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Buying a PC for college

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HitTheJim
Posts: 787 - Karma: 399
I'm heading into my freshman year and I'm looking to get a PC. I'm not looking to spend too much. I've done some reading and it seems that RAM over 4 GB is unnecessary. I have a 1 TB external hard drive so hard drive size isnt too important. I'm not a gamer and I dont edit video or produce music or anything like that. Also i've heard really good things about ssd's. Anyone have good advice for me?

Jul 1 2013 5:08PM
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howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
buy a mac they just work

/thread



what is your budget?
Jul 1 2013 5:10PM
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HitTheJim
Posts: 787 - Karma: 399
I'm not buying a mac, I think you're severely overpaying for the hardware. That's not the discussion for now though. I'm looking around 600 give or take
Jul 1 2013 5:23PM
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EricCartman
Posts: 268 - Karma: 410
MBP, fuck a PC.
Jul 1 2013 5:24PM
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tomPietrowski
Posts: 7145 - Karma: 17,457
Don't buy a mac seriously over priced. Do you want a a laptop or a desktop. What are your main uses, is it to write essays mainly and do research. If so you can get a basic laptop for less then 500 bucks and it will be more then enough.
Jul 1 2013 5:29PM
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HitTheJim
Posts: 787 - Karma: 399
I don't plan on getting a mac. I'm looking to get a laptop to replace the one that I've had since 8th grade. I'll likely use my new laptop in much the same way that I've used my current one. I use word, excel, powerpoint, teh interwebz, spotify, and itunes often. It's not rare for me to be downloading music while I listen to stuff on spotify and browse the internet. Essentially I tend to multitask

Jul 1 2013 5:46PM
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tomPietrowski
Posts: 7145 - Karma: 17,457
Then yeah I fairly basic one will be fine. If you can get a i3 processor with 4-6gb of memory you will be fine. You don't need a separate graphics card. A ssd will be faster but for what you need not needed, it will just make the cost higher. Look for ones with decent cooling, go read some reviews and find some which are within budget for you, but like I say you don't need to spend much for what you need
Jul 1 2013 5:49PM
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howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
for that price you're going to be hard-pressed to find one with a SSD installed. I highly recommend an SSD in ALL laptops.

so if you order a 500 laptop, and a $100 SSD what's your plan for installing windows on the SSD?
Jul 1 2013 5:56PM
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HitTheJim
Posts: 787 - Karma: 399
I'm not too opposed to upping my budget in order to get what i feel is the right computer. My sister graduated 2 years before me and she got a macbook pro for her graduation present so my parents are giving me the same amount of money to spend and the difference will be deposited in my bank account.
Jul 1 2013 6:25PM
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tomPietrowski
Posts: 7145 - Karma: 17,457
Yeah that would be a great laptop and not a bad price
Jul 1 2013 6:28PM
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HitTheJim
Posts: 787 - Karma: 399
i still need to look more into the windows 8 and how much i wiuld prefer it, if at all, to windows 7. How much knowledge do you have of SSDs?
Jul 1 2013 6:31PM
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howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
that seems OK just remember that the 13 inch screen is tiny
Jul 1 2013 6:51PM
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eheath
Posts: 61601 - Karma: 123,024
You can get a decent ultrabook for $600, bestbuy has about 100 computers < $600 just head there and pick out something that feels good.
Jul 1 2013 7:03PM
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dispatchQ_main
Posts: 2619 - Karma: 629
I'd say skip the ssd, I just built a new 2000$ system and it only really affects the boot times. I did some testing for gaming load times and my wd black is only like 3-5 seconds slower on average. They're expensive and not that important to a system for what you're going to pay.

Make sure you get a haswell cpu for an ultrabook. Much better power consumption and better onboard graphics. It's pretty much a must have for a new laptop.
Jul 1 2013 7:28PM
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a_pla5tic_bag
Posts: 9215 - Karma: 5,398
consider a chromebook? the samsung one is 250
Jul 1 2013 7:45PM
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blatt
Posts: 5584 - Karma: 3,097
DO NOT BUY A MAC.

I bought an MBP 15" for college and wish I would've gone PC for $1000 less for the same exact specs.

And if you're doing any sort of engineering, a PC simply makes more sense for the sake of the programming software you will use (matlab mostly, and once you get to higher levels of math, they have you use computer programs as well).

Jul 1 2013 8:43PM
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LiquorLanch
Posts: 1909 - Karma: 1,046
what does your major recommend? look on their webiste or contact them
Jul 1 2013 9:44PM
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Lemon
Posts: 75 - Karma: 154
why no "?" marks bro?
Jul 2 2013 1:14AM
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HitTheJim
Posts: 787 - Karma: 399
I don't need anything specific for my major.
Jul 2 2013 10:42PM
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Sophistication.
Posts: 665 - Karma: 352
Buy an asus if you're looking 600 ish. That'll do the best for you. I'm using a K53E as a daily driver.

Honestly, I'd take a mac any day.
Just my opinion
Jul 3 2013 12:54AM
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fghtoffyrdmns
Posts: 2998 - Karma: 6,867
fuck apple
Jul 3 2013 1:14AM
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fghtoffyrdmns
Posts: 2998 - Karma: 6,867
check out newegg.com
Jul 3 2013 1:15AM
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