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Good Laptops for School?

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Ski..4..Life
Posts: 1347 - Karma: 97
What are the best laptop brands, and don't say mac, even though i love em i dont have the cash for one.
$800 is about my budget and what kind of specs do i need for school and probably some film editing and maybe playing games every now and then?

and suggestions would help please, been looking at sony, dell, toshiba, and hp, are these good brands?
Aug 17 2009 3:10PM
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Mitcheepoo
Posts: 61 - Karma: 28
WIth an education discount, you might be able to get the lowest end macbook. I STRONGLY suggest a mac just because they rarely crash. Getting a virus at school and losing all of your work is no fun.
Aug 17 2009 3:14PM
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nickyp
Posts: 5673 - Karma: 215
^I'd have to agree, save up a bit longer, and get a Macbook with either the College discount, or a rebuilt one. A Macbook is an investment.
Aug 17 2009 3:19PM
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1337
Posts: 31059 - Karma: 29,329
Aug 17 2009 3:20PM
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Tasche
Posts: 5422 - Karma: 99
Just from my experience I would suggest saving money and buying a PC in the mid range area. Nothing to special because when you get out of school it will be completely outdated. Buy something small that you can carry around and just get a cheep external monitor and keyboard/mouse. If you are a hard core gamer buy a desktop because a laptop will be very expensive if it is all gammered up.

Compusa sends me email all the time about good laptops and if you have time you can wait until something is on Woot.com.

Spend no more than 900 bucks.
Aug 17 2009 3:22PM
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Ski..4..Life
Posts: 1347 - Karma: 97
well i know macs are the best and would get but i can't strapped for cash, university too damn expensive.
what is a good screen size to get around 15.4" or so????
and what kind of processor?
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10125726&catid=
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10125725&catid=
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10125683&catid=
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10127256&catid=

any of those any good?







Aug 17 2009 3:33PM
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MrYeates
Posts: 1710 - Karma: 91
each one of these will allow you to do everything you want...
i have an acer just like this and its dopeeee
the first one has a bigger screen and a more memory on the video card than the second one
the second one has less video card memory... but a faster processor and a smaller screen

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115594

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115540



Aug 17 2009 3:36PM
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yourthemannowdog
Posts: 4541 - Karma: 313
save up, get a mac, be happy
Aug 17 2009 3:41PM
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Jordan
Posts: 4079 - Karma: 2,122
This.


I love my MBP
Aug 17 2009 3:42PM
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kepler.
Posts: 8761 - Karma: 139
I hear macs these days give blowjobs too.

Jesus holy hell people, just because you like macs doesn't mean you should suggest them to anyone and everyone. Macs are good in some situations PCs are good in others. Don't just blindly say "get a mac!" every time someone asks for computer help. Because in reality you are just doing him a disservice. Which I doubt any of you think that because macs are the end-all-be-all computer right?
Aug 17 2009 4:17PM
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MrYeates
Posts: 1710 - Karma: 91
totally agree here
check out the computers i posted.... to get a mac with those specs it would cost double that price.... and with windows 7 out OSX has competition....
and anyways
theres ways of getting osx if you had to have it on a normal pc

Aug 17 2009 4:31PM
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grown-ninja
Posts: 3031 - Karma: 175

i just was on the dell site out of curiosity and made a computer 14 inch screen 4 gigs of memory 500 gig harddrive,hd screen im assuming 1080p, Intel Cor 2 Duo T6600 processor with a 3 year warantee and windows 7 for 1030 than 6% off for being a tripple a member, so tatal under 975, just out of curiouslty i went on the apple site, for the same system you were looking at over 2 grand,

i thinks macs are so overrated yes there are not supost to crash but they do since so many people are getting them, just get a pc and get a really good antivirus program, and you dont have garage band and cant get finan cut express/ pro etc, just torrent prograns you need and get vegas or premier pro if you want to edit, and its a pain in teh ass at school having to format between mac's and apples if your school doesnt have many macs, but then again if you wana be cool get a mac, only losers use PC's

