Good laptop for college?

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Avund wrote on 2011-06-23 18:44

[FONT="Century Gothic"]Heya, I was wondering if anyone knew a good laptop for college, I've been searching around but, alas, I fail epically at finding good laptops in my price range.

I'll be taking an Animation class and I was hoping someone had some suggestions for a laptop with these specifications and under 940$ USD. (Or up to 1k$. I'll be using my financial aid for it and after I get the rest of my software I'll have 1,200$ left over.)

# IntelÂ® PentiumÂ® 4 or AMD AthlonÂ® 64 processor (Intel Coreâ„¢ i3, i5, or i7 or AMD PhenomÂ® II recommended); 64-bit support required

# 64-bit operating system required: MicrosoftÂ® WindowsÂ® 7

# 2GB of RAM

# 3GB of available hard-disk space plus 2GB of space for optional content; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on removable flash storage devices)

# 1280x800 display with OpenGL 2.0â€“compatible graphics card For Windows
Or,
# Multicore IntelÂ® processor with 64-bit support

# Mac OS X v10.5.8 or v10.6

# 2GB of RAM

# 4GB of available hard-disk space plus 2GB of space for optional content; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on a volume that uses a case-sensitive file system or on removable flash storage devices)

# 1280x800 display with OpenGL 2.0â€“compatible graphics card For Mac.

I was thinking about the Dell Inspiron 15R. But, I'm not too sure if that'd be a good choice for my classes?[/FONT]
Yoorah wrote on 2011-06-23 23:44

Well... those specs are pretty basic--it should be easy to find something in that price range, but you certainly want more performance than that.

The main thing to consider is the typical use case for the computer. (ie. gaming, professional software, or just light use like web browsing etc?)

I'm guessing you'll be majoring in a multimedia production related field, so you need something with a powerful CPU. A quad core chip would be ideal, but those are out of your price range. I would avoid AMD in laptops. AMD's new chips might be better than their old ones, but I don't know much about them and they are probably not widely available yet.

It would be nice to have a good graphics processor as well, but finding a laptop with both a powerful CPU and GPU in that price range can be challenging. You also probably want something with at least a 15" screen.

I would also advise you to consider build quality and reliability. HP's consumer laptops have been pretty bad there. Their professional/business lines are better, but carry some price premium. Dell has a similar reputation.

My first choice would be Lenovo's ThinkPad T series. Lots of younger kids don't like em because of the boring, unexciting style. The ThinkPad has a very strong reputation of reliability, however. They also use high quality parts, good LCD panels, etc. The downside is that they aren't the cheapest laptops around for the specs you get.

I managed to configure a T520 for $1034 using the USPSAVEMORE620 coupon: http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/2640/t520.png

There are some cheaper ones you can configure if you're willing to go with Intel's HD 3000 graphics... but the work-optimized NVS GPU would help with 3D modelling/rendering work-related performance.

Check HP's and Dell's business-grade offerings. (I wouldn't trust their consumer stuff.) I tried to look at Dell's Vostro, it seemed to only offer a non-upgradeable 1366 x 768 screen, which is lower res than what's in your requirements. :( Plus the site is buggy and slow for me, and I don't have time to mess around with it atm. I'll dig around a bit later!

But yeah, main thing we need to know is if you are majoring in a multimedia-related field, which would involve a lot of 3D work. 'cause then you want a discrete GPU. Otherwise, you can save money going with Intel HD 3000 graphics. Unless you want it for gaming, of course.. in which case, again, you will need to spend more and get something with a discrete GPU. Gaming laptops make poor college laptops, however. xD
Avund wrote on 2011-06-24 16:47

Oh alright, Thank you :D
I'm majoring in Game Design, and I was told that I'll be using a lot of Autodesk Maya and similar software during my classes. (If that helps at all owo)
@_@~ Laptops confuse me so bad sometimes.