Solved! What laptop should I get?

[nibuoy]

I'm buying a laptop for high school next year and need help choosing one

1_What is your budget?

up to 1000-2000

2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
13-16"

3_What screen resolution do you want?

preferably more than 1366 x 768, 1600 x 900 is optimal

4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? Both. It will be replacing my desktop, but want the portability.

5_How much battery life do you need?

at least 4 hours

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)?

Almost none. If so, then medium.

7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)

school work, movie watching, maybe some photo editing and video editing.

8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?

Anything more than 120 gigs (I will have an external hard drive at home)

9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post the links to them.

From the websites of the company, or amazon

10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?

4 years

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

DVD ROM/Writer, Bluray reader is a plus, but not necessary

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.

Don't like toshiba. Lenovo, dell, apple, sony are fine.

13_What country do you live in?

USA

14_Please tell us any additional information if needed.

I really like stylish computers. It would be great if i could find one in the thin and light category.

I'm thinking about the Sony Vaio Z series. What do you think?

 

[nibuoy]

Bump

 

[nibuoy]

bump

 

[lotri]

Regarding Question 4, a Desktop Replacement is assumed to be a heavy laptop that you won't be hauling around very often. A portable laptop is something thin and light with 10+ hours of battery life.

I don't have any personal experience with Sony laptops but I hear they're a bit expensive.

I really like Dell (3-for-3 thus far) so I'd recommend the Studio 15. I think it should be able to handle 4 hours of battery life, and it's got pretty decent resolution as well.

 

[nibuoy]

Regarding Question 4, a Desktop Replacement is assumed to be a heavy laptop that you won't be hauling around very often. A portable laptop is something thin and light with 10+ hours of battery life.

I don't have any personal experience with Sony laptops but I hear they're a bit expensive.

I really like Dell (3-for-3 thus far) so I'd recommend the Studio 15. I think it should be able to handle 4 hours of battery life, and it's got pretty decent resolution as well.

Although I will use it instead of a desktop, the most intense applications will be photo editing and minor games like Civ 4.

It doesn't need have monstrous performance, although the Sony vaio z still does. I'm also thinking about the Dell studio xps 16, its not as portable as the sony, but still nice.

 

[lotri]

Yeah, I think my next laptop purchase will be whatever the current version of the XPS 16 is. I really like the look, and hopefully the RGB display will be cheaper by the time I opt for one. =)

Plus, 16" is just about the top-end of "portability". My 17" Inspiron 9300 (OLD SCHOOL) weighs about... 7 pounds. It's weird because it feels like a ton on my back, but it's under 10 with the battery.

 

[nibuoy]

If you were in my position would you get the dell studio xps 16 or the sony vaio z or when it gets updated, the macbook pro

 

[Tunafish]

The Dell Studio 16 looks good, but does not offer the advanced features of the Macbook Pro. When the Macbook Pro gets updated, it'll own the Dell. The VAIO Z, however, is the best laptop I have ever seen. And I've seen a lot.

 

[lotri]

The Vaio Z looks really really amazing. It's prettier than the Dell. The only beef I have with the Z is the low resolution and small screen. However, it's more portable than the XPS 16 and about half the weight.

So, if you want higher resolution, go for the XPS 16. If you want something that looks really amazing, get the Vaio Z. =)

 

[Tunafish]

The Vaio Z looks really really amazing. It's prettier than the Dell. The only beef I have with the Z is the low resolution and small screen. However, it's more portable than the XPS 16 and about half the weight.

So, if you want higher resolution, go for the XPS 16. If you want something that looks really amazing, get the Vaio Z. =)

A if you want both, get a Macbook Pro 15 inch (update expected this Spring).

 

[nibuoy]

Is there any reason at all to get the macbook prop over the sony z

 

[Tunafish]

Sure. It's thinner (but not lighter) it has a longer battery life, a very ergonomic multitouch trackpad. But, the VAIO Z can include a great Geforce 330m graphics card. Which is impossible so far on a Mac.

I also prefer the uber-refined and beautiful Mac OS X to the kind of refined and uber-beautiful (more than Vista, at least) Windows 7, but that'S just me and I am assuming you would like Windows because of it's variety of software (although most of them are crap and most Mac software is great.)

Remember there's no point of having a high resolution on a 13.1 inch screen. If you have an external monitor that supports full HD, then you can enjoy full screen real estate.

 

[lotri]

Something else about the Macbook Pro. If you choose to run Windows instead of OS X, you can't take advantage of both graphics cards.

 

[nibuoy]

If I get the sony, I might just install osx on it anyways.
I love it so much

 

[Tunafish]

If that's the case, why not buy a laptop that takes full advantage of OS X, i. e. a Macbook Pro?

 

[nibuoy]

Because
1) The specs are much better on the vaio z
2) I like to be able to replace my battery
3) I want to be able to upgrade the components

 

[lotri]

Then go for the Sony. =P

 

[Tunafish]

The Sony is a good choice, I admit that. But I recommend waiting for the new Macbook Pro updates. If you can't wait.

 

[Tunafish]

*If you can't wait get the Sony Z, but you will miss out on the´long battery life, thinness, multitouch trackpad, OS X integration and iLife on a Mac. The next Macbook Pro line-up is bound to have iX processors.

 

[nibuoy]

I know it's been a while on this thread, but i decided to start it up again because the new macbook pro update just came out.

Now would you suggest the high end 15 macbook pro or the sony vaio z