Could anyone give me an opinion on these laptops?

[Yes]

I'll be in college next year so I'd like to get a laptop, but I've got a few questions -

15" or 17"? I'd like having the larger screen resolution with a 17", and they also seem to have better specs for the same price as a 15" laptop. The only downside is some people think they're a little unwieldy. Can anyone weigh in on that?

Are there any brands I should really be avoiding? I've found two good looking 17" laptops, one is a Gateway and one is an Acer, and then I've found a few good Lenovo and Asus 15" laptops. I know Lenovo Thinkpads are supposed to be outstanding, but they're much more expensive and lack the graphics capability I'd really like (ideally I'd like to be able to play Modern Warfare 2). Would a Gateway, Acer, or Asus really be that much worse?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

[Frogs Hair]

You could post links to the laptops your interested in .

[NightwishFan]

My laptop is an ASUS and I am quite pleased with it. The hardware has all open source drivers. My particular model would be a bit underpowered for your specs though.

I have a 15inch screen, it is great and still has good battery life. Make sure you take battery into consideration.

[Yes]

Yeah, here are the 15" laptops I'm looking at - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146613, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220725, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146719, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220724, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220732. And the 17" laptops - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115763, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834101222. So I haven't really narrowed it down much...

I'm fairly certain they all have a similar battery life of ~3 hours regular use. Battery life isn't too big of a deal, most of my classes and the library will have outlets available.

[Legendary_Bibo]

Don't get a 17 inch laptop if you're going to be carrying it to classes, it really adds a lot of weigtht. Get a netbook. I have a 17 inch laptop and taking it to classes to take notes is not fun.

[kspncr]

I would definitely go with this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146613

Great specs for the price.

[formaldehyde_spoon]

I'll be in college next year so I'd like to get a laptop, but I've got a few questions -

15'' or 17''? I'd like having the larger screen resolution with a 17'', and they also seem to have better specs for the same price as a 15'' laptop. The only downside is some people think they're a little unwieldy. Can anyone weigh in on that?

Are there any brands I should really be avoiding? I've found two good looking 17'' laptops, one is a Gateway and one is an Acer, and then I've found a few good Lenovo and Asus 15'' laptops. I know Lenovo Thinkpads are supposed to be outstanding, but they're much more expensive and lack the graphics capability I'd really like (ideally I'd like to be able to play Modern Warfare 2). Would a Gateway, Acer, or Asus really be that much worse?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

Speaking from the point of view of a laptop owner currently attending university, IMHO you will very quickly tire of carrying even a 15'' to class.

I own an 11.6'' laptop and haven't taken it to class since the first week, it's just too unwieldy and heavy.

I recommend a desktop at home, and a netbook (with a massive battery life) for class.

[kaldor]

Speaking from the point of view of a laptop owner currently attending university, IMHO you will very quickly tire of carrying even a 15'' to class.

I own an 11.6'' laptop and haven't taken it to class since the first week, it's just too unwieldy and heavy.

I recommend a desktop at home, and a netbook (with a massive battery life) for class.

Carrying this 13 inch to class is also horrible. I concur with the netbook thing, unless you plan to use the laptop for gaming in any way.

A friend of mine has a 17 inch Toshiba... it's just gross. Very clunky and heavy and overheats too much. You'd hate carrying it with you, trust me on that. I hate the 13 inch enough.

[98cwitr]

I would go with the 15" if you're gonna carry it to class

Acer == Gateway

Lenovo Thinkpads are by far the best non-Mac laptop on the market.

If you're looking to stay on a budget and still get a good laptop, I'd recommend HP.

COD-MW2 on a laptop...you must be joking...:p

[samalex]

I can't speak highly enough about System76. Despite what some say their costs are pretty much in line if not cheaper than other mainstream manufacturers, plus Linux works outta the box which is nice. I bought a Pangolin laptop last summer (Model PanP5) and it's been a great system! Plus the latest model (PanP7) is more than powerful enough to do what you're wanting.

http://www.system76.com/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=100

Also you can't beat the support and Ubuntu Forums hosts their support group (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=341) so you can mingle and chat with other System76 owners or folks from System76 if problems or questions come-up.

Sam

[Shakz]

I have a netbook so I always catch myself wishing I would have got a 17in laptop rather than a 15 as I rarely move the laptop. If you dont have a netbook for running around with then you might want to consider the smaller screen for portability.

[kleskjr]

i would also recommend you to get a System76 laptop.

also there is a new serie of lenovo thinkpads - ThinkPad L
it is not that expensive as T.

[TheNessus]

I'll be in college next year so I'd like to get a laptop, but I've got a few questions -

15" or 17"?

lol, 17" to carry to class? it weighs like 4 to 5 kg... good luck with that:P

Best to carry a small 10" or 11" (max 12") that weigh max 1.4kg to class and have a stationary comp at home as well. best combination.

my 15" is a pain to carry to class. will do as above for next year.

