University Computer

[yumrum]

This year i'm going off to university for engineering(general first year) and i was wonder what some good specs for a laptop would be- or any good laptop suggestions?
right now i'm leaning towards sony because there products seem very reliable, and i also can't get a mac? all suggestions would be wonderful!

[Tony]

yumrum @ Thu Jul 14, 2011 9:30 am wrote:

i'm leaning towards sony because there products seem very reliable

That's not the rep they've been getting lately. At least in terms of software security

yumrum @ Thu Jul 14, 2011 9:30 am wrote:

and i also can't get a mac?

Is that a question?

[ProgrammingFun]

I personally hate sony computers. I use an HP one myself but it's last year's model. Anyways, feel free to look up the dv6 generation, although they don't pack 1GB video cards anymore. If you're going to use it for gaming as well, you could always wait for Intel's next-generation CPUs to come out (forgot what they're called). The laptop I currently use is an HP dv6-2154ca.

[Insectoid]

I only hear good things about Thinkpads (modern ones, not the 10-year-old paperweights your school has). Also, there is no reason you shouldn't get a mac except the price. If you absolutely must use Windows, you can install it on the hardware no problem.

But, don't take my word on it. People have differing opinions, and every brand has been nothing but trash from somebody's point of view.

[apython1992]

This greatly depends on what you want to get out of your computer during your time in university. If you want to play games and watch a lot of videos, you're going to have to pay more for better hardware. Regarding which OS to go with, many students go with Mac, but if you're more of a power-user you should go with Linux. Also, many people will go with windows out of familiarity with Microsoft Office. You need to figure out what features and functionality you're looking for first.

[Tony]

Insectoid @ Thu Jul 14, 2011 11:38 am wrote:

I only hear good things about Thinkpads (modern ones, not the 10-year-old paperweights your school has). Also, there is no reason you shouldn't get a mac except the price.

Thinkpads don't beat Macbook Pros on price though.

Looking at T420s (top rated, among the best selling, according to their own website), it's "web-price" is $1,200 -- $50 cheaper than a 13" Macbook Pro. Thinkpad gets a slightly faster CPU (2.5 Ghz, vs. 2.3; both are Intel Core i5) and an extra inch of physical display size, but the Macbook comes with twice as much memory, and more harddrive space.

Re: MS Office -- I found that Google Docs work great for any odd paper that you'd have to write. All of my resumes are done in HTML+CSS rendered to PDF; I get much more control over the layout and design.

[Insectoid]

@apython1992- Microsoft Office is actually available for OS X (at least, it was two years ago. Dunno about now).

As for hardware- you can get a great gaming laptop for pretty cheap. I'm able to run Dead Space, MW2, Portal 2, and other modern games quite well on my 3-year-old macbook pro. Oh, and these are unofficial mac ports of these games (except Portal 2), so on Windows they'd perform even better.

Most people do go with Windows because that's what they've used all their lives, however everyone I know who has purchased a mac does not regret it in the least. OS X no longer suffers from lack of software; due to growing popularity macs now have a software library soon to rival Windows'.

[DemonWasp]

Contrasting viewpoint: the only person I've ever known who owns a Mac hates it. The hardware is rubbish, the software can't compensate for the hardware failings, and it's falling to pieces. Granted, the device in question is a first-gen MacBook and therefore 5-ish years old, but frankly I expected better.

List of hardware that has failed / is under-performing in that Mac laptop:
- CPU (technically, the heatsink...they made it so it slid into contact with something and overheated it)
- HDD
- wireless card (still works, but craps out every few hours, requiring a router reset / laptop reboot)
- CD drive: often doesn't eject or accept disks correctly; when it does it somehow sounds like a tornado in a food processor
- keyboard and case have both been replaced due to cracking (never been dropped)
- connecting camera via USB cable does nothing (on Windows it opens instantly, on Linux it opens instantly...)

List of hardware that have failed in my 3 custom-built desktops and Dell laptop, over a combined service life of (8 + 4 + 3 + 3) years:
- 3 HDD (of about 16)
- 1 stick RAM
- 2 PSU
- 1 graphics card (though it failed twice, once after refurbishing)
- 1 wireless card

Technically I suppose my DVD drive in the one machine no longer works so great, but that's because I'm a clumsy oaf: I accidentally kicked the tray while it was open.

Maybe modern Macs are better, but my experience with Macs has invariably left a bad taste in my mouth. My experience with Macs spans a history from when they were in my classrooms from grade 3 onwards to the aforementioned craptacular laptop. Uniformly, I've found that Apple's hardware isn't any better than anyone elses', that the devices are not better-assembled, and that the designs are not particularly ergonomic (though they certainly figured out how to hire Graphic Designers, which is something that can't really be said for most of the industry).

