Need a notebook for College

[preolt]

Hey TH,

The time has come for me to pick up a notebook for college. I have built a few pc's already and am confident in my self choosing components for that but the laptop market is a whole new ball game. I really dont know where to start. So i figured I would try to leave it to a few more educated and experienced people in this field.

What I need and do:
-I am a mechanical engineering major, I will not be able to have my desktop next year for CAD and would like my laptop to be able to do at least some of what I would be doing in the lab normally. I use auto CAD and solid works

-I play a few video games on the side, I would like to be able to play most things like sc2, COD, etc. and at a higher resolution. Normally I do at 1920x1080 but I dont see many smaller laptops with screen resolutions like that.

-Would like to keep it on the smaller end of things, so that means 13" range to 15" max no bigger, again with a higher resolution display.

-I dont want to break the bank, but where I stand now my parents will cover half the cost of a macbook pro 13" maxed out so around 1900 or so, but cheaper would always be better. (my dad is an avid apple fanboy sadly...)

-Slimmer the better

-BlueRay player would be nice but not a deal breaker.

Hope these are decent guide lines. I would love to research and figure it out but I jsut dont have the time and resources to do so currently. I have been told to look into the Dell XPS and Alienware computers. The Alienwares worry me because they look rather thick and might not appear too professional, but really I am more worried about performance. My friends mainly have apple but they are not doing serious crunching on theirs (rendering, video editing, photo editing, and such) I have always been told the Lenovos are good but I am unsure on that too now, things change so much. Toshiba used to be known as one of the higher end manufactures, now it seems they have alot of cheap crap. IDK may be I am just naive.

Thats why I am here. So thank you for your help in advance, sincerely Preolt

 

[WR2]

Another MSI GT683R-242US, looks to be same configuration as NewEgg for $50 less. $65 less if you figure in the free shipping.
About 7.71lbs with the included 9 cell battery.

You want a 'desktop replacement' type notebook but you want it with size and weight of an ultra portable notebook.

 

[WR2]

When does the envy 14 get re-released? Also does any one know any other options?

Give HP a call and ask. You might find out.
In a lot of respects it's over due.

Same for the Sony Z. Also over due a refresh. You'd think the 'flagship' models would get the early makeovers but for some reason it doesn't seem to be the case for the Envy 14 and Sony Z.

 

[preolt]

Well I called HP and the rep had no idea what he was talking about. Told me he didnt even know about a refresh and that there wouldnt be, which is nonsense since their whole line minus the minis has had a refresh, even the 17".

I will give Sony a call, things are probably slower because of the Japan business, hopefully they re trying to double time it to make up for lost profit.

So are these the two I should focus on ?

 

[WR2]

Without HP or Sony getting an update my vote would be for the Thinkpad X220.

You might try e-mailing HP and Sony. There's a chance someone will ask around a bit and find a real answer if they're not put on the spot for an immediate answer.

 

[preolt]

I like the looks of the x220 but my older brother who works for boston scientific hates them, realy just IBM in general. Told me to stear clear of them. I dont know how much of that is just biased or true, I just want to keep it in the right place of my mind so I dont not pick because of it. Wow that barely makes sense after reading...

Any way I will try the email route and see what happens. I dont need the laptop right now, just in the next month or so would be nice

 

[WR2]

Most everyone else would tell you the opposite.

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Sony VAIO Z was also an Editor's choice.

 

[preolt]

^ haha yes, like I said they are well rated. I like that they are not extremely flashy like some of the msi models or dell models. The only drawback the is tangeable for me is the lack of a higher end graphics card and maybe slightly higher res screen, though higher res means you need a better graphics card.

I think I will wait a month or so now see what happens and then make my decision. Thank you for all of your help and speedy responses.

Should I leave this thread open for more discussion or if I come back with more questions? Or just best answer it and let them close it?

 

[WR2]

I think it's useful to the other forum readers not to have to wade though a bunch of older posts.
I'd vote for a new topic when you're ready to take the plunge and you've had a bit more time to look over reviews, etc.

 

[preolt]

Alright thanks for all of your help, its really cool to see people so dedicated to helping others.

 

[preolt]

Best answer selected by preolt.