Member of the Month

KilaTsunami
October, 2024

Online

Welcome to the Newschoolers forums! You may read the forums as a guest, however you must be a registered member to post. Register to become a member today!

So I'm going to get a laptop

profile picture
JORMUNGAND
Posts: 360 - Karma: 480
I need a laptop but I don't know much about them. I just need it for school and normal computer purposes. Any suggestions on what to get?
Jul 30 2013 5:16PM
68 41
profile picture
eheath
Posts: 61603 - Karma: 123,084
Are you serious?

I know you're a nerd like me, but thin and durable are pretty high on my list behind performance and at the top of any average users list, minus battery life.
Jul 31 2013 1:10AM
0 0
profile picture
WVskiing
Posts: 3007 - Karma: 1,949
Haha another Mac vs PC war with eheath blowing up the thread
Jul 31 2013 1:12AM
1 1
profile picture
eheath
Posts: 61603 - Karma: 123,084
As someone said earlier, this has actually been a pretty leveled headed discussion.
Jul 31 2013 1:16AM
1 0
profile picture
Chewy.
Posts: 4113 - Karma: 4,856
I agree, which is why I went with the air over pro.
Jul 31 2013 1:29AM
0 0
profile picture
Fluttershy
Posts: 586 - Karma: 763
hp pavillion g7-xxxx(?) is a cheap laptop that works well. it had about 2ghz dual core amd processor with 4gb of ram. pretty bad specs, but if youre only using it for school thats all you should really need. it has a big monitor for a laptop (1600x900) and a numpad. i got mine for somewhere around $300
Jul 31 2013 1:38AM
0 0
profile picture
Arabian
Posts: 682 - Karma: 1,080
Macs are thin only because they decided to sacrifice your rights to ownership of your computer by way of making it impossible to repair with their consent and tools. You people should be viewing it as a dick in the ass, not a feature.
Jul 31 2013 8:56AM
0 0
profile picture
louie.mirags
Posts: 6015 - Karma: 5,029
Hey that's fine for me. It cost loot to fix. Thank God my mac has been working like the first day I got it 4 years ago
Jul 31 2013 9:02AM
0 0
profile picture
Arabian
Posts: 682 - Karma: 1,080
Of course it still works. You bought it as a $2000 facebook and porn machine.
Jul 31 2013 9:24AM
0 0
profile picture
louie.mirags
Posts: 6015 - Karma: 5,029
Close it was 1200/2= 600
2 being the amount of computers you've had in the same time frame
Jul 31 2013 9:47AM
0 0
profile picture
.MASSHOLE.
Posts: 7481 - Karma: 11,497
Another mac book pro fan here. I have the 13 inch before the air came out but its going on its 4th year now, and its survived numerous drops and dings that would have shut down my previous laptops. The only thing I have had to replace is the battery this past year when it finally couldn't survive without a charge.

