Laptop vs. Desktop\n\nI have no idea whether the portability advantage of the laptop will help me out at uni, going to lectures and things, seeing as I am one to take notes with just pen & paper. On the other hand the desktop is fairly cumbersome but will allow me to have the top specs for a much cheaper price than for a laptop, including things such as SLI/physX setups. Another point is, should I wait until summer (uni starts in Fall) for the Geforce 8 series to be released? And what brand is best for price/performance ratio? Thanks!
216682
Well, I've got a desktop for gaming, and a laptop for school work, portable stuff, misc small scale assignments.\nIt really depends.\n\nI think you should invest in a desktop with the highest performance you can afford. If you can, get a 2nd hand laptop for assignments, etc.\n\nAs for the Geforce 8 series, if you have a desktop upgrading the graphic cards shouldn't be a problem.\n\n\nJenova\n(d.yuffie@gmail.com)
581456
well it depends on your need, if u r always on the move and need a computer everywhere u go then it is a must or else, if u have good access to PC, then why spend so much on a laptop.\n\nHave a good one!
391310
In my opinion, a laptop is better.  It's portable so if need be you can bring it to a friends dorm, library, outside (if you want a different eviornment to study in).  You can even do work in the car or on an airplane with a laptop.  Also, you have a lot more space in the room with a laptop.  You can unplug it if you want more desk space. My friend has a desk top and she has to do all her work that doesn't require typing on her bed because she has no desk space.
231521
Starting with your second question, a desktop will last you longer, it can be upgraded more, you can change the motherboard, processor, graphics, sound card, everything.  With a laptop your pretty much stuck with what you get, though you can add memory and upgrade the hard drive but that's about it.\n\nI'd go for the desktop for performance reasons, of course I have three desktops and two laptops.  I go for mainstream laptops and I just build my own desktops for performance.
503663
Well for gaming, the Inspiron will be bad, and the other one will be horrible, hence I guess the Dell would be the Best Buy.  If you are planning on doing gaming, you really should stick to desktops, or be prepared to invest a good amount of money into a laptop.
242235
Is that... US dollars?  Anyway, what he said is correct, you can't change the graphics card on a laptop.  New ones will have either the Radeon X1400 or X1600 Mobility, Geforce 7400 or Geforce 7600 variants in them, on the mainstream end.  But you won't find any of them for less than $1000, more likely around $1300.  I don't know if you were only willing to spend $750 on a graphics card or $750 on a laptop with dedicated graphics, whatever the case, $750 for a graphics card is unheard of (unless you are planning to buy to Geforce 7900GTXs) and $750 for a laptop is too little to get a dedicated graphics card in it.  And as I said, you can't upgrade the graphics... in any laptop with the exceptions being from Dell and Alienware but only on the XPS line and a top of the line Alienware and you have to send it back to them for the upgrade.\n\nI agree, nVidia is the way to go but at $750 you aren't going to find one with a dedicated graphics card.  It's just not possible.  HP uses the Geforce 7400 Go in two of their laptop lines, however the lowest price I could get on that was $950 and it's not a very powerful machine.  To make it a machine worth owning you'll have to spend at least $1180 on it.  http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/compare_category.do;jsessionid=EzDMWYNTvmBgFd7wxkjFuFsDEFXtwJDWoOnsCNtWvRoGsThVNriv!1231286070?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks/hp_pavilion&catLevel=1
282452
I've worked on computers for 16 years, and had lots of experience servicing many, many brands.\n\nThe absolute best two companies on the planet right now are HP and Dell.  I wouldn't even consider anything else, if I were buying for myself.\n\nBoth are excellent products, great prices, and excellent service.\n\nAnd let me guarantee you, service and support on a notebook is much more critical than on a desktop, every component is proprietary.\n\nAlso, strongly consider upgrading your warranty to include accidental damage.  Make sure you have a 3 year warranty, because when a notebook goes out of warranty, you really don't want to pay for repairs, they are more expensive.
125932
Most of what you hear is hype - the core DUO machines are really use-full in two real world scenarios - if your a gamer or your into digital production. i.e. graphic design / video editing. Would you believe you can still function quite well With a machine running with a proc speed of around 1GHZ. Most are going to argue that this is false or pretentious - but, the hardware we are led to believe as "superior" is really the market attempting to get you to spend 3K on a MAC or duo setup. That type of hardware configuration is really exceptional in needed environments like super- computing or as mentioned above. To run normal computing like e-mail, word processing, DVD burning etc. you can get fine performance from machines, from today's standards, are "inferior" - my advice - don't buy into all the hype.
