Which is the best laptop to buy for a college student and why?
830393
Honestly laptops have all come a long way so I'd find the best deal on price and worry about brand second, as long as it's a recognized name
1003509
From my experience, I feel that Dell laptops are excellent in dependability and style. Toshiba is also close behind, though I really dislike the Thinkpads due to design, lack of service, and the overall layout. Gateway does not offer great laptops as it has combined with eMachines... so yea, its out of the running.\n\nI would suggest avoiding Tablet PCs mainly for the fact that they are just out a little bit ago. Might want to give Microsoft a little time to sort out their bugs. I bought one from Bestbuy two monthes ago and returned it two weeks ago because I felt it was rather useless, there is not much you can do with the tablet that cant be done with a mouse. Plus the idea of touching a screen so many times and having to clean it later on does not appeal to me. If you need to draw notes, I would stay with photoshop or paint, as working with a tablet pc is not as easy as you think, and no, the fold-up processes is not as easy as it looks in those comercials. As well, these tablet pcs usually end up costing a good 500 dollars more than one of the same performance without it. \n\nThe bottom line for your usage in my opinion would be the Dell Inspiron Notebook 9400 (after you customize it, its probably going to end up around $1500-$1600 US). It is not that high tech, though that is not needed unless you intend to really crank up gaming, plus it will save you a couple hundred bucks. As well, it comes with a nice silver design and 17" screen, and everything you basically need for university. You can read more about it at the site I listed below.
1152620
Since you are a collage guy so i am guessing that you will use it to connect to the net to do some research, so your should have a computer having the following (I have listed these according to your specified price. You may get all these features and even more under 40K, but according to me these are of utmost important to a college guy.)\n\n1) At least 2 USB drives (To use your USB peripherals like thumb   Drive or mouse)\n\n2) Ethernet and internet ports (To connect via. Lan or dial -Up)\n\n3) Wireless connectivity (For internet on the go)\n\n4) Card Reader (To read your Mobile or PDA's memory card)\n\n5) CD-RW/DVD Drive or DVD writer (To burn Cd's/DVD's)\n\n6) 40 - 60 GB HDD and 256 MB of Ram\n\n7) Good battery back up (At least 4 - 4.5 hours)\n\nNow according to the above list your best bet is a \nCompaq Presario V2623TS(EX029PA)\n\nIt has got everything i listed above and much more. It cost Rs. 37000 approx. and weighs around 2.5 Kg but the weight shouldnt matter considering you are a student and you wont carry it that much.(you can also try the lenovo thinkpad C series but the features dont seem much appealing)\n\nWELL NOW THE CHOICE IS YOURS AND YOURS ALONE\n\nPS: You must consider carrying a USB Thumb drive having a capacity of atleast 1GB so that you can have a backup of all your files because you never know when a Machine will Bug you out.
946450
Personally, i have always like my dell and am favored toward that brand.  Mine has lasted 4 years or so, is still fast and up to date.  If you take care of it with anti-virus software and anti-spyware tools, it will last a long time.\n\nIt looks as if they are pretty close, but with the 120GB HD, I would go with the dell.  Students tend to fill up that HD pretty fast.  \n\nAlso, please use a coupon, you can always save a couple hundred dollars on a good laptop.  Dell has a coupon available until the 9th, but they do have a good turnover and publish coupons every week.  Here is the coupon and details:  http://www.24houredeals.com/dell-coupons-23-mer.html
450363
Speed is overrated, as you can't type faster than a Pentium 90 MHz CPU, unless you want to play game.  Same thing about memory unless you games are important.  256MB is plenty for most typical needs.  Your connection speed is more important. Lots of people like the Macs, but the market is far larger for Windows based PCs.  All the new ones have wifi and most have DVD-CDRW.  IBM and Toshiba are the best PC based laptops.  Now size is major.  Laptops weight between 4 to 10 pounds.  All the major manufacturers have products in that price range.  I like the latest from IBM the model T60.  However, they are expensive.
523058
The specs are great. Make sure you shop around for the best deal first try PC World and http://www.dabs.com but you can't get a laptop of much better quality than that.\n\nHope this Helps!
1168001
DELL & HP is always a good brand to select and make sure it has microsoft on it! If you need to have a look at some reviews on various laptops go to http://www.cnet.com/\n\nalthough, Lenovo 3000 N100 (Core Duo 2GHz, 512MB RAM, 100GB HDD) is a great laptop at a middle of the range price ($1364) and delivers excellent preformance! \n\nHowever if you are looking at a more cheaper laptop then the Lenovo 3000 N100 (Core Duo 1.66GHz, 512MB RAM, 80GB HDD, DVD Writer) is what you need at a cheap price of anywhere from $800 to $1000. This laptop may be cheap but its preformance still packs a puch and would be perfect for someone just starting University or a Small Business owner!\n\nGOODLUCK WITH UNIVERSITY AND BUYING A NEW LAPTOP, I HOPE THIS INFORMATION WAS USEFUL FOR YOU :):):) AGAIN GOODLUCK!