My one complaint is that it can get EXTREMELY hot when charging, but thats what fan stations are for.
Jul 31 2013 10:15AM
0 0
profile picture
whoa-dere
Posts: 10596 - Karma: 7,103
one of the things I don't like about apple is the design. their things are too refined. there are plenty of pc laptops that don't look boring
Jul 31 2013 10:36AM
0 0
profile picture
whoa-dere
Posts: 10596 - Karma: 7,103
minimalist is the word i was looking for
Jul 31 2013 10:38AM
0 0
profile picture
HamFaceGirl
Posts: 5242 - Karma: 2,676
Not true at all, I'm an engineering student and most of the software I need to run is not compatible with macs. I got a Sony vaio and I am loving it so far
Jul 31 2013 10:43AM
0 0
profile picture
louie.mirags
Posts: 6015 - Karma: 5,029
Then, that obviously doesn't apply to you. It has a lot of truth to it.
Jul 31 2013 11:35AM
0 0
profile picture
tomPietrowski
Posts: 7147 - Karma: 17,499
^ not really I as well use software which has only in the last year or too become available on macs. For certain industries macs are not a good choice. Really they are great for some things but if pure computing power is what you need you will be looking elsewhere.
Jul 31 2013 2:02PM
0 0
profile picture
Arabian
Posts: 682 - Karma: 1,080
Speak for yourself. I know how to take care of mine and they last just as long.
Jul 31 2013 2:33PM
0 0
profile picture
eheath
Posts: 61603 - Karma: 123,084
Actually, you can. Win 7 and Win 8 are actually very good operating systems. OSX has its issues and so does windows. Saying a computer won't last as long because of windows is a complete farse gus.
Jul 31 2013 2:54PM
0 0
profile picture
tomPietrowski
Posts: 7147 - Karma: 17,499
^as I said above I have had my laptop for 5 years and have never needed to reinstall my os. The only thing I needed to do was buy a new power charger a couple of years ago. As long as you keep the os updated there should e no reason you will have any issues. Also keep your virus protection updated, that I the issue most users will run into.
Jul 31 2013 2:54PM
0 0
profile picture
tomPietrowski
Posts: 7147 - Karma: 17,499
Not meant for you eheath, you replied before I hit reply.
Jul 31 2013 2:55PM
0 0
profile picture
dmski
Posts: 328 - Karma: 360
disclaimer: did not read.

but if you are interested in a pc, sign up for a barnes and noble gold account on lenovo and you will find some decent discounts on their websites. I find them to be better than if you were a college student trying to get a discount.
Jul 31 2013 2:59PM
0 0
profile picture
Kronor
Posts: 217 - Karma: 167
I'm considering getting the lower end MBP 13' and just upgrading my desktop so it can preform when it comes to gaming. Should I spend the extra 300 and upgrade my comp or spend the extra 300 and get the next MBP up (the higher end 13')
Jul 31 2013 3:02PM
0 0
profile picture
howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
my sides
Jul 31 2013 3:04PM
0 0
profile picture
eheath
Posts: 61603 - Karma: 123,084
Your personal experience =/= real life statistic.

OSX has a fuck ton of problems too. It depends on what you do with your computer, if you surf the internet and listen to music of course your OS is never going to have an issue. I've been running windows 7 for 8/9 months now and it hasn't crashed once. My OSX would crash at least once a month, rainbow wheel of death ring any bells? adobes also would crash a lot on OSX and it rarely crashes on windows 7.

Again, my person experience also doesn't relate to real life statistic, but you get the point. You can't sit here and tell someone windows causes more problems, because it doesn't. I bet everyone in this thread who uses windows will say the same thing.

I used to hate windows just like you did, bunch of my friends had windows laptops and I watched them restart their computer every damn day pretty much, they would open a webpage and the whole computer would freeze, I hated windows it was was devil.

But then win 7 came and its actually a good OS. I dunno if you've just had a bad experience over the past two years but dude, the way you're portraying windows is like you're some 15 year old needle dick with a MBP. Windows is no where near as bad as you try do describe it, OSX is not more stable than windows 7.
Jul 31 2013 3:08PM
0 0
profile picture
howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
the main reason why windows is so shitty is because of updates...if windows didn't have to do updates it would be way more stable...but microsoft would rather err on the side of security and pushes out updates every fucking month.

either OS is improved immensely but SSD's but mac users usually aren't smart enough to do that (hahaha jk jk)

