Desktops at university?

[x30Jx]

I am currently pondering my computation future, and right now I can go two ways:
Buy a mountain mods U2 UFO, get some killer components, and build a nice, fast rig with LOTS of storage space (I plan to run Mac OS X on it, but don't tell anyone....)
Buy a laptop (more than likely a Macbook Pro, sometime after Snow Leopard is released, either this fall, or next fall when I am about to leave for university.)

Now, the only thing I am worried about is the logic of having a desktop at university. If I build the desktop, I will be buying a notebook to bring with me to classes.

So let me know what you think, interwebz.

[x30Jx]

anybody?

[jbking]

The question I'd have is what uses do you have for this desktop, which can be any of the folowing:

1) Gaming - Crysis, Oblivion and other games can require some big graphics horsepower so going with a desktop may make sense in terms of handling upgrades over time if you want to keep a high-end gaming system up to leading edge components.

2) Home Theatre - Do you plan on watching a lot of videos and want a good video and audio experience here?

3) Development a.k.a. programming - Will it need to run an IDE or two? How about database and web server software? Would numerical analysis or symbolic computation programs like Matlab or Maple be of interest to you?

4) Graphics design / Video editing - Does it need loads of memory for things like Photoshop?

5) AutoCAD - Maybe you want something to handle drawing blueprints.

6) Office Productivity - E-mail, excel spreadsheets and word documents.

7) Digital Photography - Kind of falls into 4 but I thought I'd make it something else.

8) Web browsing - Kind of like 6 in some ways if one goes for all the big browser versions on one box with varying resolutions.

Those are the big ones to my mind and some do have potentially conflicting capabilities as a graphics workstation may not make for a good gaming rig I believe though if I'm wrong someone please correct me.

[x30Jx]

jbking @ Tue Jun 16, 2009 5:44 pm wrote:

The question I'd have is what uses do you have for this desktop, which can be any of the folowing:

1) Gaming - Crysis, Oblivion and other games can require some big graphics horsepower so going with a desktop may make sense in terms of handling upgrades over time if you want to keep a high-end gaming system up to leading edge components.

I dont do much gaming, and when I do, it is almost always on consoles.

2) Home Theatre - Do you plan on watching a lot of videos and want a good video and audio experience here?

I would love to, but I dont nessecarily need a 'bolted into the ground' setup. Could I get away with using a large external hard drive with a laptop, and just connected to an HDTV?

3) Development a.k.a. programming - Will it need to run an IDE or two? How about database and web server software? Would numerical analysis or symbolic computation programs like Matlab or Maple be of interest to you?

Well, I am going into Soft Eng (hopefully), so I will have do to some programming work, but again, could I not get away with a laptop hooked up to a larger monitor?

4) Graphics design / Video editing - Does it need loads of memory for things like Photoshop?

Nope.

5) AutoCAD - Maybe you want something to handle drawing blueprints.

Nope. Possible, occasional use of like Google sketchUP.

6) Office Productivity - E-mail, excel spreadsheets and word documents.

Gmail. Thats about it. Spreadshets and Word Documents: Do I really need a desktop?

7) Digital Photography - Kind of falls into 4 but I thought I'd make it something else.

Nope.

8) Web browsing - Kind of like 6 in some ways if one goes for all the big browser versions on one box with varying resolutions.

Nothing that needs more than one window, but I often have 6+ FF tabs open

Those are the big ones to my mind and some do have potentially conflicting capabilities as a graphics workstation may not make for a good gaming rig I believe though if I'm wrong someone please correct me.

Wow. Thank you for this rather comprehensive response. This has definitely triggered some thoughts that a laptop would likely be wiser than a desktop.

[jbking]

I'd have a few questions about your laptop idea then:

1) Are the laptop speakers going to be OK for whatever sound you need to come out of the laptop,e.g. video clips, movies or music?

2) While an HDTV is an option, are you prepared to be swapping monitor sizes as that likely won't match what the computer labs have in terms of monitor resolutions probably?

3) Would you want a folding desktop in terms of power, e.g. quad-core with many GBs of RAM and not care about battery life, or something small where there may be keyboard size changes between a regular USB keyboard and the laptop's built-in keyboard to handle?

Just as a parting thought here, when I was in university I had a 486/33Mhz computer that had to have its RAM upgraded so it could handle Matlab, but that is a story from those olden days that are almost 14 years ago now.

[ecookman]

laptop choice-solved

http://www1.ca.dell.com/ca/en/home/Laptops/laptop-studio-1555/pd.aspx?refid=laptop-studio-1555&s=dhs&cs=cadhs1&~oid=ca~en~70702~studnb_1555_en_feat_2~~

[implosion]

it seems to me everyone is going for the Dell Studio 15... i was talking to a few friends and that's what they're getting, and i'm probably going to get it too. haha my mom was like spend as much as you need on a laptop so that it will last you for university =P but i'm not going to go ridiculously over board. =)

[x30Jx]

1) More than likely, yes, but if I absolutely detest the quality, then hey, there are always some Harmon/Kardon SoundStix to be had.

2) Absolutely. I am a flexible guy like that.

3) Very Likely not. I think my optimal setup would be like a desk with a big monitor / the HDTV on the wall with a pair of speakers, a keyboard, and a mouse (wireless), and just like power, video and audio cords for my laptop, and I just have to plug those three in to get a full desk setup.