Aug 17 2009 4:42PM
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grown-ninja
Posts: 3031 - Karma: 175

^^^im pretty sure the 15 inch screan is a little cheaper so that would put you right around 800

Aug 17 2009 4:44PM
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neutralzombie
Posts: 8629 - Karma: 606
if you by a mac by the end of september you get a free ipod touch!

if you don't need a mac, don't buy one, but if you can afford it, go for it.
Aug 17 2009 4:45PM
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RockandRollTroll
Posts: 1155 - Karma: 7
wait till snow leopard comes out IMO
Aug 17 2009 4:51PM
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kepler.
Posts: 8761 - Karma: 139
Do you people not read or do you think he can magically poop out the extra $200 that he needs to meet the price of even the cheapest macbook?
Aug 17 2009 4:55PM
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Lemuel
Posts: 14502 - Karma: 10,730
If you want a good laptop do not get a Dell.  HP's have a pretty good rep.  I am glad my parents bought me a Mac though.  I would personally never use a pc.  No I am not spoiled, it was my grad present just like both of my sisters.
Aug 17 2009 4:59PM
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grown-ninja
Posts: 3031 - Karma: 175
id take my dell over a hp anyday
Aug 17 2009 5:01PM
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Franny
Posts: 3980 - Karma: 77
Macs are not one of the best laptops out there. Your basically paying for the brand. The only thing bad about regular laptops are that they run vista but you get a free upgrade to windows 7 to most pcs and laptops you buy now.
Aug 17 2009 5:08PM
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neutralzombie
Posts: 8629 - Karma: 606
you can pay like 33$ a month for a mac.

anyways.
i hear hps are good, and have wonderful customer service.
Aug 17 2009 5:11PM
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MrYeates
Posts: 1710 - Karma: 91
Acer's are super sick guys...
Aug 17 2009 5:34PM
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BrewskiJr
Posts: 5738 - Karma: 1,478
DING DING DING!!!!! +k for you my friend

It all depends on what your studying. If its business related, i would definately NOT repeat NOT get a mac.  I have a very upgraded dell latitude E6500. Its a great computer for business and has never crashed. The support is great and have never had any problems. I would also suggest a PC for Medical careers as well. The only way i would recommend, no, highly suggest a Mac to someone is for the arts for obvious reasons if you know anything about Macs. People always say "Get macs they dont have ANY viruses." Yeah. YET! Apple says their OS is based on UNIX, so it is more secure. But, in reality, the reason is that they can’t make OS from scratch like Windows, so they paid a company callied FreeBSD and put some make-up on it. What does this mean? This means that a completely different company has the digital blueprints of the entire OS of all Mac computers. It is just time before these prints get out and hackers all over the world get their hands on this "perfect" system. If you get a PC just get a good antivirus and you'll be set.

In the end, I prefer PC's over Mac's. However, Macs do have their place so it just depends what you are studying in school. Good luck
Aug 17 2009 5:39PM
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chapz
Posts: 10182 - Karma: 66
sony vaio fw
Aug 17 2009 6:09PM
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CTD
Posts: 6301 - Karma: 349
yea, the whole Mac VS PC thing is redic, and people need to get off apple's sac. They are not bad computers, and in fact, most of them are pretty damn nice computers. That doesnt mean they are better than PCs, just means they are another option. As a designer, I can say that yes, Macs look fucking ballin. any they have some neat features, and if you can afford a pimped out Macbook pro, it will probably be one of the nicest computers you'll ever own. but performance wise, they are GROSSLY inadequate to anything else in their respective price range, and if your in an entry level price point, a basic macbook is a horrible decision. They are dirt slow, always seem to break, and just generally suck.