[samalex]

lol, 17" to carry to class? it weighs like 4gk... good luck with that:P

Best to carry a small 10" or 11" (max 12") to class and have a stationary comp at home as well.

Honestly I bought a 12" iBook years ago for school, and it was nice, but after moving up to a 17" laptop last year I'm honestly more happy with the larger, wider screen. Reason being I can open OpenOffice to type notes while having more than enough screen for the browser window to look-up other material during lecture. It's hard to have more than one app open and in view (and readable) on a netbook or 12" or less screen.

It would just suck for those classrooms with the smaller, swivel desks that only are large enough for a sheet of paper, but I think more classes are making larger desks or tables to accommodate laptop users. Or at least they are in my school.

Just be sure and not sacrifice battery life for the larger screen. So many laptops with larger screens have crappy battery life. My System76 laptop has a 17" screen that's awesome, but I'm good to get 90 minutes on a single charge which isn't ideal for a 3-4 hour class when I'm in the middle of the room with no options for power.

Sam

[TheNessus]

Honestly I bought a 12" iBook years ago for school, and it was nice, but after moving up to a 17" laptop last year I'm honestly more happy with the larger, wider screen. Reason being I can open OpenOffice to type notes while having more than enough screen for the browser window to look-up other material during lecture. It's hard to have more than one app open and in view (and readable) on a netbook or 12" or less screen.

It would just suck for those classrooms with the smaller, swivel desks that only are large enough for a sheet of paper, but I think more classes are making larger desks or tables to accommodate laptop users. Or at least they are in my school.

Just be sure and not sacrifice battery life for the larger screen. So many laptops with larger screens have crappy battery life. My System76 laptop has a 17" screen that's awesome, but I'm good to get 90 minutes on a single charge which isn't ideal for a 3-4 hour class when I'm in the middle of the room with no options for power.

Sam

Eek, cannot imagine a 17" in class. As for your point, about multitasking applications in the same view - I don't see a point to that in a classroom. If you want to browse while taking notes, you can have a lappy and a notebook (i.e. real paper), or a pad. Alternately, I use Workspaces when I want to brows while taking notes. It's just a press of a button and I'm on another workspace with a browser open and other progs like an IM app. What? teacher said something important? a press of a button and the word processor is on right where I left it. No need to multiple tasks on the same workspace since getting involved with minimized, maximized, windows with similar names is too confusing in the time constraints of a classroom.

Anyway, either way, a 17" is physically damaging, it will introduce back pains etc.

[samalex]

Eek, cannot imagine a 17" in class. As for your point, about multitasking applications in the same view - I don't see a point to that in a classroom. If you want to browse while taking notes, you can have a lappy and a notebook (i.e. real paper), or a pad. Alternately, I use Workspaces when I want to brows while taking notes. It's just a press of a button and I'm on another workspace with a browser open and other progs like an IM app. What? teacher said something important? a press of a button and the word processor is on right where I left it. No need to multiple tasks on the same workspace since getting involved with minimized, maximized, windows with similar names is too confusing in the time constraints of a classroom.

Anyway, either way, a 17" is physically damaging, it will introduce back pains etc.

I do use Workspaces and find it in valuable, but sometimes it's good to have lots of stuff on the screen at once. For example last year while taking Geology, as the instructor was lecturing about various geological spots I had Google Earth open and was able to zoom in and check it out first hand, plus Wikipedia and the USGS websites were great for augmenting the material in the lecture. The instructor wasn't very tech-savvy, and he was about blown away with the amount of info I could pull-up so quickly during lecture. He would often bounce questions my way for some 'facts' he didn't remember off hand.

As for taking notes, unfortunately I'm one of those people who's used computers for SO long my handwriting isn't the best. I type faster than I write, and my handwritten notes end up in the computer eventually anyway.

I think this is one of those 'to each his own' things since each person's learning environment is different, plus it depends on the class and instructor.

Sam

[Yes]

Lol I carry a 25 pound drum around the field for hours at a time, carrying a laptop to class each day won't be an issue.

The problem with System76 is that they only offer Linux, and I'll need Windows. After I bought Windows a 15" System76 laptop would be significantly more expensive than anything else I'm looking at, and wouldn't have the kind of graphics power I'm looking for. It gives me faith though that there are 15" laptops with large displays, so I shall continue to look for them. I agree, I would definitely prefer a 15" to a 17".

e: What do you all think about this one - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834127087. It's only 15" but has a 1920x1080 resolution, the graphics would suit what I want and the rest of it seems pretty solid. Any objections? I'll look for some battery life numbers now.

