Masad93 :
Help, am gonna start studying architecture in 2 months, and I'm in need for a new laptop, but I only have a budget of 1200-1300$
what do you recommend ?
Hi Masad93, with US$1200 you should be able to get a
killer laptop. Even for about a grand, you can get a really decent one. As WR2 said, the Dell Inspiron 15 is a good, well-rounded machine -- I have what I believe is its predecessor, the Dell Studio 15 (model 1558).
Since a lot of people have asked me this kind of question ("which laptop should I buy?"), I wrote a blog post the other day summarizing some of the options, based on my experience. (I'm also a software guy and a pretty hard-core, though practical, techie.) See "
How to buy a good laptop" at http
/computingkeith.com/2011/08/08/how-to-buy-a-good-laptop/.
For architecture, you're probably not going to be CPU-bound (meaning waiting on your processor) unless you're planning to do a lot of 3D modelling. So you could think about skipping the Core i5 and getting a Core i3: more or less, you're only basically losing "turbo mode", which takes it up over 3 GHz as needed. (The mobile Core i5 is a dual-core processor, like the i3, *not* a true quad-core processor like the desktop Core i5 or above.) But this also burns the battery faster, so unless you really need the extra speed, you might put the extra $$$ into something that will make a difference every day... like an
SSD. (I posted on how awesome SSDs are:
SSDs: Are you experienced?) And for most laptops, a Core i7 is sheer overkill.
For my money -- excuse me,
your money -- I would pick the following features, in this order: a Core i3 (2nd gen of course), any screen upgrades (e.g. higher res or brighter, $100 to $150), an SSD (~$250; 128 GB is enough), and an extended battery (since battery like is important to you).
Good luck, hope this is helpful. Keith