What I would recommend, especially if you are looking for something with some serious power, is to just build a desktop, and get a small netbook for when your out. I just built a 2.9gig quadcore system with 8gigs of ram and a Radeon 4850 graphics card for less than 800 bucks, with a monitor, printer, and speakers. Its so damn fast, its ridiculous. I do alot of editing work, and my productivity is 10 times higher than with my laptop. Netbooks are fine for when your out in about, in class, etc, and they are dirt cheap nowadays.

If your not in need of serious powerhouse, and just need something for word processing+internet, theres a TON of options, just depends on what you want (size, programs you plan on running, battery life, etc etc). just do a bit oh HW, look around at sites like Newegg, Tiger Direct, Consumer Reports. youll start finding info real quick.

Aug 17 2009 6:09PM
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MrYeates
Posts: 1710 - Karma: 91
ehhh... those seem kinda spendy...
Aug 17 2009 6:22PM
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skier_boy26
Posts: 11295 - Karma: 502
vaios are like the macs of "pcs." they're pricey, solid no doubt, but you don't get as much. Granted, there are some good vaios that are just around the $800-$1000 range.

But there are soooooooo many laptops under $800, yuo can really select something pretty good. Just browse around. I'd be patient and wait for some sort of sale online or at some store. You can get some wicked good ones that will do what you need.


Aug 17 2009 6:31PM
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GhostfaceKillah
Posts: 3398 - Karma: 10
this guy speaks the truth.

from my personal experience, Lenovo's are built rock solid, and have a pretty good life-span.

Don't buy your laptop from futureshop or bestbuy, you'll get a MUCH better laptop for the price from a site like newegg.com, tigerdirect.com, canadacomputers.com
Aug 17 2009 7:29PM
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Crack.
Posts: 6020 - Karma: 84
Thank you. I am willing to bet $50 half the people in here that are screaming "MACS MACS MACS!!!!!!!!!", don't even know anything about them. They just bought them for the brand.
Aug 17 2009 7:31PM
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GhostfaceKillah
Posts: 3398 - Karma: 10
you want to find a laptop with a good dedicated graphics card. You DO NOT want integrated graphics if you have any intention of video editing or gaming.
Aug 17 2009 7:32PM
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k-rob
Posts: 14217 - Karma: 2,891
you get presents for graduating? crazy shit.
Aug 17 2009 7:34PM
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Crack.
Posts: 6020 - Karma: 84
yes he is right. Unfortunately, I could not customize my PC and I am gaming on one of the worst graphics cards ever. Everytime I bring WoW up the screen goes wide and the graphics get absolutely horrible because my resolution is all out of whack. I can't even minimize during gameplay without my computer wigging out. Which I can easily minimize, look something up, and bring it back up without hassel on my desktop.
Aug 17 2009 7:36PM
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kepler.
Posts: 8761 - Karma: 139
Haha I wasn't gonna say anything.
Aug 17 2009 7:48PM
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laovejanegra
Posts: 5 - Karma: 10
you wont be disapointed with a mac they are a bit spendy but worth every penny on the other hand it is more than you need for school unless your doing a ton of video/photo editing or always running a ton of programs if your looking for something cheap buy a netbook you can get a acer for about 400 bucks and from what i hear the new windows seven is pretty good so that might not be a bad option
Aug 17 2009 7:53PM
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andy_boy
Posts: 4434 - Karma: 107
Yeah definitely go with the lowest end Mac. It wouldn't make sense to get a PC that vastly out-performs it in every aspect for the same price. Besides, they're shiny and trendy and have a big apple logo on them-- and get this it even lights up! So when you're in the classroom, you can tilt your computer so that everyone sees that you're using one.

