laptop for school

[eric nielsen]

I am shopping for a new laptop to use in pharmacy school next year. While i'm curious to try a MacBook, the college states:

The College uses PC compatible tools to create video presentations and interactive content. We strongly advise you not to buy a Macintosh. Some content is incompatible with the Mac and with PC emulators for the Mac. We will not be able to assist you if you have problems.

I have already decided that for something i will lug in my backpack 4 days a week for 3 years of classroom work, i want a 14" that is as light as possible - 5 lbs or so. No matter what I will have 2gb of ram and do a clean load of Vista OS.

In the past couple years my wife has bought a dell inspiron 15" loaded [xp] for about 1100 bucks and a bargain-basement Gateway 15" [vista] for $499. Both are nice, not perfect but okay.

What i'm leaning toward is a Sony Vaio 14", the reviews are uniformly good other than "they are overpriced..." and i absolutely love the keyboard - i can type effortlessly on that thing. Mousepad is okay, my big thumbs can manage to left & rightclick pretty well, not as easy as the Inspiron. Looking like $1100.

Another choice is HP - the one that is dirt cheap [$599] after mail-in rebate is the Pavillion DV2617, 1.5ghz and 2.0gb of ram, 160gb hard drive. The keyboard is okay, the mousepad is the best i've tried. So new that there are few reviews; one said the fan is way too loud & battery life is low, both of which would be a major drag.

I can wait. Super deals come & go & come back again. Your thoughts are welcome.

[BigDave]

I just turned in an IBM X30. That is probably the best machine I've had in the last 10 years and I ran it for 3 and I ran it hard. We've replaced them with HPs that, sorry to say, are not so good. I think IBM is now made by Lenovo, but if they are similar in any way to the X30 that I had, I'd recommend it without hesitation.

It really is too bad you can't use a Mac. I've run a iBook G4 side by side to the IBM and as good as the IBM was, I'd still pick the iBook for reliability and ease of use.

[Thomas Moore]

For a college PC I would give the Dell XPS 15" or 13" a look. The 15 inch model is only 5.7 lbs.

[warpspeed]

I just turned in an IBM X30. That is probably the best machine I've had in the last 10 years and I ran it for 3 and I ran it hard. We've replaced them with HPs that, sorry to say, are not so good. I think IBM is now made by Lenovo, but if they are similar in any way to the X30 that I had, I'd recommend it without hesitation.

It really is too bad you can't use a Mac. I've run a iBook G4 side by side to the IBM and as good as the IBM was, I'd still pick the iBook for reliability and ease of use.

I'm on a Lenovo ThinkPad Z60m now and it has been flawless for 18 months of travel use. I highly recommend the ThinkPad.

[scirocco38s]

I purchased an Alienware for my daughter for college 3 yrs ago. It has run like a champ. Zero problems with it and the wireless is excellent. Weighs 4lbs with battery and the battery finally died in it this fall and I replaced it with a new on from an online battery store for 70.00 shipped. She is in graphic design so she uses it alot as well as Mac. She likes the macs alot better for the graphics so I got her an IMAC for Christmas. If you have to run Microsoft then they are great pc's and I believe they are now owned by Dell.

[Joe4d]

When a Army recruiter I was issued the IBM thinkpad. I know little about computer features but for durability they ruled. Those computers were used by higher to spy on us so we treated them pretty rough ,like you would expect. I even left mine in the trunk in 20 below temps. after it thawed it was good to go. No one ever had a mechanical problem with them.

[Nik Habicht]

I did the laptop thing for nursing school this fall with a Dell XPS 1210 picked up from the Dell Outlet Center. I was specifically looking for one with at least 2 gigs of RAM and a 7200 rpm hard drive. As far as I'm concerned hard drive speed is far more important than capacity --- especially with portable external hard drives and USB flash drives getting cheaper and cheaper. The size is right for me -- small enough for the cramped desk space I have at school, keyboard big enough to type on. It's running Vista Ultimate, has a 2 or 3 year warranty -- long enough to get me past graduation -- with the tech coming to me, rather than me mailing them the computer. It's my third Dell laptop, my second XPS one, my second refurb, and just like the others it's been flawless.

No Vista issues -- but that may have something to do with the high end components. Good battery life with the power management options built in to Vista; the big battery gets me through all but the longest days. I did buy a spare, small battery, which makes the computer both smaller and lighter on our short lecture days....

[BrianH]

My wife's Vaio is 17 months old and no problems...she loves the thing, it's fast and light.