[libssd]

I'll be in college next year so I'd like to get a laptop, but I've got a few questions -

15" or 17"? I'd like having the larger screen resolution with a 17", and they also seem to have better specs for the same price as a 15" laptop. The only downside is some people think they're a little unwieldy. Can anyone weigh in on that?

Are there any brands I should really be avoiding? I've found two good looking 17" laptops, one is a Gateway and one is an Acer, and then I've found a few good Lenovo and Asus 15" laptops. I know Lenovo Thinkpads are supposed to be outstanding, but they're much more expensive and lack the graphics capability I'd really like (ideally I'd like to be able to play Modern Warfare 2). Would a Gateway, Acer, or Asus really be that much worse?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!
Other than playing Modern Warfare 2, you don't mention what you want to do with a portable. Here's my take: buy a $300 netbook for classroom use, and install Ubuntu on it. Also buy a <$500 desktop for use in your dorm room. For $800, you have all bases covered, without wearing yourself out dragging a boat anchor around. My wife has a 12" iMac, and in comparison, my Acer D150 feels like a feather, and runs longer.

As to which brands, go to a computer store, and play with them, then go with the one(s) that feel best to you; keyboards and trackpads vary a lot with portables, and are critical. Lots of choices available at $300 for 1gb RAM, Atom processor, and 160gb HDD. Ubuntu runs very nicely on this platform.

[Excedio]

I don't get why carrying a larger screen laptop has to be so bad. It doesn't bother me at all. I just use one of these...

http://www.4luggage.com/resized/s300/content/ogio/metro-laptop-backpack-711105.jpg

[Yes]

So I've discovered that I get a nice discount on certain laptops through my college. I configured a Dell Studio 15 (15") to have a good graphics card, 1920x1080 resolution, 4 GB RAM and a 2.13 GHz i3 for ~$880. It's rated very well by Consumer Reports and has about 4.5 hours of battery life. So far that's my favorite, but this weekend I'll go to the store and see what I think of its keyboard and the keyboards on some netbooks to see if maybe I'll get one of them with a desktop.

Thanks everyone!

[KoRnholio]

Lol I carry a 25 pound drum around the field for hours at a time, carrying a laptop to class each day won't be an issue.


Its not that its heavy, but really unwieldy on a desk. My 15.4 inch was bad enough for this reason. Battery life is also an issue if you're on the go. Screen size is a large contributor to battery life,

[Yes]

Agh I'm so indecisive.

Everyone with the 1366x768 resolution in a 15" laptop, are you satisfied with it? Do you find yourself wishing you had a 1900x1080 resolution? And for the people with that resolution, do you find yourself squinting all the time? Or do you love the extra screen space?

I went to Best Buy today to check out the laptops, it just made more lost. The keyboard and trackpad were just alright on the Dell Studio 15. There was an HP with a really, really fantastic keyboard but really crappy trackpad and a few Sonys with really nice keyboards and trackpads.

So I don't know, the problem with the Sonys is there aren't any with a 1900x1080 resolution, so I'd have to settle with the smaller 768p. But that would end up making it only $750, which would also be really nice...

[mihai.ile]

I made my biggest mistake when I got my 15" Acer.
My second laptop (2 and half years after) was an 13" Dell m1330 which is perfect.
I would never buy a laptop larger than 13" again. I have it connected to my 22" LCD at home so no problem in being small.

[formaldehyde_spoon]

Lol I carry a 25 pound drum around the field for hours at a time, carrying a laptop to class each day won't be an issue.

...

It's not a matter of strength, it's convenience. You'll find out for yourself ;)

[CharlesA]

I hit a wall when I decided to pick up a laptop. Tried the 15.6" screen and it was decent, but the damn thing just took up too much desk space and wouldn't work with the laptop bag I already had.

One of my coworkers has a 17.3" HP laptop that she takes to/from work every day. That would be too unweildy for me to deal with, which is why I ended up sticking with a 10" netbook (I can hook up an external monitor without any problem)

Keep that in mind. :)

[Yes]

Well I found a perfect 14" Sony Viao, the only problem is it's out of stock at Best Buy and that's the only place that carries the configuration I'd like.

[McRat]

Good luck with that. I have a Sony VAIO with less than 40 hours on it sitting on the shelf busted. It didn't even run stable that 40 hours. They want $800 to fix the broken screen, and I was very gentle with it. It cost $1000 to begin with, and it's a 15".

Had a similiar problem with an Acer I bought for my daughter. Constant trouble, flimsy, unstable.

Dell is very good. HP is OK but loaded with crapware you must remove.

This is an unpopular opinion here, but the 13" MacBook Pro is very transportable. It's aluminum armored, holds enough charge for a whole day, the CD drive is protected, it's light yet sturdy. Best of the best.

But it costs twice as much as the plastic ones.

[geet89]

try the samsug n150 netbook, its cheao and suitable for taking to a class