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Originally Posted by jer888
It may be more cost effective to get a external hard drive and leave in your dorm/apartment for pictures and stuff because laptop hard drives can get expensive.
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Agreed!
With my last laptop purchase, I wish I purchased a 14.1" laptop instead of 15.4". They're thinner in both thickness and width, and a bit lighter, while maintaining a height only 2.5% shorter. 15.4" laptops only have the advantage of being able to display widescreen movies larger.
Regarding battery life: I purchased a second, 9 cell battery to complement my 6 cell battery. The 6 cell has been on the shelf for a year. It's more cost effective to do it this way sometimes though - $130 for a second battery vs. $99 to upgrade from 6 cell to 9 cell.
For heavy duty work sessions, not to mention the occasional flash game, a touchpad might simply be too slow and frustrating. I've found that the mice designed for notebooks are too small and awkward looking. I recommend the Logitech LX7. It's a full size mouse, lasts ~6 months or more on a single set of AA batteries, and comes with a tiny easy to stash receiver.
Regarding screen coatings... glossy screens reflect light in a terrible manner but supposedly yield better colors. In either case, neither glossy or flat screens can be used well outdoors in direct sunlight. Have you seen those commercials with students out on a sunny day relaxing and surfing the web wirelessly? Not gonna happen.
Plan on bringing a wireless router? Secure it! I can't tell you how many wireless connections are unsecure and vulnerable on a college campus. From my friend's apartment last year, I saw 6 unsecure access points and only 2 secure ones.
Buy a security device. Have you seen the Transformers movie where the boombox gets up and walks around? Well, laptops do that too. All laptops have a security slot where you can (and should) attach one of those combination security cords.
Anyways, great post/thread Tom!