Jul 31 2013 3:16PM
0 0
profile picture
Bateman
Posts: 8591 - Karma: 8,600
about 1K norwegian kroner which should be about $200. Totally worth it, considering you can just get a brand new mac.
Jul 31 2013 5:00PM
0 0
profile picture
123+ski
Posts: 2832 - Karma: 581
Things to look for:
Build quality, metal=good because it may take some unexpected tumbles
Size, I like my 15" and thats what most of my friends have too, 13" are fine for most things tho, just look at them together in store even if you don't plan on buying in store, it can help pu things in perspective, and with that said, I know a couple people with 17" models, but save yourself the money, get something more portable, these things are monsters and don't fit in most backpacks, just get a monitor
Weight, the easier it is to move around, the more likely you will be to bring it along and use it aka get the most out of it, I would say look for something 5 pounds or less. It doesn't seem like much, but it can get annoying to lug a huge laptop all around
Most importantly, pick up a hard drive and back up your files
Last thing would be to not pay more for one with good internal speakers. Get modest sized 2.1 speakers for your desk, you don't want them to be super big/loud, just enough to cover any other noise, but not attract unwanted attention, and then get a nice pair of headphones for studying/actually listening to music and stuff
Jul 31 2013 5:17PM
0 0
profile picture
CaptainObvious.
Posts: 5712 - Karma: 20,638
Having dealt with nearly 1000 Windows machines on an enterprise level and nearly 250 macs on the same level I can tell you that it's a total crapshoot. I had several handfuls of iMacs, G5s and macbook that needed to be wiped and have the OS reinstalled. I have had roughly the same percentage of the PCs go out on me (excluding the Vista fiasco I mentioned earlier).

It is 100% based on user responsibility, stability of apps and updates that are either correctly applied or correctly omitted, and pure luck.

Everyone has a horror story, everyone has a success story.
Jul 31 2013 5:23PM
0 0
profile picture
howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
what do you do?
Jul 31 2013 5:24PM
0 0
profile picture
CaptainObvious.
Posts: 5712 - Karma: 20,638
I was a computer tech at my University and then a computer tech at DISH Network HQ, now I'm in software testing.
Jul 31 2013 5:25PM
0 0
profile picture
howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
in denver? do you work for active network/rtp?
Jul 31 2013 5:53PM
0 0
profile picture
Arabian
Posts: 682 - Karma: 1,080
I hate to say it Gus, but certs are nothing more than paper. Sure, you can argue that windows might fail faster, but consider the userbase for windows v. OS X.

Does windows experience faster bitrot? How about actual userspace decay? Your statistics are not objective representations of each operating system.

Yes, windows is less stable than OS X - mostly becuase of the cut-corner way they implemented .NET framework. But what's to stop someone from running OSX on a non-Apple computer?
Jul 31 2013 7:34PM
0 0
profile picture
louie.mirags
Posts: 6015 - Karma: 5,029
/claim
Jul 31 2013 7:40PM
0 0
profile picture
JORMUNGAND
Posts: 360 - Karma: 480
I ended up getting an Asus Q550. To those of you who suggested Samsung, that is what i was leaning towards until I actually went to Best Buy and saw that the Samsungs were almost the same as the Asus models except Asus has disk drives and is cheaper. Also money was no problem i have a lot saved up from working so i dont care that it was $1000 haha.
Jul 31 2013 10:03PM
0 0
profile picture
Dirac
Posts: 1304 - Karma: 335
well yeah. thin to fit in my bag, durable to not get damaged when I carry it around all day...

I also wanted a computer with a decent amount of power, a good battery life and quiet fans. This computer has all of that. I really tried to find a comparable computer when I bought this but I could not. Especially because it's tough to get a linux distro running well on this one.
Jul 31 2013 10:19PM
0 0
profile picture
MicroMix
Posts: 297 - Karma: 48
Slight thread jack here, but I'm going into engineering and looking for a laptop as well. AutoCAD seems pretty resource intensive but how powerful of a laptop would I need? (processor, amount of RAM, etc..) I also have a pretty powerful desktop that I built so I can use that as well. Was thinking of an Asus Zenbook with an i5 and 4-6gbs of RAM.
Jul 31 2013 10:20PM
0 0
profile picture
shredched
Posts: 309 - Karma: 483
Whatever you do, don't get windows 8. i have heard that its one of the worst operating systems yet
Jul 31 2013 10:31PM
0 0
profile picture
JustForYou
Posts: 275 - Karma: 2,143
Heard.