I could go on into frustrations about their software but those mostly amount to personal taste.

tl;dr: I wouldn't buy a Mac because the hardware isn't great, I don't like the software, and you can -- almost invariably -- get better prices elsewhere.

[Insectoid]

Now now, let's not turn this into a mac vs PC thread.

Now, numbers-wise, mac hardware is pretty standard (even poor, considering the price). However design-wise you won't find a better laptop in the price range. Macbooks have the best trackpads you will ever use. The 'unibody' design is extremely stiff and durable. The built-in camera is decent quality for a laptop camera. They do suffer from a lack of USB ports unfortunately (wtf do I need Firewire or card slots for? Gimme moar USB!). I haven't seen many macbooks fail either, though I might be lucky. I'd hazard to guess they have similar fail rates to non-Apple laptops.

Now, it really is up to you to decide if you like the software or not. I personally can't stand versions older than 10.5 (which is probably the situation you were in). It's understandable that people don't like more recent editions.

Now I stress that your OS preference is purely a matter of opinion and I'm not trying to invalidate yours. I had to counter your mac example because the internet demands it of me, but by no means do I not respect your dislike of macs.

tl;dr- Whatever floats your boat.

[DemonWasp]

Wasn't trying to make it Mac vs PC. I know there's plenty of people who have no trouble with their Macs and enjoy them immensely, and that's great. I was more pointing out that there are also people who have ridiculous problems. Your chances are approximately the same, regardless of manufacturer, of having a complete piece of trash.

I disagree with your assessment of their trackpads, but maybe it's just that the V1 trackpad was bad (it's awful). I can definitely envision a better trackpad, and if anyone was going to do it, it would be Apple. The case is, again, a V1 case; it's plastic, it's assembled with about 30 screws, and it's completely impossible to open up correctly. When changing the hard disk, I had to go through the battery bay. Maybe I'm just bad at Mac.

Also, Macs are PCs, in every possible sense (and more than a few impossible ones).

More background: I installed 10.6 on that machine manually. I still can't wrap my head around the idea of dropping a disk in the trash to eject it, dragging-and-dropping things into a non-existent folder called "Applications" to install them, or having window buttons in the order Close-Minimize-Maximize. Nor can I figure out how they managed to install 3GB of "Printer Drivers", but are still utterly incapable of printing to a printer shared through SMB. I'm sure there are plenty of people who think the same way about things Windows and Linux, so this whole paragraph has been personal preference.

@OP: You might want to go visit a Best Buy or Future Shop or Apple store or whatever and paw at their laptops. Don't buy from the storefront, but it's helpful to try typing on the keyboard, using the trackpad, and looking at the screen before you buy. Bring a notepad to keep track of which things felt good and which ones didn't.

Hmm, maybe I should wander into an Apple store and get my greasy paws on a Mac, to see if the hardware is better than what I've dealt with before.

[Kharybdis]

pc is better. buy like an acer laptop and profit!

[ProgrammingFun]

Kharybdis @ Wed Jul 27, 2011 8:24 am wrote:

pc is better. buy like an acer laptop and profit!

Disagree, IMO both Acer and Gateway are crap companies in terms of PC related stuff. When you walk into, say FutureShop, you can clearly see the lack of quality Acer monitors have next to LG, HP etc. Same goes for hardware, all of the people I know that have Acer computers admit that they aren't the exactly the greatest computer ever.

EDIT: However, in terms of mac vs pc, I would recommend going for PC. (Currently running OSX lion in VMware on top of Windows 7 lol. Not because it's good but because I was bored )

[Tony]

Kharybdis @ Wed Jul 27, 2011 8:24 am wrote:

pc is better. buy like an acer laptop and profit!

The supporting information for your argument is... compelling.

[crossley7]

I've recently come to the need of a new laptop as my current one lags severely and my internet decides to turn off every 15 minutes or so. Not to mention the power supplies it has burned through. Looking to keep the price under 1000, but also want a high quality laptop.

I have been looking at the new macbook air (it does put me over a bit i know which is why im not excited about it) and searching for a few others, but it is hard to find laptops out of sheer quantity.

Looking for something with minimum 1.5GHz processor, 250 GB hard drive, 2 usb and a disk drive capability. Screen under 14" and a webcam/mic.

It is relatively specific, but even still can be hard to really search. Any suggestions on where to look or a good laptop somewhere in that range?

[DemonWasp]

You didn't specify your operating system of choice, so if you would be happy with Ubuntu Linux, I would recommend http://www.system76.com/ . Since you want something under 14", I would recommend the "Lemur UltraThin" ( http://www.system76.com/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=106 ). Technically the CPU is only 1.2GHz, but performance-wise that's pretty excellent (it is, for example, much faster than a 3.6GHz Pentium 4).