College Laptops - A Guide to What to Buy

[tomster2300]

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.

[Staren]

Great guide Tom. I'm glad someone took all that info and put it down in one place. I agree with everything you said, and had pretty much the same experience in college. After using a 14" 5.5 lbs HP for my last two years of college I finally broke down and bought a Macbook at the tail end of my senior year for grad school. Everyone thinks they're the one that doesn't want an ultra--portable, but it doesn't take long for those 12" Dells and 13" Macbooks you see the upper divsion kids carrying to become real tempting. They're carrying those for a reason.

[glc]

Excellent, Tom!

If you want a highly portable laptop that performs well and will be happy with a 12 inch screen, look at the Dell XPS M1210. It comes with a Core 2 Duo and Intel integrated graphics. If you insist on gaming with it, you can get a Go 7400 video upgrade. If you'd rather have a 15 inch widescreen, the Inspiron E1505 can be ordered with a Core 2 Duo and now comes standard with a X1400 video adapter. However, if you have a bit more to spend and want a laptop that will LAST, you can't beat a Thinkpad T or X series. The X is the 12" ultralight with Intel graphics, the T series is 15" with various video options.

Before you poo pooh the Intel graphics, it *IS* capable of running Aero Glass and it will handle light gaming. Just get sufficient ram.

One thing to add - you should contact your college and see what their recommendations and requirements are. You may even be able to get a great deal on a "standard" configuration through their group buy program. This will often come with the benefit of local support and a really nice warranty program.

EDIT: I'm not in college, but I have an old Thinkpad T20 (P3-700) for my "road warrior" - it has a 14 inch screen and weighs about 5 pounds. It does everything I need and is pretty comfortable to haul around. However, I also have a 3 pound Twinhead (1.2 Celeron) with a 12 inch screen - if the optical drive weren't dead and the touchpad weren't screwed up I'd be lugging that thing instead.

[jer888]

You have a really good point about the hard drive. 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.

Another thing iv'e noticed, especially with the smaller laptops, is the memory upgrades are wayyyy overpriced . I believe its something like 200 dollars more on a M1210 to go from 1 to 2gigs of RAM. It would be cheaper to get the minimum, buy 2gigs of corsair off Newegg for 85 bucks, and put it in yourself.

[glc]

2 gigs for a M1210 costs $81.99 at Crucial and it's guaranteed compatible DDR2-667. That's a heck of a lot cheaper than the $200 tab to upgrade from 1gb to 2gb when you order it.

[ZeratulsAvenger]

I second the opinion of external harddrives. I have a 100GB HD in my laptop, same as all my freshman class, and many people survived just fine (myself) while others (roommate) found extra space essential--200+ GB's of an external harddrive ended up being used. I'd get a moderately large internal, but expect to expand if you are of the more media-driven personality.

Also, for a laptop that is being used for normal college tasks I don't really think 2gigs of memory is all that helpful. I have run programs like AutoCAD and SolidEdge, which I would consider intense applications (both CPU and memory consuming) but 1GB worked just fine for me. Maybe using Vista is another story, but with XP I think you could safely start at 1gig.

[jer888]

Originally Posted by glc 2 gigs for a M1210 costs $81.99 at Crucial and it's guaranteed compatible DDR2-667. That's a heck of a lot cheaper than the $200 tab to upgrade from 1gb to 2gb when you order it.

yup, my point exactly

[tomster2300]

Originally Posted by glc One thing to add - you should contact your college and see what their recommendations and requirements are. You may even be able to get a great deal on a "standard" configuration through their group buy program. This will often come with the benefit of local support and a really nice warranty program.

I completely forgot to add that. Definitely check out the educational discounts before you make any computer software / hardware purchase. Apple offers discounts on computers and ipods, and Microsoft gives you various deals on their education suites and operating systems. I snagged the Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade Edition for $90, and it wasn't even a promotional price. Simply $90 all day, every day, year round.

I also forgot to add that even though 12-14" screens sound tiny, they're really not and actually become quite natural in a short amount of time. Especially when you begin factoring in weight and all, those smaller laptops begin to look pretty slick.

[glc]

Considering my first laptop had a 9.5" screen, a 12" looks fine to me!

[freakitchen]

Couldn't agree more, nice guide Tomster! The way I see it, by going for a small, lightweight laptop with great battery life, you're getting the most out of what a laptop should be. Budgetary concerns mean I have to manage with a cheapo dell that's quite large, but I've also used a 13" macbook, and I think that's fantastic. The screen might be small, but the resolution is excellent, so you essentially get the same amount of screen real-estate in a much more convenient package.

[thefultonhow]

Another thing tro consider is how you are going to back up your data. Laptops are subject to some abuse in college, and the hard drives are often the first casualty. I work in my college's Computer Services department providing tech support to students, and I can't count how many people have come in with dead hard drives. It's a good idea to get a backup drive with software like Retrospect that will automatically back up your hard drive every day.

On the subect of Macs, if you are going to be a CS major, check what system your college uses for programming. Some use Microsoft Visual Studio, but mine uses a Linux terminal system, and Macs actually are far easier to use with it than PCs are.

[guruboy]

I'm going off to college not this fall, but the one after that. I'm really excited about laptops with solid state disc drives. I don't need the storage space for music and everything mentioned in this guide...I've got my desktop for that. I'm sure that by the time I go to college, the SSD-based laptops will have cooled down a bit in price, but what about power consumption? Do they consume more or less power than hard drives? I'd like to assume less, because they don't need a big 'ol motor to run, but I'd really like to know. It would be incredibly awesome to have an SSD laptop...SSDs are smaller, produce no sound and way less heat...

[thefultonhow]

Solid-state drives require less power and are faster (not to mention, they won't get killed if you hit or drop your laptop too much), but they will probably be pretty pricey for the forseeable future.

[Stuey]

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.

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!

[tomster2300]

Originally Posted by Stuey Agreed! 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. Anyways, great post/thread Tom!

Definitely a biggie that I forgot to mention. Secure your wireless routers, especially in the dorms. The RIAA just sent out their most recent wave of lawsuits to colleges around the country. Don't let yourself be one of them because your neighbor is using your connection to download illegal music. It's kind of hard to explain that one to a piece of paper demanding you pay thousands in fees to a music company that doesn't care.

[Stuey]

Not to mention that many colleges are now slapping bandwidth restrictions to IP addies and user accounts. Unsecured access could mean excessive unauthorized use and then suspended access.