The only thing that sucks is the layout. Which is easily fixed by a simple download. Other than that, it's a faster OS.
Jul 31 2013 10:37PM
0 0
profile picture
caucasian_chad
Posts: 4078 - Karma: 3,625
If I were you I'd go i7. AutoCAD will only get more resource intensive over the years. I have an HP laptop with an i7 and 6gb of ram and it runs AutoCAD better than any other computer I've seen. It really helped out when I had to design a highway while riding to Sun Valley in a van to meet a class deadline.
Jul 31 2013 10:37PM
1 0
profile picture
CaptainObvious.
Posts: 5712 - Karma: 20,638
If you're running AutoCad a lot, you need something with a beefy mother fucking processor. I have a buddy who runs AutoCad and/or LightWave and he burned through three computers(a mac included) because they couldn't handle the physical heat produced by his processor overclocking so much.

Processor. Processor. Processor. If you can afford it, get an Ivy Bridge (i7). Or an equivalent Mac.
Jul 31 2013 10:45PM
1 0
profile picture
CaptainObvious.
Posts: 5712 - Karma: 20,638
Boo Yah. Two people on the internet said it at the same time. It must me true.
Jul 31 2013 10:54PM
0 0
profile picture
extravert
Posts: 1112 - Karma: 3,174
Got a mac pro 2 years ago and haven't ever regretted it. As a laptop, it works incredibly well. The long battery life is my favorite, as everyone else is always scrambling for the nearest wall outlet.
Jul 31 2013 10:59PM
0 0
profile picture
J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,142

Think about what you want to do with your laptop.

For me, I watch a lot of movies on it, I'm online, and I listen to music. I do work on it. I don't play video games. So what I wanted was a good screen, good speakers, comfortable keyboard to work on, and reasonably quick, but the only thing I care about the graphics performance for is for video.

Consequently, I bought an HP Envy 15 Beats edition - 1080p screen (seriously check the max resolution on your laptop. Most of them are nowhere near 1920x1080), 6 beats speakers, a dead copy of a macbook keyboard, and some other cool perks. It was $900, which is way less than I'd have paid for a macbook pro (which also has a high res screen).

Aug 1 2013 11:10AM
0 0
profile picture
MNS
Posts: 5386 - Karma: 3,241
Get a MacBook Air, you won't be disappointed.
Aug 1 2013 2:03PM
0 0
profile picture
Peter.
Posts: 23796 - Karma: 13,014
in all seriousness it is worth paying extra for a macbook solely because of the glass trackpad. seriously, trackpads on windows laptops blow
Aug 1 2013 2:21PM
3 0
profile picture
tomPietrowski
Posts: 7147 - Karma: 17,499
^ I always use a mouse I hate trackpads. Get a good little wireless mouse and you can use it anywhere.
Aug 1 2013 3:31PM
0 0
profile picture
Bateman
Posts: 8591 - Karma: 8,600
seriously this. macbook trackpads are the shit. also since its for school purposes, the battery life a macbook brings is awesome. i bring my macbook to school pretty much every day and i don't have to bring a charger.
Aug 2 2013 8:27AM
0 0
profile picture
Fun_dip
Posts: 2623 - Karma: 913
Apologies for bring back old thread, but which of these would you recommend? Or something else in the price range, but these preferred. Why or why not on these?

"Special Price" is $600 on first one
Aug 20 2013 5:14PM
0 0
profile picture
howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
the first one. for sure. that SSD is going to make that thing so quick. i'd get a nerd friend to re-format that thing to windows 7 first
Aug 20 2013 5:23PM
0 0
profile picture
Fun_dip
Posts: 2623 - Karma: 913
What's the difference between 7 and 8? Still on vista atm
Aug 20 2013 5:31PM
0 0
profile picture
howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
8 is just shitty....7 is a much more clean/polished OS. if you're used to vista the switch to windows 7 will be nothing to worry about.
Aug 20 2013 5:33PM
0 1
All times are Eastern (-5)