With the upcoming Fall semester looming on the horizon and a fresh set of faces heading off to college, the mech forums have been seeing the yearly requests for college laptop advice. Before the summer draws to a close and all the purchases have been made, I'd like to extend a little help to those wishful shoppers on what a college laptop really should be.
Although I feel I am in no way the supreme authority on this subject, with two years of my Undergrad under my belt I have seen first hand what a laptop becomes for most people. I've heard the complaints, listened to the groans and seen the disgusted faces. I know how it is, mainly because I somewhat made the same mistake myself. Hopefully the following tips will help upcoming shoppers in picking out the best computer for their needs.
1) Your laptop should not be a gaming computer. Why? Well...
Gaming notebooks are heavy, and weight is your number one enemy while going to school.
Especially throughout your first two years as an Undergrad when you'll be doing your most walking. If you go to any large, liberal arts college (most state colleges, such as Florida, University of Georgia, University of Tennessee, etc.) you will be required to take at least 45 hours of core credits which typically have nothing to do with your major. What does that mean for you? Lots and lots of walking. Let that soak in. Most intro / 1000 / 2000 lvl classes are not taught in their actual departments. You may have sociology in the forestry building, biology in the math department, or math in poultry science (like me). Unless you become a whiz at scheduling overnight, then you're not likely going to get any of your classes remotely close to one another during your first semester. That's actually done on purpose to get those freshmen in shape! (And to weed them out).
So should you give up on gaming? No! Just bring your desktop and smack it in your dorm. Viola, you're done!
2) You don't really have time to do much gaming during the day while taking a full class load. That's the truth, and no, I'm not your parent.
You're going to be on the move, smelling the smells, seeing the sights, and taking in everything college has to offer. Gaming honestly will take a backseat for awhile until you get adjusted to life away from home. Then you'll figure out your dorm has that blazing fast T1 connection your parents would never buy you and the entire hall is networked to play Halo every night. But until then...
3) Low power consumption cpu + small screen = longer battery life.
This is another biggie. You're going to cherish the battery life. If you use the laptop as your main rig and you would rather type then hand write notes, then this baby is going to follow you everywhere. Guess what though? There aren't power jacks everywhere you go. Also, that AC Adaptor takes up space in your bookbag and adds extra weight. You think you're going to be able to play WoW in a lecture hall full of 400 kids without feeling the slightest bit silly? Yeah, I thought so. Drop the 3+ ghz processor and get one that's efficient and conserves battery consumption.
Well Tom, I could easily just add an additional battery to my laptop and not worry about the thing dying on me throughout the day.
Yes you could, but that adds another couple of pounds of weight which isn't fun in the long run. Get one battery and ensure the rest of your components help it last.
You're most likely going to want to keep your screens lit brightly throughout your lectures, so a smaller screen means less battery juice being pumped to light it. You can always dim it, but you don't have to if you choose wisely.
4) I need to get a Windows based machine because none of the class software is going to work on a Mac.
No! This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make when choosing which type of laptop to go with. I thought this were true two years ago, and I have yet to find any software (either included with textbooks or provided by the university) that has ever been simply for Windows. Everything is Mac compatible, including the campus wifi. It all works like a charm, and often works better in the long run. If I had had a definitive answer on this two years ago I'd be the proud owner of a MacBook right now instead of this stupid Compaq.
5) What should my laptop have?
A large hard drive is key here. We live in an age of digital photography and streaming music (as well as instant gratification, but that's for another post). For some reason college kids enjoy taking pictures of everything they do, and they always need a place to store them. If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone complain about how they filled their hard drive up weeks after buying the computer I'd be a very rich man. Music and pictures will take up the majority of your space, so be prepared with a large drive.
And that's it. Hopefully hearing about what laptops turn into from somebody who has been using one for two years will help potential buyers in picking out their perfect machine. Not being able to play Rainbow Six: Vegas in the middle of lecture isn't going to kill you - the original Doom works just fine, and is often times more entertaining for you (and the 150 peers around you) anyway.
