Solved! I need a good laptop

[tripelvio]

Hi, i'll be a computer science major, and I need a mobile but still powerful laptop within a month. The main requirements are suitable for heavy computations, is ergonomic(esp keyboard) for programming and long battery hours.
I'm a complete novice so please help me find a suitable one.
Thanks.

1. What is your budget?
USD$1700 but less is better

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
15"min the larger the better, but it still has to be fairly mobile.

3. What screen resolution do you want?
1920x1200

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
It'll be my main computer, and i'll use it everywhere, at school and home.

5. How much battery life do you need?
As long as possible.

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop?
No games.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Programming
Heavy computations eg. matlab
Anything that is needed in AI
Standard office tasks eg surfing, word,etc
May take a few graphics courses, but no need to be too powerful for this.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
No idea. 500GB won't hurt.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
Minimum 3-4 yrs.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
DVD writer

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 idea. But i will mess around with the OS, will there be warranty problems?

13. What country do you live in?
Hong Kong

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
That's all.

Thanks.

 

[WR2]

Hello tripelvio;

Based on your requirements I think you'd want to look at the Thinkpad T520. Excellent keyboard, durability and reliability over time.
Configured with i7-2630QM CPU, 4GB RAM (1 stick), 500GB 7200rpm HDD, 15.6" 1920x1080 LCD matte screen with NVIDIA NVS 4200M Graphics, Bluetooth 3.0 about ~$1450.
Thinkpad T520 deals

 

[WR2]

But i will mess around with the OS, will there be warranty problems?

No problems at all. Just leave the Win7 OS installed, created a new partition and install any other OS into the new partition and you'll have a dual OS boot option.

 

[WR2]

Another very good option is the Dell Latitude E6520 15.6-inch Sandy Bridge Laptop about $1500 when configured similar to the Thinkpad 520 above.
Dell Latitude E6520 i7/FHD Notebook review