485591
well first of all good luck in college.\nIt is recommended that you should get a lower line laptop because they are often easier to handle than the real hi level of laptops.\nsecond reason it is wise to use a simpler laptop because most laptops are the same.\nget a good processor and good amount of memory on the laptop\nas well as a 40-60 giga hard disk and that is fine for school. at home do the same for the desktop and you are set for moving files from one another. The desktop should be used for the heavier work do not put the laptop to hard work it will probably run out of gas. \nThe heavy work should be done on the desktop when she comes home.Get a big hard disk and a good processor as well as a good size memory and you are all set good luck
865715
I have 3 laptops, a Toshiba, an HP, and a Dell.  I have to say the Toshiba is by far my favourite.  Dell has the most options, but their prices aren't the best, and their laptops are consistently heavier and run hotter.  The hp's are OK, although their battery life tends to be weak.  My Toshiba is just an awesome little machine - great screen, good battery life, good performance, low price.\n\nI'd suggest looking for one of the new Sattilite models with the Intel core duo processors.
260536
First, it depends on what tye of game you wish to play. If you planning on playing games that are featured on yahoo.com, or pogo.com something like that, any laptop will work. I would not use a laptop to play any graphic heavy game (possibly the alienware). If i were buying a computerr for a freshman in college, I would get a HP pavillion. They are very reliable and offer good tech support. I am a college student but I use a Mac, and they are not cheap. I had an HP laptop, and loved it.
1124217
I agree Toshiba and Sone and HP are great.  Be very careful if you buy online to not buy from the huge warehouses like TigerDirect.  They buy up all the old stuff, sell it cheap and don't offer good customer service or parts.\nLaptops are expensive and not easy to upgrade.  So unless mobility is your motive don't get one.  Save ur money and invest in a nice flat screen and box.
424243
I think you consider all aspects of purchasing a particular laptop. Whether or not the specifications are good or bad will be determined by what you'll be doing with it. If you're just going to be watching a couple movies and doing word processing and checking email and answering questions on Yahoo! Answers, almost any laptop will do.\n\nIf that's the case, you should consider other aspects like customer support and maintenance if you are unfamiliar with these issues. Fujitsu is a well-known reliable brand, but I'm unfamiliar with the kind of technical support that they offer. IBM's are rugged and will last you a "lifetime" so if you're one of those that individuals that doesn't take care of your possessions very careful, it might be the better choice.
686591
you dont NEED a laptop for college. If someone breaks into your dorm room that will be the first thing gone. No one messes with desktops to hard to steal and harder to break. And "WINDOWS" isnt a type of laptop lol. Its a program. Try buying a dell desktop
944179
Dell's are a great value, they are rather pricier than the competition. HP is a good performer, it is quite solid, the lid hinge is a prblem because after 20 rotations, the screen becomes all wobbly. E machines, are complete bargain notebooks, the new N10 bundle avalible at Wal-Mart is a solid performer. It is a quite basic notebook, but i have one and it runs well, although the proprietary sempron processor is kind of lousy, i would replace it with a Core Xeon which is Intel. Emachines didn't really do well prior to the n10 especially the M2105 which my brother has, the battery runs down and wears out quickly, hinge is too. wobbly. You are better of with a Dell if you have enough money, they start at around $543, the toshibas start at $739 and the e machines n10 is the only E machines notebook available and it is a great value, consisting of LoJack Laptop Trace, a flash drive, a Targus notebook backpack for only $548.95 at Wal-Mart. It is nice
306957
Personally I recommend Toshiba laptops. They have multiple makes (Satellite and Qosimo among others) and variations of each to fit your budget. [See the link below]\n\nSome extra information: on any laptop, what to watch out for is if the AC power port is on the rear of the laptop, be careful not to tilt the base backwards when opening the screen. This can bend the cord and result in the the port becoming detached internally. That's why no matter what laptop you decide to purchase, I highly recommend spending the extra on a good extended warranty.
1003389
The Apple MacBook could be the laptop your'e looking for. It may seem more expensive at first but it will last far longer for you as well as the lack of viruses, spyware, adware, trojans, etc. It also comes with a lot more applications and software than most windows-run laptops. I believe they're going to incorporate bootcamp soon so if you visit an apple store or something they can help you out with that as well. You can also get a 100 dollar student discount on the laptop through apple. The website below has all the specifications. any questions feel free to email me. I use both often and have a much easier time with the Macs as far as not having to do any maitenance for it.\n\nOh and it also comes with an application called Dashboard that Windows lacks. It's a program that has widgets and just a ton of  awesome stuff in general.
40548
There are many things that you need to look for when buying a laptop. One is how much RAM is there (512MB at least). Another one is, what is it proccessing speed ( I would say 1.4GHz or better.) Something else that you want to look for is, how big the hard drive is. Depending on what you are going to do with your laptop probably I would say 60GB should be good you can always go bigger!!! One of the last thing I could tell you to look for is What type of video card does it have. This also depends on what you are going to do but a video card with 64MB of RAM or more.\n\n     Another option that you might want to look at is how long the battery life is. Also if it has a laptop expansion slot.\n\n  I hope this helps you on your decision.