535259
I think that the laptop is a better choice.  If someone is going to steal your computer it is going to happen anyway (always get student insurance that covers it and other items you own), whether you get a decent desktop or a laptop.  If you look after your laptop there is no reason why it should get dropped or damaged.\n\nAs a student you are going to have to get used to moving from one room to another, or coming home for holidays etc.  A desk top is just an extra hassle to worry about.\n\nOnce you get to college you will find that there are times when you may have to be elsewhere and still want to work.  Group projects, when your room mate is 'entertaining' her male friend in your room, if you want to work at some strange time of the day or night etc.  A laptop is simply easier for all that.\n\nContact the college and find out how their internet works.  They may be wireless, or they may need a cable.  Wireless is built in to decent laptops these days, and a cable is a pretty low cost cable.  Either way it will be pretty idiot proof, so don't worry about it.\n\nThe best advice I can give you as a student is to back up your work.  The cheapest method is to simply email assignments to yourself using a service like Yahoo! Mail.  There are also online back up services where you can upload your work to a secure web site.  Or consider buying a MyBook external hard disk.  You can just save all your work onto that with a click.  Seriously, if I had a dollar for every tear shed by a student who has lost all their work, I'd be rich!  ALWAYS MAKE  A BACK UP AFTER EVERY TWO HOURS OF WORK!  You'll thank me for that one day.\n\nI also strongly suggest a PC rather than a Mac.  Macs are way more expensive to repair and buy software for.  The only reason to get a Mac is if you are in some kind of arty major where they recommend them.  Otherwise you'll find the PC cheaper and more versatile in the long run.  You can get software cheaper and easier too.\n\nGood luck.  Hope you have fun.
524664
I know the dell gaming laptop is good it's called like the x factor or something/ or try ibuypower.com/ i just bought my gaming computer from them/ they are almost a good as alienware, but ibuypower has top of the line gaming stuff. For games you want to get at least a 256 MB video card and try to at least get a good dual core proccesor-3.0 ghz or up... but other than those companies i know/ i cant give you ten!
224522
I used to be a student and I completely understand the budget concern. Here is what I can tell you:\n\n1. Quality and support is your most highest priority because you are going to use it until your graduation (probably longer than that). So you want a laptop that you can count on, right?\n\n2. Get RAM at least 512 MB, assuming you will use Windows XP\n\n3. Processor: You can go with Celeron, but I prefer you go with Pentium 4 or Centrino (if you want to have wireless internet capability)\n\n4. Ethernet port built in (optional modem built in)\n\n5. Hard drive space min 40 GB\n\n6. If possible, get virus software to protect your computer\n\n7. Microsoft also offers different version of Office suite. I believe there is a suite targeted only for students. I think it's called Microsoft Office for students. It has Word, Excell, and some other stuff. This suite is definetely cheaper than the other versions.\n\nThat's all. Just for your starting point, try looking at Dell Inspioron B120.\n\nTips: Sometimes if you go to campus store, they might have special price for students for software and computers. It is well worth of checking, considering every penny counts...
404596
these 2 laptops are pretty much different.\n1st: 17" display, TL-52, 160GB SATA\n2nd: 15.4" display, TL-50, 120GB IDE\nconcerning the graphics cards i would also say they are about the same in speed.\nthe 1st one is worth the +200 and will perform better and it's a HP.
472744
Gateway laptops have a reputation for breaking down sooner, and generally being less durable then their HP, Dell counterparts.  \n\nIf you were getting a desktop, I would tell you go ahead and get a Gateway, because desktops are much more durable, but a laptop is completely different.\n\nIf you plan on moving the laptop around, running it on power a significant amount of time, or using it for work / business I would definitely suggest getting a different brand computer.  If you are going to use it for websurfing / messing around, by all means go for it.\n\nAs for your memory question, you can upgrade the RAM in laptops, it's just more expensive and usually you only have 2 slots to work with.  In my Dell laptop, one RAM slot was extremely easy to get to, but the other one was a pain, and I had to practically dissassemble the entire thing just to install a new RAM card, so installation ease is definitely a concern if you are unexperienced.  \n\nHope that helps!
190426
Definitely make sure you get one with a TON of RAM and a killer video card.  You'll also want to make sure that you have a super fast processor.  Maybe even one of those dual core ones they have out now.  We sometimes play WoW on the laptop via an external HD, but only because the laptop happens to be an older model, and installing it directly seems to slow the refresh rate down a bit.  Right now we've got a pretty slick setup involving RAID on SATA drives which optimizes game and PC performance.  Email me for more information.  At any rate, the external - that might be an option for you to consider as well, if money is an issue.
335441
tough one...\n\nIt is not so much the graphic cards memory size that you need to consider. One card with a memory of 128 may be a lot better than a card with a memory of 256, it is all down to the cards architecture/speed/pipelines etc.\n\nout of the above listed, they are both very similar cards, perhaps the geforce just edging it.\n\ngo to www.ebuyer.co.uk and see what cards have been commonly bought within your price range, may give you a clearer idea on what to get, read the reviews people have left on the cards too.
557133
Stay away from Laptops. \n\nIf you are serious about gamming Laptops are not the way to go.\nThey produce way to much heat and are hard to upgrade. For around $600 You can get a pre built system with a 200 GB Hard Drive. 1 gig of Ram A DVD/CD Burner An AMD 3500+ processor.\n\nBut whatch out for the ATI or Intergrated Graphics. YOu can get a nice video card for arouns $150 more if you buy one with Intergrated Graphics in it.\n\nCheck out www.newegg.com if you want to build your own or looking for a video card.
390207
Hmm... I myself have been having a dilemma in choosing a company who can make a power house for gamers like myself who enjoy playing WC3, BF 2, and the likes. One company I have been meticulously considering is AlienWare. I have been told they make some of the worlds most powerful computer, although those people may be wrong. Either way I'm still looking into AlienWare. Their computer with just about everything (i.e. additional drives with hardware at their optimum) costs 7K+; very expensive. Just check them out and see if they offer what you need.