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Help me find a laptop

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Blake.P
Posts: 9894 - Karma: 3,585
I'm graduating from highschool and my parents are buying me a laptop for next year as my graduation gift. next year im going to be an architecture student at boulder, but i may transfer to engineering depending on my interests and grades.

i know that i need something that probably has a i7 processor, and 4-8gb RAM, with probably 500gb memory as a minimum. i also need super high quality graphics and 3d rendering. i dont know what programs i will be using, but from some quick searching it might consist of AutoCAD, indesign, and parts of adobe creative suites.

i dont really have a budget, i cant spend like 3000 but i think anywhere below 2000 would be fine if there is a good reason for the cost

i am comfortable with the windows operating systems, but i am open to macs. if i were to get a mac, i would most likely also run windows 7 on it

any imput as to what my options are
May 20 2012 6:52PM
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.AR6rider.
Posts: 15976 - Karma: 8,799
.
May 20 2012 6:53PM
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Dr.Newschoolers
Posts: 1357 - Karma: 508
still runs like 1803

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May 20 2012 6:55PM
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Bateman
Posts: 8593 - Karma: 8,600
Highly reccomend macbook pro's. They keep running fast for a looong time, and you somewhat dont have to worry about viruses and shit.. its great.
May 20 2012 6:58PM
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Blake.P
Posts: 9894 - Karma: 3,585
i would get the mb pro if i get a mac. i dont know what operating system is best so im thinking one of the best bets would to get the mac and use bootcamp to run windows 7 if i need it
May 20 2012 7:02PM
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Bateman
Posts: 8593 - Karma: 8,600
boot camping stuff takes a lot of memory... ^^^

I prefer by far snow leopard over lion any day. Mountain lion coming soon tho... And its really simple to get into, so.. just don't get windows 7 on your mac. You'll be smoother on a mac than a pc in a week or so.
May 20 2012 7:06PM
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Blake.P
Posts: 9894 - Karma: 3,585
i was a bit unclear above. i meant that i would only bootcamp it/install windows 7 within the mac os if i needed it for certain programs later on
May 20 2012 7:21PM
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Bateman
Posts: 8593 - Karma: 8,600
oh, sorry..

i have considered that myself... i mean, cant live without Jibbin?
May 20 2012 7:23PM
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Blake.P
Posts: 9894 - Karma: 3,585
oh shit jibbin doesnt run on mac?...
May 20 2012 7:24PM
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gwhitey
Posts: 2249 - Karma: 312
thats what i have on mine right now. I love it and would completely recommend it to anyone questioning it. so useful
May 20 2012 7:25PM
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Bateman
Posts: 8593 - Karma: 8,600
I know... Its preposterous.

But they do have Mytp skiing in the mac app store... if that helps. Even tho i prefer jibbin hands down. But jiblife will run on mac os and/or windows 16..... when it drops...

Also jibbin 2 will be for mac as well
May 20 2012 7:27PM
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turducken
Posts: 749 - Karma: 601
Well that rules out a mac really. To get one with the specs you need/want it'll cost around 2000.
May 20 2012 7:41PM
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Deluge
Posts: 4401 - Karma: 805
Alienware m14
May 20 2012 7:59PM
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Suchy
Posts: 209 - Karma: 14
I recommend Asus, Lenovo, or Gateway laptops. Just sayin'
May 20 2012 8:05PM
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TimRiley
Posts: 1873 - Karma: 1,327
If you go pc, windows 8 is coming out this summer, so you may want to hold off on the purchase til just before school starts
May 20 2012 8:07PM
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ElMexicano
Posts: 639 - Karma: 400
Id say some asus or mbp

If you do boot camp
It doesn't use memory(ram) it takes some of the hd space so if you get a big hd then it won't effect the mac at all. After you install whatever in boot camp. Go back to the mac side and change a setting in spotlight (mac's indexing thing) so it doesn't waste time/resources trying to view a partiton it doesn't recognize.

If you do go bootcamping then you just shutdown the mac and hold alt when you turn it on. Then it will let you select to boot to Macintosh or Windows.

To install you just use the boot camp utility on the mac side it isn't hard to figure out.