Like this but neater and symmetrical and I MUST HAVE THIS but with a nicer screen and the SoundSticks. A nice mashup of these two would be gold.

That's my idea.


WOW. Hang on, lemme see if that computer still contains like liquid mercury from before it was banned in like the 60's. Goodness. Goes to show you how lightweight (read: O L D) OSs and software were back then.

[x30Jx]

ecookman @ Tue Jun 16, 2009 9:20 pm wrote:

laptop choice-solved

http://www1.ca.dell.com/ca/en/home/Laptops/laptop-studio-1555/pd.aspx?refid=laptop-studio-1555&s=dhs&cs=cadhs1&~oid=ca~en~70702~studnb_1555_en_feat_2~~

See, I don't think I can force myself to buy another Dell; I want a Macbook Pro.
Besides, looks are a big factor for me, and that thing is all wedgy and perforated and black and grey. It's too cookie cutter for me.

[ecookman]

implosion @ Tue Jun 16, 2009 9:24 pm wrote:

it seems to me everyone is going for the Dell Studio 15... i was talking to a few friends and that's what they're getting, and i'm probably going to get it too. haha my mom was like spend as much as you need on a laptop so that it will last you for university =P but i'm not going to go ridiculously over board. =)

psssh, whats wrong with spending 8K on a fully loaded alienware m17X

[ecookman]

Dell studio 17 review

I have the same laptop (except 1gb less RAM and 256 ded gpu, and the 17" screen) I added a blacklit keyboard and bluetoth.

Personally, i have no complaints about the laptop, it can play crysis at high spec no AA, (whit the better ram and gpu you could go a lot higher)

+'s
good speakers
good touchpad
manages heat well
touchpad buttons are a good size
keyboard is one of the best i have ever used (i prefer it over my G15)
media touch controls

-
screen is a little close to the keyboard, you will want to put a papertowel in between the screen so the keyboard doesn't become imprinted onto the screen.
fans are a little noisy (arent all of them tho)
battery life sucks unless yo turn off bluetooth, lower the brightness, and put a gigantic hold on the GPU (i set mine to like 20%)
i have the 6 cell battery and on powersaver i get upto 3.5 hrs of battery running IE, word, and listening to stuff through itunes.
touch controols can't be reconfigured
very....extremely BIOS...no tweeking here



all in all 3.8/5 only minor complaints.

p.s
get rid of vista as fast as you can!!!!

[ecookman]

some pics of my laptop...pardon the messy desk, last minuite cramming= mess

[x30Jx]

ecookman @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 7:04 pm wrote:

Dell studio 17 review

I have the same laptop (except 1gb less RAM and 256 ded gpu, and the 17" screen) I added a blacklit keyboard and bluetoth.

Personally, i have no complaints about the laptop, it can play crysis at high spec no AA, (whit the better ram and gpu you could go a lot higher)

+'s
good speakers
good touchpad
manages heat well
touchpad buttons are a good size
keyboard is one of the best i have ever used (i prefer it over my G15)
media touch controls

-
screen is a little close to the keyboard, you will want to put a papertowel in between the screen so the keyboard doesn't become imprinted onto the screen.
fans are a little noisy (arent all of them tho)
battery life sucks unless yo turn off bluetooth, lower the brightness, and put a gigantic hold on the GPU (i set mine to like 20%)
i have the 6 cell battery and on powersaver i get upto 3.5 hrs of battery running IE, word, and listening to stuff through itunes.
touch controols can't be reconfigured
very....extremely BIOS...no tweeking here



all in all 3.8/5 only minor complaints.

p.s
get rid of vista as fast as you can!!!!

Kay well that, versus a MacBook Pro with no complaints of keyboard-glass contact (because the keyboard is recessed into the body)
Every review calling it 'next to silent' until you activate the second graphics card (W00t at having two!) and start boosting the fan speeds manually.
Battery Life: 7 hours. WIN
Inline, logical media, brightness, and app keys. Also, the Mac 'chicklet' keyboard is my favorite keyboard to use, hands down.
No BIOS to worry about at all
Oh, and the best part of all: NO VISTA. Like EVER.

So Yeah, apparently MacBook Pro OM NOM NOM NOM NOMs the Studio 17.

[ecookman]

the keyboard has about about half a cm of clearence, but when things start pushing down on the screen, then contact happens

[endless]

x30Jx @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 7:22 pm wrote:

Kay well that, versus a MacBook Pro with no complaints of keyboard-glass contact (because the keyboard is recessed into the body)
Every review calling it 'next to silent' until you activate the second graphics card (W00t at having two!) and start boosting the fan speeds manually.
Battery Life: 7 hours. WIN
Inline, logical media, brightness, and app keys. Also, the Mac 'chicklet' keyboard is my favorite keyboard to use, hands down.
No BIOS to worry about at all
Oh, and the best part of all: NO VISTA. Like EVER.

So Yeah, apparently MacBook Pro OM NOM NOM NOM NOMs the Studio 17.

totally agree with you, but keep in mind, you wont actually get 7 hours battery life unless you basically have the screen dark and doing minimal work.
gizmodo has the 15'' MBP playing a H.264 movie for almost 3:50h.

heres the giz review: http://gizmodo.com/5287179/macbook-pro-2009-review

i'd definitely recommend the MBP since you are already thinking about it.