First time laptop buyer for college

[jai1928]

I'll start this off by saying I'm going to be a college freshmen and this is my first time buying a laptop so I don't know a lot
What is your budget?
1,000-1300
2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
15-17 preferablely 17
3. What screen resolution do you want?
I'm not sure I want to play games on it but I don't really care as long as the game doesnt look like I'm playing on a 3 year old system
4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
I guess a desktop replacement
5. How much battery life do you need?
Decent battery life 6 hours
6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
I would like to play games. Mostly mmo and some rts i would like something that could play star craft and wow id like to be able to play on medium to high
7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
I'm going to be a pre med student so I'm not really sure what features I would need.
8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
Again not sure. But id like to play games and its for school work also so decent amount of space would be nice
9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
No sites
10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
2 years at the least
11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
umm I would be watching movies on it but I don't need a bluray player or anything just somethig that could play normal run of the mill dvds.
12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
No Toshiba please a lot of family members have had trouble with them
13. What country do you live in?
USA
14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

I hope this can help people find their ideal notebook.

 

[WR2]

When do you plan to buy your notebook?

 

[eatmeimadanish]

Dells 15R is a nice start, and the Alienware M14x Ultimate Gaming Laptop hits your price range. Also a quicksearch on Newegg shows this monster http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230257

 

[ksteven813]

Dells 15R is a nice start, and the Alienware M14x Ultimate Gaming Laptop hits your price range. Also a quicksearch on Newegg shows this monster http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230257

That laptop does look like a beast. Anyone have any more info on it?

 

[DelroyMonjo]

Go back to the Newegg product page and look at mfgs. info link. I looked there and found a similar model with a 7200 RPM HDD and the same processor. it has some other enhancements as well but the processor is the same. It ranks same as an I5 2500K 3.3GHz desktop CPU and weighs 2.7 lbs. with a 6 cell LiIon battery 5200 mAh 56 Whrs.
I find that hard to believe but that's what it says.

 

[drbasa]

Personally after being a college student for 3 years already... don't go with something large. 17" is way to big. I bought a 15 inch and I regret it. I take my computer to class a lot as well as to all my labs. I am en engineering major so I spend a lot of time on campus. If you are going into pre-med you'll most likely be doing the same. I thought I was going to game a lot... but once I hit college, I noticed how much time I don't have to do that.

My suggestions... Go with something that is 14-15". I am a big fan of Asus, Dell, and Samsung. If you are savy with computers... or know someone that is... buy an after market Solid State Hard Drive. I put one in my laptop last year and I swear I will get at least another 3 years out of it... it makes that much of a difference. You won't get 6 hours out of a 17" laptop that has gaming capabilities like you would want. Read all customer reviews. They've owned the laptop and know what is good and bad about it. Don't spend a ton of money on one either. $800 bucks will suffice. If you need something more powerful, you'll end up using the library or lab computers. Bigger screen with a mouse is much easier to use.

I tried to go all out when I went to college and spent a ton of money on my computers... and I really regret it now. Even being an engineer and running a ton of power intensive software... I use lab computers more often for that and my laptop on the side for music, Google and stuff like that.

 

[jai1928]

What do you guys think of the HP Pavilion dv7t Quad Edition series. It looked like a good one to me though i don't particularly need the sound system. If you think this one is good should i upgrade anything on it for gaming purposes? ie add more ram or better graphics card? (preferably from the ones that hp offer's in there customization part because i am not very good with computers and would not know how to install a graphics card.) Thank you again.

P.S i appreciate the advice drbasa

 

[WR2]

I like the HP Dv7t as a desktop replacement.
Think you could squeeze in a 'carry to class' ultra-portable HP dm1 as well?