May 20 2012 8:18PM
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Spinoza
Posts: 12763 - Karma: 3,846
See this:



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DON'T GET ONE OF THOSE
May 20 2012 8:20PM
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HARVERSACE
Posts: 763 - Karma: 372
what laptop is that
May 20 2012 8:41PM
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Blake.P
Posts: 9894 - Karma: 3,585
lol thats what im posting from right now. that is actually the only computer that ive used for the past 3 years. its not that bad
May 20 2012 8:42PM
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yourthemannowdog
Posts: 4541 - Karma: 313
Until it explodes. In 3 months, the screen broke, the keyboard broke, and the battery would not hold a charge
May 20 2012 8:49PM
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Blake.P
Posts: 9894 - Karma: 3,585
ive had mine without any big problems for 3 years. except its starting to break, d key isnt really connected too well (my fault, dropped something heavy on it and it broke the thing underneath), the dvd drive cover is coming off, and one of the hinges is breaking
May 20 2012 9:10PM
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Forcillo
Posts: 3801 - Karma: 3,580
Lenovo. My friend's a software engineer and he swears by them
May 20 2012 9:18PM
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esotericjive
Posts: 1889 - Karma: 1,445
I hackintoshed my friends HP, he says it works well.
Here's a guide I somewhat used, very helpful. http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2011/12/hackintoshing-sandy-bridge-laptop-hp.html
If you're not good with computers maybe just buy a mbp.
May 20 2012 9:29PM
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edai
Posts: 4990 - Karma: 4,677
Well he's a software engineer so that makes sense. Lenovo without a doubt makes one of the most solid laptops in the game right now. Most colleges distribute Lenovos because of their sheer power and ability to run complex programs.

However, for the average student buying himself a laptop that needs to last, I would also say a Macbook Pro.
May 20 2012 9:34PM
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Lolocaust.
Posts: 1716 - Karma: 512
A LITTLE LATE BRO.
May 20 2012 9:34PM
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Spinoza
Posts: 12763 - Karma: 3,846
Same. But mine sucks! Fucking Dell. 8 months in I had to reinstall the OS because it broke. I lost everything. The same thing happened 1 year after that (not under warranty anymore) so I had to reinstall windows AGAIN and lost everything again. And when you dont have anyone helping you you make mistakes like my scroll pad stopped scrolling. On top of that it overheats and crashes after 5 minutes of video/ games. And the battery life is literally 13 minutes
May 20 2012 9:52PM
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whoa-dere
Posts: 10596 - Karma: 7,105
find a lenovo with i7. they have really cool fingerprint scanners, you unlock them that way. i have a dell xps m1210 from 6 years ago, 2006, i use it as my deep web browser/mess around computer and sometimes right after i click something i would hear a loud clicking sound, the hard drive getting written on haha.
May 20 2012 9:58PM
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Spinoza
Posts: 12763 - Karma: 3,846
I want a MacBook air, just to go all out and get a great laptop. But they're so damn expensive. Can anyone provide me justification for buying one? Are they THAT good?
May 20 2012 10:01PM
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jason...
Posts: 9006 - Karma: 780
macbook pro

everything else sucks.
May 20 2012 10:02PM
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Bateman
Posts: 8593 - Karma: 8,600
the pros really are. Not sure about the airs tho. I was at an apple store the other day helping my dad pick out some ipad covers, i couldnt help but overhear the guy there who said that "Yeah, the macbook air is like totally the best macbook ive got here". Yet he had every MBP there is right in front of him. He sounds like a retard imo, but thats because i think i recall the airs to be weaker, they have nothing but a USB port, ethernet port and not really much else. Also have no CD-ROM entrance...


Read up on both machines before buying one. Gd'luck
May 21 2012 4:54AM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
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May 21 2012 5:00AM
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Toaster-Tony
Posts: 3531 - Karma: 5,850
Kinda like a Ferrari, if you have the money, they're pretty awesome.
May 21 2012 5:12AM
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feihlination
Posts: 8356 - Karma: 1,084
get a 300-500 $ pc and you are set for most stuff you will actually need.
May 21 2012 6:31AM
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bdarb207
Posts: 3057 - Karma: 438
If you're going to be running windows don't get a Mac. Plus you could get a higher powered machine for cheaper. Check out the Sony vaio s series. Love mine couldn't be happier.
May 21 2012 6:36AM
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Flacko
Posts: 1495 - Karma: 788
correction- windows 24
May 21 2012 9:38AM
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Shlogan
Posts: 4942 - Karma: 430
hey man, im in the same position and am waiting for the new macbook pro to come out. id recommend doing the same, launch is mid june if im not mistaken. it should have a good amount of improvements, but if youd get the 15" it will no longer come with a cd drive
May 21 2012 10:04AM
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Blake.P
Posts: 9894 - Karma: 3,585
I definitely need a cd/DVD drive
May 21 2012 10:35AM
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Dr.Gonzo
Posts: 2552 - Karma: 87
Dont run a partition, it'll take up to much disk space. It only took me like a month to get used to OSX so it shouldn't really be a problem.
May 21 2012 10:51AM
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123+ski
Posts: 2832 - Karma: 581
most programs work on both, I'm majoring in engineering and i use auto cad on my macbook pro. Also, theres a program called winebottler that can take a windows app (II've only tried it with small exe's) and just make it work on a mac
May 21 2012 11:15AM
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jibjunkie
Posts: 3807 - Karma: 191
DO NOT GET A MAC. being an engineer i have seen first hand a multitude of programs that will not work on macs. if you are fine living in the library and using the 8 year old dells running win xp then fine be it but otherwise your going to want a pc. its honestly funny because my library has expensive ass imacs which no one ever uses haha but theres never any open pc's because of all the mac people who need a pc to do their homework.

