What should i get for college?

bloodblitz0

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Feb 10, 2011
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18,510
1. What is your budget?
I was hoping to spend at most $1000 but if needed then MAYBE $1100

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
something small like 13 or 14 inches for college

3. What screen resolution do you want?
dont care

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
portable laptop for college

5. How much battery life do you need?
at least 3 hours for long lectures

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 thats what an xbox is for LOL

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
I will be majoring in engineering so it should be able to handle some processor intensive engineering programs like CAD, etc....

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
minimum 120 gigs but ideally 250

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
none

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
for 4 to 5 years because i want it to last me for my whole college stay

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
just any standard dvd rom

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.
my dad says that lenovo are great brands and so are hp and toshiba
13. What country do you live in?
US

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
I will absolutely need this laptop to last me 4 years at least for college at penn state and it will need to be able to run programs for a major in mechanical engineering but I also want it to be light and portable with a respectable battery life



Thanks in advance for your help.
 

alyoshka

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Oct 2, 2009
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Go for the Acer Timeline one with the i7 processor. It has all the requirements and even more for atleast the next 4 years. It's around 800$ and great to use, the only tough job is finding an available one.
 
How soon are you planning to get your new notebook?

If that is one of your highest priorities you probably want to look at the business class notebooks.
They're designed and engineered for tougher duty cycles than standard consumer notebooks.

A couple examples:
ThinkPad T420 14" Notebook $800
Core i5 2520M 2.50GHz CPU, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD 7200rpm 14" 1366x768 anti-glare LCD w/ HD Graphics 3000

HP EliteBook 8460p 14" Notebook $730
Core i5 2520M 2.50GHz CPU, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD 7200rpm 14" 1366x768 anti-glare LCD w/ HD Graphics 3000
 

bloodblitz0

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Feb 10, 2011
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18,510

I will be buying this laptop in the next month or 2 as i start college in the fall semester. I was also looking at ultrabooks, and they seem to be light and thin, which would definitely fit my requirements. However, I saw the specs and the processors seem a bit weak. do you think ultrabooks would fit me?
 
Ultrabooks usually have a low power dual core CPU like these options:

TOSHIBA Portege Z835 w/ Core i5 2467M 1.60GHz CPU & 128GB SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214596

HP Folio 13 w/ Core i5 2467M 1.60GHz CPU & 128GB SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834158316

That's probably at the low end of what you'd want for
"some processor intensive engineering programs like CAD, etc...."
For everything else it should be fine.

You should start seeing models with the dual core Ivy Bridge CPUs showing up shortly.
Including some Ultrabook options at slightly lower prices, like models using HDDs instead of SSDs.