What computer for graduation present?

[ozzy0208]

sony's are good but over priced imo. Dell usually has great deals. If you want to game, i recommend you build a desktop for ~$700 and buy an Eee for $300.

 

[simply_complicated47]

Gaming won't be a big priority for me but I'm thinking of bringing along my 19" Samsung monitor in case I feel the need to. I really only play Battlefield 2 so as long as the laptop can support that, that's all I need in terms of gaming.

I don't really know much about computers, but do I need to worry about like quad processors or things like that? The industry is on quad aren't they? I know duo used to be all the rage but I don't know if there's enough practical application to warrant 4 of them.

 

[confused_teen_girl]

honestly, i think most of the people would tell you to get a cheap laptop and then build your own desktop.

when i go to college im going to buy myself a nice 15inch mbp and then build myself a desktop.

 

[jasmith001]

Do you need a laptop specifically, or are you looking for small size


Im building a really nice shuttle case computer, then fabricating a mount for a screen on the side

 

[brianinotownfl]

Wheres the option for neither?

 

[CathyS]

You should wait at least a month, possibly several. The Intel 45nm penryn processors have just been released very recently. They are going to be much more common and much cheaper by mid spring. Beyond that, they claim by summer the Centrino 2 platform will be available to the consumer resulting in better integrated graphics chipsets, more efficient wireless connectivity, and they claim better battery life.

As far as a 17" notebook goes, HP for under $1500 is the way to go. You can get a nice DV9000 series with a dedicated graphics card, 3 gigs of ram, and blueray for $1350.

You will have a lot more options at the 15.4" range. Lenovo are rock solid and offer great options. Dell XPS are solid as well and offer nice features such as a slot loading DVD tray. HP as well offers great notebooks with the DV6000 line. Sony notebooks at the fifteen inch form-factor are decent though you dont want to look at the V series.

If you are looking for extremely small notebooks, 13.3". Sony, Dell XPS, and Lenovo X series are really the way to go. Sony is my personal favorite for this particular size and their Z models have amazing features for the price.

 

[adorablySTRANGE]

I just need a laptop. I have no need/want for a desktop. Nor do I know even close to enough if I wanted to build my own.

Also, I think these $1500 laptops are a bit steep. Would I really need the Penryn or the Centrino 2 or would it be something nice to have but not really necessary? And in terms of size, somewhere right in the middle, bigger than 13 but small than 19.

 

[dylante]

then get a laptop that does have a video card. Quad cores are not really available for laptops (i know alienware has those, but alienware sucks). Just get a laptop w/a centrino duo processor. Make sure it's a duo. dual cores handle applications just fine. most software isn't coded to utilize multiple cores (in effect why quad cores are not that great right now, later on they will be really good). I really recommend the 13.3" screen size because it's small and portable. With the new processors on the market the last generation cpu's have dropped a ot so you can pick up 2.0ghz dual core processors laptops for a lot cheaper than a year ago.


building a comp is like using lego's, everything fits in 1 way and 1 way only. unless you force it in

 

[canadagirl613]

They claim the Beta will be late 2010. The final release is dated for 2012-2013.

 

[jesusfreakmk]

i voted macbook. has mac in beginning=mac and cheese. my fave.

 

[SergeO]

So as long as it has the Duo processor, it'll do anything the average college student will need to do? I can't see myself needing anything in particular, some downloading stuff here and there, no need for video editing or anything like that.

 

[asadfarooq2]

Intel is already planning on implementing the technology into literally 90% of the notebook market by the end of the year. If you wait you can get the new technology with a very little price difference. To give you an idea, Sony already has a 15.4" with the T8100 chip for $1100.

They aren't that pricy.

 

[ilikethickchix]

it will out perform what you need. only recommendation is if you get a laptop w/ vista get 2gb's of ram

 

[Sophiesmama]

The only downside to that is that I need one by June/Julyish.

 

[Maribel]

As long as its Core2Duo. Stay away from Pentium D or Pentium Dual core as they may be called. Ram wise, make sure it has two gigs or ram though three is nice.

AMD don't really have much to compete with intel unless you consider the TL-64 chip which isn't utterly amazing.

 

[Davinio]

As I said before, they will have them widely available by late spring.

 

[Eloc]

So a smallish laptop with 2/3 gigs and Vista with an Intel Cor2Duo processor and I'm set? Sound sweet. Now I have to find some prices.




Forgot about that. :tup:

Thanks for all the info.

 

[ChrisP]

i looked on dell and a decent laptop at 14.4" screen was 1069. you can find some good deals on newegg

 

[PrettyBaby]

My dad doesn't like buying things off the internet (archaic I know) so it'll most likely be from Best Buy/CompUSA/Circuit City or somewhere along those lines. However, everyone in ST:T is always talking about Newegg so I know it's legit. All I need to do is reason with the caveman and see is he can change his primal ways. But when it's all said and done, he's the one with the credit card.

This one seems to have everything you described: Vista, 3 gigs, Intel Core2Duo. Or I could get 4 gigs for $50 more.

http://www.dell.com/content/product...=dhs&cs=19&~oid=us~en~29~inspnnb_1420_anav2~~

All that for $900 seems like a winner to me.

 

[lolly494]

You actually will get notebooks lower in a retail store when they go in their ad then on their website. The vendor usually looses about $50-$100 and the Company itself can loose between $50-$150.