for $60 on Newegg, I can get 2 sticks of 2gb each to make 4gb, and get rid of the two 1gb sticks
500GB in RAID 0(2x250gb 7200RPM)
8x DVD burner
wifi

Think thats a good deal right there? With the Ram, it comes out to 1600ish.

Not really. The raid is unnecessary, and 2 HDD's means less battery life. Also, Alienware is always overpriced. Alienwares are meant for gaming, not battery life. And it sounds like you are going to want something with battery life and portability for college.

 

[01001010]

What I decided was... Alienware. For about $1500 I get

C2D 8600 @ 2.4ghz
2gb of DDR3, but for $60 on Newegg, I can get 2 sticks of 2gb each to make 4gb, and get rid of the two 1gb sticks
500GB in RAID 0(2x250gb 7200RPM)
8x DVD burner
wifi

Think thats a good deal right there? With the Ram, it comes out to 1600ish.

Don't focus on specifications. People are too bent over getting the fastest processors or latest graphic cards. It just doesn't work that way in the notebook realm. You need to look at the whole package - battery life, durability, and portability.

 

[dude_56013]

Don't focus on specifications. People are too bent over getting the fastest processors or latest graphic cards. It just doesn't work that way in the notebook realm. You need to look at the whole package - battery life, durability, and portability.

This.

I mean, it's true. You can get an ASUS with probably twice the performance of my Vaio for less money. However, who knows about build quality, and you might as well keep it plugged in all the time because the battery life would be crap. That's also why I chose a 16" model instead of a 17"+...portability was low on my list of things to consider, but it still needed to be addressed.

 

[superman22x]

Tha Vaio sounds good... I'll look into that too. I doubt he will be moving it much. He said there are a ton of computers in the school. Most likely, it will be from dorm, to home. Every once in a while to the library. All of those places have easily available outlets too.