The only issue I can point to between school and Vista is the profs at UTA are complaining they can't view docs uploaded from students who create them in Vista. Maybe check that out with the school first...make sure they're aok with that before you sink dough into a Vista system.

Edited December 29, 2007 by BrianH

[shred]

The Dell XPS 1330 is the coolest consumer laptop I've seen them make in, well, forever. There's a 15" now with the same style, but I've not messed with one of those.

[AikiDale]

My wife's Vaio is 17 months old and no problems...she loves the thing, it's fast and light.

The only issue I can point to between school and Vista is the profs at UTA are complaining they can't view docs uploaded from students who create them in Vista. Maybe check that out with the school first...make sure they're aok with that before you sink dough into a Vista system.

Are these Office 2007 Word or Excel files they can not read or Notepad or Wordpad files from the OS?

[Nik Habicht]

The only issue I can point to between school and Vista is the profs at UTA are complaining they can't view docs uploaded from students who create them in Vista. Maybe check that out with the school first...make sure they're aok with that before you sink dough into a Vista system.

Are these Office 2007 Word or Excel files they can not read or Notepad or Wordpad files from the OS?

I've had the same issue with friends and shooters when I switched to Office 2007 --- so I now save all my word documents and excel files for distribution in "compatibility mode" so people with older Office versions can read them. That's an easy selection under the "Save As" tab.....

[Paul B]

Had some problems reading some of the Office 2007 docx's till I downloaded the Microsoft patch that lets older office programs (2000 on) open up the new docx.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HA100444731033.aspx

[eric nielsen]

Thanks all esp Nik, Shred & Brian.

Using the Dell Outlet website & filtering for 2gb ram and 160gb HD minimums, the xps 1330 looks verrrry interesting - starting out at $849. That seems like stealing, based on the features.

For sure i'm going to look at a 1330 in Tampa when i start my new job there on Jan 4th. Wife's not big on shopping but maybe we'll go look at one on the 31st.

Guessing that Factory Refurb for most pc's translates to "owner loaded crapware on Day 1; ran recovery disk, checks out perfect". I'll be searching the SonyStyle refurbished page too.

The college says they prefer Vista, thanks for the info about cross-formatting, that's good stuff to know. I'm already glad i didn't rush out & buy the HP.

[Nik Habicht]

Guessing that Factory Refurb for most pc's translates to "owner loaded crapware on Day 1; ran recovery disk, checks out perfect". I'll be searching the SonyStyle refurbished page too.

Shred might be able to speak to that with slightly more authority --- my XPS 1420 was perfect both cosmetically and functionally; the 1210 had a minor cosmetic flaw on the front left corner. I suspect they were both returned to Dell for a reason, I also think that Dell resolved the issue/rebuilt the machine as needed. I specifically wanted the 1210 for the small footprint, but would have had no qualms about buying a 1330 --- it looks like a really sweet and light machine....

[dlcrouch]

whatever you buy, spring for a 3 yr extended warranty - i've owned Dell, IBM, Compaq, Tosh,etc and most had some sort of problem after the 1st year. you'll make up the cost on the first repair.

my daughter's Dell had a problem with the speakers and they send someone to the house for the repair (at night).

[BrianH]

whatever you buy, spring for a 3 yr extended warranty - i've owned Dell, IBM, Compaq, Tosh,etc and most had some sort of problem after the 1st year. you'll make up the cost on the first repair.

my daughter's Dell had a problem with the speakers and they send someone to the house for the repair (at night).

+1 on that! I had a Dell Inspirion rebuilt twice....at work while I waited! (3 yr. on site service!)

[Glockster35]

You didn't mention your budget, so without that important information I would have to say that you shold plan to spend right at $1,000 for a laptop that will fit your needs.

Since you plan on toting it with you to classes, I would definately look for something that will run anywhere from 4-6 hours on battery, and have at least 2 of said batteries available to you. As others have said, the extended warranty is a must, since all it takes is dropping the bag/laptop one time to ruin your purchase.

Make sure you have all the software available that you will need, and if it is not included in yrou purchase price, plan on purchasing it also.

I too like the Sony small portable laptops, they are pricey but seem to be well built. My only problem with them, is that in my research, their battery life leaves a lot to be desired. Same with almost all of the HP and Compaq stuff available.

I recently bought an Acer 5520, and am able to get almost 8 hours of battery life with a battery saving setting, while still being able use the laptop for business programs, internet and e-mail. Anything more though, and my time decreases rapidly.

[OpnBlstr]

+1 on the extended (manufacturer's, not the retailers!) warranty. For a laptop, there's a good chance it will get used especially if it is mobile daily.

