x2 on the ASUS core i7 laptop on newegg, Lenovo has one on there for the similar price/specs also. For a grand I would definitely get one of those 2 for myself. core i7 is what you want for the price though, anything else for a grand is a ripoff. $700-900 for core i5 if you decide to spend less.
If your using it in your room a lot definitely get a separate keyboard/mouse so you can use it more like a desktop PC. You can also get a GOOD monitor for less than $200, dual display comes in handy for school work when your working on 1 document and need to reference stuff for it on the 2nd screen. I used to hate bestbuy but their laptop prices are not too bad these days so if you want a non-online purchase try there. If anything you can at least check out their laptops to see how you like the size/brands then buy elsewhere online.
Whatever you do, stay the hell away from Macs. I’m about to begin my final semester of college and I can say with certainty that it’s a liability.
I’d recommend looking at the Dell Outlet. Go to Dell.com and the link is at the very bottom left. Basically, it’s all machines that were returned because the consumer decided against them (even if they didn’t open the box) or had minor cosmetic damage. I’ve purchased several computers this way and have had no issues with them at all.
look bro save your money if you live in los angeles i’ll give you a dual core 2 centrino with 2 gigs ram a 75 gb internal hard drive and a 500 gb external hardrive for 200 bucks research HP 6910P it 's a laptop … i refurbish computers/laptops and sell them to people for a great price… windows 7 will be on there already and hell i put office 2007 for you just cuz we are fellow lifters. if not look on craigslist you don’t need a heavy piece of equipment for your needs…
Toshiba, Asus or Acer if you want a reliable PC based laptops - in that order of my personal preferance. I’ve bought a couple new Toshiba’s at work and they are fantastic machines for the price.
You could get a netbook as an extra if you want something with decent battery life for taking notes on during classes/lectures and they’re relatively inexpensive.
[quote]The Greek wrote:
can someone explain what the processor speed/GH is? Is there a difference between a daul core 2.4 GH processor vs. an i5 2.4 GH processor?[/quote]
AS A COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJOR… lol, well, dual core = 2 processors in parallel, 2.4 gHz processor = 1 processor. 2 processors is bettar.
To take advantage of dual processing, both the O/S and the software must be written to specifically do so. In other words, the dual processing is not optimized unless the OS and software are designed to take advantage.[/quote]
Agreed.
Also, higher Ghz DOES NOT mean better, faster processor.
I’ve used a macbook and macbook pro the last 4 years, also had a toshiba before that. Bought this one a month ago and absolutely love it. Never buying a mac again. Pretty much good for everything, games, HD video, hooking up to a LCD tv, or using to play/mix music.
Not hating on the mac and toshiba’s, ASUS isn’t known by lots of people, but I have to say that I’m pretty impressed with everything so far. From what it seems, they are trying to build this brand as producing powerful and reliable machines.
You might be quick to say that you do not need such a beefy laptop, but if you buy one right now and use it for at least 3 years, it will be worth it.
ASUS has been around for a while making PC components so anyone who builds computers is familiar with them. They make good parts so their full systems should be just as good. Other company’s don’t make their own and piece together components from the cheapest suppliers. Almost every laptop company falls into that category, toshiba/HP/Sony don’t make consumer motherboards at least from what I have seen, and if they did I probably wouldn’t buy them.
Thanks for your advice everyone, you guys were awesome!
I went and purchased a Sony Vaio 16.4 inch screen from Costco. It was 1050 after 150 bucks off plus I wanted to take advantage of their 3 year warranty.
Basic Stats:
16.4 in
i7 1.73 GH processor turbos up to 2.8
4 GB of RAM
500 GB hardrive
512 MB NVIDIA Graphics
Blue Ray player
[quote]The Greek wrote:
Thanks for your advice everyone, you guys were awesome!
I went and purchased a Sony Vaio 16.4 inch screen from Costco. It was 1050 after 150 bucks off plus I wanted to take advantage of their 3 year warranty.
Basic Stats:
16.4 in
i7 1.73 GH processor turbos up to 2.8
4 GB of RAM
500 GB hardrive
512 MB NVIDIA Graphics
Blue Ray player
Everybody has made some great points already. But personally if you aren’t that computer savvy, then I would suggest looking into an iMac and here’s why.
First of all, they hardly need tweaking or fixes like most PC’s do. I usually talk to someone every few days that have to take their PC into the shop to get them sped up and fixed because of all the crap that gets put on them. HD defrag or registry fixes, etc.
Second, Macs generally have less headaches. Very few viruses make it to Apple computers. About 90 - 95% of the computer market is PC so very few viruses make it to the Mac Linux platform. So then, there’s little need for anti-virus or firewall programs. Going along with no headaches, Macs generally just work. For example my wife plugged in her HP printer to our iMac and feared needing to download drivers and spending boatloads of time trying to get it to work. The iMac recognize and installed drivers for the printer and had it up and running in less than 10 seconds. Networking works similarly. You plug it into an Apple computer and it just works.
And that’s the beauty of Macs. They simply work and are not hard to figure out. The backup programs start working with a few clicks, they have little need of any tweaking, virtually no viruses. The only downside is price. I stay a loyal PC fan only because I’m cheap and understand how they work. Otherwise I would convert completely to Apple. PC’s overall and generally speaking are more work and are not as nicely put together as Apple computers (like 8+ hr battery life on Apple laptops and other great features only found on them).
[quote]The Greek wrote:
Thanks for your advice everyone, you guys were awesome!
I went and purchased a Sony Vaio 16.4 inch screen from Costco. It was 1050 after 150 bucks off plus I wanted to take advantage of their 3 year warranty.
Basic Stats:
16.4 in
i7 1.73 GH processor turbos up to 2.8
4 GB of RAM
500 GB hardrive
512 MB NVIDIA Graphics
Blue Ray player
[quote]Tank53 wrote:
Everybody has made some great points already. But personally if you aren’t that computer savvy, then I would suggest looking into an iMac and here’s why.
First of all, they hardly need tweaking or fixes like most PC’s do. I usually talk to someone every few days that have to take their PC into the shop to get them sped up and fixed because of all the crap that gets put on them. HD defrag or registry fixes, etc.
Second, Macs generally have less headaches. Very few viruses make it to Apple computers. About 90 - 95% of the computer market is PC so very few viruses make it to the Mac Linux platform. So then, there’s little need for anti-virus or firewall programs. Going along with no headaches, Macs generally just work. For example my wife plugged in her HP printer to our iMac and feared needing to download drivers and spending boatloads of time trying to get it to work. The iMac recognize and installed drivers for the printer and had it up and running in less than 10 seconds. Networking works similarly. You plug it into an Apple computer and it just works.
And that’s the beauty of Macs. They simply work and are not hard to figure out. The backup programs start working with a few clicks, they have little need of any tweaking, virtually no viruses. The only downside is price. I stay a loyal PC fan only because I’m cheap and understand how they work. Otherwise I would convert completely to Apple. PC’s overall and generally speaking are more work and are not as nicely put together as Apple computers (like 8+ hr battery life on Apple laptops and other great features only found on them). [/quote]
Except when they just don’t work. Then they don’t work and there’s nothing you can do about it.