Good Laptop for college?

[mocean]

So in 2010, I will be making my merry way off to the wonderful world of college. The thing is, I need a cheap-ish, comfortable laptop which i can use in class. I think I'll also bring my desktop PC-unless this is a bad idea? This has probably been posted way too often but I'm new to the forums, so help a fellow geek out?:p


*** one thing: I know dell makes laptops with Ubuntu preinstalled, saving me time, but I have more than one horror stories involving those satan-worshippers at dell.

[easybake]

I use my acer aspire one in class and my desktop in my dorm. It's a nice set up.

In my room I use both of them with synergy (http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/). (it lets you use the same mouse and keyboard for 2 separate computers). That way I just use the aspire one as a separate screen for IM's.

[cubeist]

I would say it depends a bit on what the primary purpose will be... for me, I knew I would be knee deep in spreadsheets, essays, and programing... so I knew I didn't need much processing, but screen real estate was important so I bought a 17" hp laptop for around 800 Cdn with a lower end processor, hd, ram, etc, and a nice big screen.
I think I made a nice choice, it served me well; although I wore out the keyboard...Literally, I essayed the computer to death!

Anyway, a bigger laptop is heavy to lug around but nice to use... but if your primary purpose is taking notes in class (and if you bring your desktop) then a new netbook, which are much lighter, might be the way to go...

Naturally you can compromise somewhere in the middle with a 15" laptop like the dell studio 15.

Lastly, linux (or ubuntu) can be installed on any hardware, but some models are much easier and less of a headache... make sure you google the model you want to buy and try to find one or more people that have had success with that model. I didn't do this and installing on my particular model was, um, very frustrating!

[mocean]

800 Cdn with a lower end processor, hd, ram, etc, and a nice big screen.
!

Is that Canadian Dollars?

[cubeist]

Is that Canadian Dollars?

yes... CDN is the official abbreviation for Canadian dollars ... Also known to many Americans as 'funny money' :)

[mocean]

Ok Thanks... yeah when I dropped OSX I realized that ubuntu would actually be better for me in college

[madjr]

I use my acer aspire one in class and my desktop in my dorm. It's a nice set up.

In my room I use both of them with synergy (http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/). (it lets you use the same mouse and keyboard for 2 separate computers). That way I just use the aspire one as a separate screen for IM's.
netbooks are cheap and nice to carry around in college

check the HP MIE or Dell's , both with ubuntu.

other ones work well too.

[ghindo]

I'm in college right now, with one of those Dells that the satan-worshippers preinstalled Ubuntu onto.

If I had to do it all over again, I think I would get a Lenovo Thinkpad. The Dell is nice, but the Thinkpads are supposed to be stupid reliable, and are pretty slick, too. Try not to get a screen size over about 14" or so, as it becomes unwieldy. 13" or 12" would probably be optimal.

[binbash]

MSI vr 201 . Cheapest and best : )

[adamlau]

ThinkPad T500. You know you want one.