You can also get insurance that is affordable that covers accidental damage like dropping it, drowning it, etc. Check out www.safeware.com .

It's too bad you can't go Mac but there are a lot of good Wintel laptops. I had a Vaio FE550 series that I sold almost two years ago that is still going strong with its' new owner and he's a lot less careful with it than I was. Prior to that I had a Vaio FX that went for many years. I even have a Compaq EVO N180 that is still going strong. Battery still goes for a few hours and it's five years or so old now.

[UW Mitch]

My current thought on laptop is buy cheap, and save data somewhere safe. Office Depot has these $429 Toshibas. Carry it, use it, backup your data regularly to something in the apt or dorm room, and if it breaks or gets stolen you're not totally screwed. BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP - that's gonna be the key to whatever you get.

~Mitch

[EricW]

The Mac portion of the requirements must be circa 1997. The hardware is now the same. There are no "emulators" anymore. You're running on native Intel hardware with software that merely permits you a dual session

I would get the Macbook and not look back. Get a copy of VM Fusion ($60 on Amazon) and you'll be able to run all Wintel apps faster on the Macbook than on a cheapie wintel notebook. Then you'll have the added benefits of a backup system that's easy, practical, and actually works versus the MS "you can save your data usually, but if your drive tanks, get out all of your CD's and start from ground zero."

[38SuperWes]

The Mac portion of the requirements must be circa 1997. The hardware is now the same. There are no "emulators" anymore. You're running on native Intel hardware with software that merely permits you a dual session

I would get the Macbook and not look back. Get a copy of VM Fusion ($60 on Amazon) and you'll be able to run all Wintel apps faster on the Macbook than on a cheapie wintel notebook. Then you'll have the added benefits of a backup system that's easy, practical, and actually works versus the MS "you can save your data usually, but if your drive tanks, get out all of your CD's and start from ground zero."

+1 on this...I just picked up one for my daughter.....it smokes my G4 and both my G5's and both my wifes PC's ......stunning.

Wes

[sideshowbob]

The new Macs will run both Windows and OSX. It is 100% compatible. All new macs now use an Intel chip.

I am shopping for a new laptop to use in pharmacy school next year. While i'm curious to try a MacBook, the college states:

The College uses PC compatible tools to create video presentations and interactive content. We strongly advise you not to buy a Macintosh. Some content is incompatible with the Mac and with PC emulators for the Mac. We will not be able to assist you if you have problems.

I have already decided that for something i will lug in my backpack 4 days a week for 3 years of classroom work, i want a 14" that is as light as possible - 5 lbs or so. No matter what I will have 2gb of ram and do a clean load of Vista OS.

In the past couple years my wife has bought a dell inspiron 15" loaded [xp] for about 1100 bucks and a bargain-basement Gateway 15" [vista] for $499. Both are nice, not perfect but okay.

What i'm leaning toward is a Sony Vaio 14", the reviews are uniformly good other than "they are overpriced..." and i absolutely love the keyboard - i can type effortlessly on that thing. Mousepad is okay, my big thumbs can manage to left & rightclick pretty well, not as easy as the Inspiron. Looking like $1100.

Another choice is HP - the one that is dirt cheap [$599] after mail-in rebate is the Pavillion DV2617, 1.5ghz and 2.0gb of ram, 160gb hard drive. The keyboard is okay, the mousepad is the best i've tried. So new that there are few reviews; one said the fan is way too loud & battery life is low, both of which would be a major drag.

I can wait. Super deals come & go & come back again. Your thoughts are welcome.

[jrguar]

You can try www.dell.com/refurbished check out what dell has, discount pricing, factory warranty pretty wide range of products and reasonably stable hardware.

[vettman1]

Check out a Tablet PC. I've had one for about 4 years now and would not go back to a regular laptop. Most of the faculty I work with also say the same thing. Gateway 155c and the new HP 2710 are the best on the market. I prefer the Gateway overall though. Just to warn you, these will run you more than $1100. Check through your school and see if they have any special pricing. Most have deals going with Dell, HP, or Gateway that can save you some money.

[bberkley]

I have a MacBook at work, and with Leopard and Bootcamp, I dual boot it between Mac and XP. I have Vista running on the Dell desktop, and it pretty much sucks. Mac makes some sexy hardware, albeit overpriced, and warranty service is a pain in the rear.

Ideally, a MacBook Pro with Leopard and Bootcamp dual-booted to XP is a nice setup.

Otherwise, get a Dell XPS laptop.

IMHO, there are no compelling reasons to run Vista, its bloatware.