Laptop for college

[natallechiuman]

Hi everyone, I will be a freshman this fall and I'm looking for a laptop for college. I don't know much about computers so please bear with me.

1. What is your budget?
<$1500

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
13-15 inch

3. What screen resolution do you want?
Don't mind

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Probably both- I don't think I will take my laptop to class but I will definitely take it to libraries.

5. How much battery life do you need?
4 hours or more

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)?
Possibly. I play maplestory sometimes and I might try out some new games in college.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Internet, word processing, listen to music, watch dvd/videos

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
Not sure. 500G should be sufficient.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
4 years or more.

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

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.
I don't know much about the differences among brands, but I currently have a compaq laptop and it's not that good.

13. What country do you live in?
Australia, but I plan to buy the laptop in Hong Kong

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
After reading some reviews online, I'm considering getting a Toshiba Portege R700 or a Macbook Pro 13‘. Which one is better? And are there any other good alternatives? Thanks!

I also want to add that I'll most likely be a biology or a neuroscience major.

 

[WR2]

Hello natallechiuman;

MBP 13 (2011) and Toshiba Portege R835 (vs Portege R700) are probably the two you want to look at in the "portable" 13" category.
Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch (2011) Review
Toshiba Portege R835-P56X Review

Either one will do an excellent job with all your requirements - except for gaming. Maplestory will run fine, as will many older games.
It's that slightly vague notion of "I might try out some new games in college" that might drive you into the larger 15" laptops to get an upgraded graphics card to handle games 2-3 years in the future.

 

[natallechiuman]

Thank you for the reply. Gaming isn't a high priority of mine, so I supposed I will be alright with 13" laptops.

I'm still having a hard time deciding between the Macbook pro and Toshiba Portege though. =( And also, other than those two models, are there other suitable alternatives that will fit my requirements?

 

[WR2]

Once you drop gaming out of the equation you have a lot more options.
And you can drop the price of the laptop enough to be able to get yourself a nice gaming console too.

 

[WR2]

An example: Dell Vostro 3350 13" notebook review
Vostro 3350 Laptop @ Dell Singapore

 

[natallechiuman]

In your pinion, what brand is the best, in terms of durability? I guess my main priority is to get a laptop that can last me four years. =)
I was talking to a friend today and he told me that fujitsu laptops are really durable, but other friends have also been telling me about the durability of macs.

 

[WR2]

In terms of durability / ruggedness it's not so much a brand as the class of laptops.
Business class laptops have an edge in durability over consumer class laptops. They're designed for a higher duty cycle than a consumer laptop that won't necessarily get used 6-8 hours every day.

Any laptop will appear to be 'durable' to someone who takes care of their laptop. That explains why you can have a Mac and Fujitsu owner claim to own really durable computers when they're no more / no less durable that most other laptops in the same price range.

 

[natallechiuman]

Best answer selected by natallechiuman.

 

[natallechiuman]

Thank you for all the advice!

 

[Maziar]

This topic has been closed by Maziar