Solved! Please help me pick a laptop for College Student

[pattilohr]

I'm planning to purchase a laptop for my daughter for college. I don't know what's best or how to compare "such & such or better" that her schools website recommends. I also don't know if a mac or windows laptop is better ... I want to spend $1000-ish +/- ... Here are the minimum requirements for her school:

Recommended Macintosh Laptop

Models: MacBook or MacBook Pro
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 or higher
Processor: 2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo 2 or higher
Memory: 2 GB memory (RAM) or higher
Optional: 4 GB memory (RAM) for virtualized Operating Systems (i.e. Windows)
Hard Drive: 120 GB hard drive
Optical Drive: SuperDrive 8x
Built-in Ethernet for on campus connections.
Wireless G/N (802.11 G/N) for on campus wireless access
13” screen or larger

Recommended Windows Laptop

Processor: AMD Turion Dual Core or Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 2.2 GHz or higher
Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7
Memory: 3 GB RAM
Hard Drive: 160 GB SATA Hard Drive
Optical Drive: 16x max. DVD +/-R/RW
Built in Ethernet for on campus connections.
Wireless G or N (802.11 G/N) for on campus wireless access
15.4” Screen or larger

Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you!

 

[WR2]

The $90 ADP/LoJack option from Costco (through HP) is a relative bargain. It's $170 on the HP website. As far as I can tell in a quick look at the details the LoJack option offers to help you locate a stolen laptop BUT does not include any payment or replacement in the event it's not found.
With the 2nd year warranty extension and the included MS Office suite the Costco dm4x is looking pretty good.

If you went with the NSSI ADP/Theft insurance you'd pay $110 for 2 years with a $100 deductible. But you'd get true theft insurance in this case.
It's tempting to want to add the insurance for the more expensive laptops. But I'm guessing most students skip the ADP type insurance.

Did you have a link for that $550 Toshiba laptop? i3-330M/4GB/500GB is the right way to mention the basic specifications but I'm thinking it might be an older model since it's listing the 330M and not one of higher models of i3 CPU like the i3 380M.

 

[bbzoe]

Check out http/www.microsoft.com/student/en/us/office/default.aspx for office. It might be cheaper to buy there instead of having it added on.

 

[pattilohr]

Great idea, thanks!

 

[pattilohr]

My mistake, it is the 380M, not the 330M (boy that all gets so confusing!). Still haven't bought a machine yet. Better this week though for Graduation on the 17th

 

[burnley14]

I just picked up a Vostro 3350 from Dell and absolutely love it. You can get it with an 8-cell battery that provides a battery life of 7-8 hours while doing work (Wi-Fi on, typing, browsing, etc.). It also comes with the Core i5 2410m, which has been more than enough power for me. There are some other features such as backlit keyboard, fingerprint reader, etc. that your daughter will probably appreciate, and the laptop can be had for about $700 (less if you choose a smaller battery and i3 processor). The rest of the money in your budget can buy Office and an extended warranty, if you'd like.

Link: http/www.dell.com/us/business/p/vostro-3350/fs?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&~ck=mn

 

[pattilohr]

I think I've finally narrowed it down then I see another good reply!

Here are the two I'm debating.....

MacBook Refurbished from Apple for $849 - I had really decided against Apple until the daughter mentioned how great they are a couple of days ago (garageband)...only the refurb is in my (recently dropped since I realized much is avail for $700-$800) price range though.

http://store.apple.com/us-hed/product/FC516LL/A?mco=MTg0NzA2NDA

or

Sony Vaio for $699 (in "poser" white - haha

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-VPC-EA44FX-WI-14-Inch-Laptop/dp/tech-data/B004HU0KLI/ref=de_a_smtd

Planning to decide & purchase in the next day or two....any last input appreciated....and I can't tell you how much help all of the replies have been, I really, really, REALLY appreciate all of the help!!!!

 

[pattilohr]

Not sure why the links didn't post right.....should be:

Apple: http/store.apple.com/us-hed/product/FC516LL/A?mco=MTg0NzA2NDA

Sony: http/www.amazon.com/Sony-VPC-EA44FX-WI-14-Inch-Laptop/dp/tech-data/B004HU0KLI/ref=de_a_smtd

 

[pattilohr]

Also should mention that the Vaio processor is the i3 380M....I called Amazon to verify...

 

[pattilohr]

AND, the reason I didn't get the great HP deal from Costco is because by the time I finally decided I should get it, it was sold out ....that's why now that I've made another (almost) decision, I'm purchasing in the next day or two max!

Thanks again for all of the input. Everyone's advice has been fantastic

 

[T-Man]

Just to be sure you are aware...

Most universities offer MS Office at deep discounts to their students. You should be able to purchase MS Office directly from her new school for about $50.

Good luck!

 

[pattilohr]

Wow, great advice! So, I'm sure I'm the most annoying person seen on here in a while as I took FOREVER to make a decison....I finally purchase today though, yay!

I ended up finding on the Apple website a Refurbished MacBook Pro for $899 ($300 less than a new one) plus at checkout I got a random, additional $45 discount plus free shipping so, $845 plus tax. Has a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB Memory, 250 GB Hard Disck Drive, 10.6 Snow Leopard OS, iLife '11 Suite (w/the Garage Band that my daughter was wanting).

I was really adamant about not getting the Mac because of how much more expensive they are but they really are "the thing" for the younger crowd & the price was very do-able (since I missed the sweet HP deal @ costco, aarrrghh).

Thanks again for the fantastic help!!!!!

 

[Avro Arrow]

Honestly, pretty much anything for your daughter is going to be overkill. I'm double-majoring in Political Science and Liberal Arts at university and I use a laptop that everyone here would say isn't strong enough and it works perfectly for me. My specs are as follows:

AMD Athlon 64 2650e 1.6GHz Single-Core
2GB DDR2-667 RAM
160GB 5400RPM HD
ATi Radeon X1200 Graphics
15.4" 1200x800 screen
DVD-RW Drive

Seriously, just what kind of performance do you need to run a word processor or any office application? I was using a Pentium-III and it also worked perfectly but it was so old (2001) that it was literally falling apart (structurally). I don't think that a refurbished macbook is even close to being a good idea because the warranty is substandard and the cost to repair a macbook is astronomical. I just hope that your daughter lucks out.