One of these would definitely be a worthy investment, with regards to time and pussy managment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0Gzq-QEt0s
Aug 17 2009 8:08PM
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GhostfaceKillah
Posts: 3398 - Karma: 10
you'll make more friends with a mac!
Aug 17 2009 9:10PM
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andy_boy
Posts: 4434 - Karma: 107
Exactly! And they'll be just as superficial and self-absorbed as you are! Go with the Mac, no question.
Aug 17 2009 9:15PM
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vincentlee223
Posts: 1571 - Karma: 382
Asus IMO make great budget laptops. Go to newegg or ncix to buy one. And didnt some guy during a virus competition give a virus to a mac in less then 10 seconds or some shit? Macs are not virus proof, people just havnt started making viruses for them as much as windows.
Aug 17 2009 9:44PM
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shawnrohrbach
Posts: 56 - Karma: 10
Macs are for pissy little eighth grade girls.  Get a computer.  LOL  Going forward, look at walmart; they have some killer deals on Dell. We use ALL Dell and have few to little problems.  If you are going to edit movies, which seems to be a favorite past time here, find PC compatible movie editing SW and you will be fine for the quality and size of movies I have seen here.  School is school; papers, internet research, some math (don't need a Cray mainframe for college math) messaging, playing videos, stealing music and movies (doh) and you need 2 gig 2 gig max for that.  If they sell you anything more, they are paying for their gold teeth and a boat.  Walmart has these for $400-600
Aug 17 2009 10:01PM
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epoxiedtip
Posts: 535 - Karma: 56
MAC
Aug 17 2009 10:27PM
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mynilla
Posts: 554 - Karma: 58
look at the refurbished macbooks
basically brand new and cheap!
Aug 17 2009 10:57PM
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wintersway
Posts: 5115 - Karma: 128
have one crash and youll realize they do not have good customer service, and you have to ship the laptop to them, then wait while they fix it, then wait for it to come back to you. hp's are not that great.

i have a dell, which i ordered from the dell site and customized it to the specs i wanted (basically everything that a MBP has for about $800 less and a bigger, wider screen.)
this also came with a 3 year ON-SITE warranty (if you dont know what that means, it means that people from dell will come to where you are, and fix your computer if you need them to. now that is customer service)
Aug 17 2009 11:02PM
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BrewskiJr
Posts: 5738 - Karma: 1,478
biinngggooo

Thats pretty much what I have. And gold customer support. If my computer fucks up at ALL a customer service guy can come to my DORM ROOM and fix it for me. Thats what i call customer service
Aug 18 2009 9:55AM
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SteevyC
Posts: 265 - Karma: 15
i love my MBP, but the sony fw is good,

but a good buddy of mine got a netbook and a mid range desktop.... so as technology updates and he gets more cash he can cheaply keep the desktop up to par. And he only uses the netbook for working outside his room... and paid way more for his netbook 3 years ago than what they now cost, he reccomends the Asus e and any non hp desktop
Aug 18 2009 10:30AM
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Ski..4..Life
Posts: 1347 - Karma: 97
well thanks for all the info to the ppl who didnt just say mac, because i said i can't get one, no money.

went on the dell website and can't find the build your own thing, but i am in canada.......any help?
Aug 18 2009 10:32AM
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I_Am_Mod
Posts: 13214 - Karma: 3,753
I've got a dell lattitude 6500
Intel core 2 duo CPU p8400@2.26 GHz
4 gig RAM
and an NVidia quadro NVS160M graphics card

for my work at college it does all it needs and it does it fast, including graphical demanding programs, photoshop and video editing
there was also something wrong with my audio drivers so i reinstalled thos and now i even use it for DJing @ parties...

only downside are the built-in speakers, they suck...
but i just got myself a logitech speaker set instead and now it sweetness al over !
Aug 18 2009 10:38AM
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I_Am_Mod
Posts: 13214 - Karma: 3,753
i payed 800
Aug 18 2009 10:39AM
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Ski..4..Life
Posts: 1347 - Karma: 97
wow that sounds sick, and dont have to wrry about internal speakers i have external ones i can connect.
did you customize that yourself?
Aug 18 2009 10:41AM
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I_Am_Mod
Posts: 13214 - Karma: 3,753
yep, with dell you get to configure anything...


Aug 18 2009 10:43AM
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