As a student, I'll be lugging the laptop around most of the time so I'm looking for something first and foremost very durable and portable. In form factor I'm looking for what is essentially a Mac Book Pro, except that I need a Windows machine.
1. What is your budget?
Assume this is a non-issue.
2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
Preferably a 15" but also possibly 13" machine. As thin as possible, though this is not so important.
3. What screen resolution do you want?
At least 1080p but the greater the better.
4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Portability is far more important.
5. How much battery life do you need?
Likely at least 5 hrs but again, the more the better.
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)?
No.
7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Lots of computer science, software development, and simulation work. Essentially as much power as possible in the computational sense but power in terms of rendering or game graphics is not so important. Multimedia (ie Music and Video) only in smooth playback.
8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
Preferably SSD but I'm not wedded to the idea. Could live with as little as 256GB but 512GB would be more comfortable, and if HDD, 1TB would be preferable
9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
No.
10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
At least 2-3 years, 4 would be great.
11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
A simple optical drive would be a nice plus but hardly a deal breaker or essential.
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 love the sturdiness and physical design of Apple's but I can't grow accustomed to OSX and don't love their prices. I've worked with reasonable Dell machines, but have had absolute nightmares with their support. I hear great things about Lenovo and have never owned one but I'm skeptical as to the durability of any plastic laptop.
13. What country do you live in?
United States.
14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
In general, in design and materials I love the aluminum of the MacBook Pro and hear good things about carbon fiber, but what's most important is that it can be hauled around readily in a backpack without sustaining too much wear or damage. Decent battery life is therefore also important, and it should have more processing power than your average browser and word processing might require. Anything beyond that is icing on the cake. I'll also note that I'm not opposed to touch screens, just not in lieu of a touchpad, and on the whole I've had much better experience with Windows 7 than Windows 8.
1. What is your budget?
Assume this is a non-issue.
2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
Preferably a 15" but also possibly 13" machine. As thin as possible, though this is not so important.
3. What screen resolution do you want?
At least 1080p but the greater the better.
4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Portability is far more important.
5. How much battery life do you need?
Likely at least 5 hrs but again, the more the better.
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)?
No.
7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Lots of computer science, software development, and simulation work. Essentially as much power as possible in the computational sense but power in terms of rendering or game graphics is not so important. Multimedia (ie Music and Video) only in smooth playback.
8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
Preferably SSD but I'm not wedded to the idea. Could live with as little as 256GB but 512GB would be more comfortable, and if HDD, 1TB would be preferable
9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
No.
10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
At least 2-3 years, 4 would be great.
11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
A simple optical drive would be a nice plus but hardly a deal breaker or essential.
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 love the sturdiness and physical design of Apple's but I can't grow accustomed to OSX and don't love their prices. I've worked with reasonable Dell machines, but have had absolute nightmares with their support. I hear great things about Lenovo and have never owned one but I'm skeptical as to the durability of any plastic laptop.
13. What country do you live in?
United States.
14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
In general, in design and materials I love the aluminum of the MacBook Pro and hear good things about carbon fiber, but what's most important is that it can be hauled around readily in a backpack without sustaining too much wear or damage. Decent battery life is therefore also important, and it should have more processing power than your average browser and word processing might require. Anything beyond that is icing on the cake. I'll also note that I'm not opposed to touch screens, just not in lieu of a touchpad, and on the whole I've had much better experience with Windows 7 than Windows 8.
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