i would recomend an asus. i have a dell which had worked perfectly but i know others who have had problems with theirs. asus seems to have a better build quality. also i would recommend you look into an ultrabook if your not a big gamer. and even if you do choose to get a laptop over an ultra i highly recomend the ssd. its much faster and you can buy a massive external for cheap these days so storage wont be an issue. and i would recomend 6 gb ram minimum
May 21 2012 11:25AM
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howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
sooooo buy an external USB one for $15

dude just buy a mac, the majority of people on here will say that no matter what your needs/priorities are
May 21 2012 11:35AM
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bdarb207
Posts: 3057 - Karma: 438
This. I worked for my cousins engineering firm and he told me to purchase a cp and he would reimburse me but under no circumstances cop a Mac because they a re a nightmare to transfer everything and just aren't compatible with what you need to do. Business is still done on pc. If you were getting into editing or graphic design or even just simple wot processing I would say differently but just my 2 cents from experience.
May 21 2012 1:45PM
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Peter.
Posts: 23796 - Karma: 13,014
check out the dell XPS line, or a sony Vaio. both are quality laptops, and have tons of options to choose from. remember, if you are doing CAD stuff, you want a good graphics card too
May 21 2012 1:49PM
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bdarb207
Posts: 3057 - Karma: 438
^^ vaio s series has a separate 1 gig of memory specifically for video and a 1080 hidef screen that can be turned on or off to conserve battery life. Really neat feature plus the full adobe suite comes on it free
May 21 2012 4:20PM
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spruitm
Posts: 2221 - Karma: 1,069
you will be very sad in about 3 years if you don't get a mac. And macs are great for engineering students. I had one tell me he was really upset that he didnt get a mac, thats what everyone else was using
May 21 2012 4:24PM
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BootySpunk.
Posts: 8148 - Karma: 84
DO NOT GET A VAIO!

Sony customer service is shit and your computer will break in 6 months. The AC port WILL BREAK! My brother and I have had 3 Vaios and the AC port has broken on every single one. Comes with a shit ton of bloatware and has over heating issues.

Go with a new ivy bridge Lenovo. Also if you have the cash the new Macbooks are about to be released in a couple weeks and are supposed to be really boss.
May 21 2012 4:36PM
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ActualNinja
Posts: 394 - Karma: 133
Get the Dell XPS 15z

http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-15z/pd

It has all the specs that it sounds like you will need. It's thin, portable, and fast.

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May 21 2012 4:53PM
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613.
Posts: 827 - Karma: 164
Asus. Mine is still going strong after 2 1/2 years. Lenovo and Toshiba are also good.

May 21 2012 5:13PM
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Bateman
Posts: 8593 - Karma: 8,600
Why not mac?
May 21 2012 5:30PM
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howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
a standard MBP will meet all your needs and comes in at $1799....with the 15 inch monitor.

it's kewl, but oh herrro here's a PC at $100 LESS:

-17.3" 1080 screen
-12 gigs RAM
-1.5TB hdd (compared to 500 w/ mbp)
-comparable CPU
-comparable graphics

if you wanna get really sexy get a SSD + HDD laptop. windows/Autocad installed on SSD will give you a boner. i rock an ssd on my machine at work and at home and the performance is dope.
May 21 2012 5:40PM
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bdarb207
Posts: 3057 - Karma: 438
^ I want an ssd so bad. I got a 500 gig that runs at 7200 rpm which can be a tad noisy but still hire fast.
May 21 2012 6:40PM
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