Also buying a laptop...

[Eightball]

So yeah, after one year of taking all of my notes on paper, I now realize that I need a laptop for my schoolwork. I'm currently in the midst of gathering a selection of suitable options to choose from, but in the meantime I have some questions for brbu:

• Does anyone have brand preferences they can justify? (IE After owning two defective printers and a netbook that killed itself in literally 3 different ways, I will never buy an HP product. In particular, can anyone also comment on ASUS?)
• AMD or Intel? (I normally always buy Intel chips for my beefy rigs but my understanding is that AMD can be cost-effective in the lower ranges? Is this right?)
• Large netbook or small notebook? (I do not intend to buy a colossal 17-18" just for word processing and spreadsheeting. Do you think getting a 12" netbook is the right choice?)

Once I get enough input from you guys, I'll pick out 2-5 laptops or netbooks to choose from. Alternately, I'd love to hear specific suggestions for laptops. Here's the criteria I have:

• Integrated or low-end dedicated video card. I keep telling myself that this has to be a work laptop, and I can't afford to tempt myself into installing games to distract me when I'm working. I'd rather the hardware not be available at all and save myself some cash.
• Small or Medium size. This is something I'd be toting around all day, so I really don't want anything larger than 14". I know some good options exist at the 15" range, but I would really rather have a light machine. On the other hand, I find anything below 12" ends up being really inconvenient to use.
• Windows 7 Home Premium OS. Do I need to say it? I've said goodbye to XP and there's no way I'm touching Vista.

That's about it. Memory, webcam, all of that shit is secondary. Make me proud brb.

[Luinbariel]

So far I've really liked my Toshiba tablet PC. I don't know if your notes involve lots of diagrams or anything, but if they do it might be kind of handy. It's been super reliable in the last like... five or more years that I've had it although I'm sure there are many new versions available.

Only issues I've had with mine are the power supplies falling apart (I'm fairly rough on them though) and a key popping off the keyboard/otherwise failing. A replacement keyboard fixed that. I even poured a drink into it once accidentally, carbonated sugary beverage, and it was fine after we cleaned it up a bit.

Handwriting recognition is great.

[Eightball]

So far I've really liked my Toshiba tablet PC. I don't know if your notes involve lots of diagrams or anything, but if they do it might be kind of handy. It's been super reliable in the last like... five or more years that I've had it although I'm sure there are many new versions available.

Only issues I've had with mine are the power supplies falling apart (I'm fairly rough on them though) and a key popping off the keyboard/otherwise failing. A replacement keyboard fixed that. I even poured a drink into it once accidentally, carbonated sugary beverage, and it was fine after we cleaned it up a bit.

Handwriting recognition is great.

Hmm. I haven't considered tablet PCs before. Since I'm taking Organic Chemistry next year, it would probably be useful.

Time to expand my search. +1.

[Luinbariel]

[quote author=Luinbariel link=topic=4660.msg155345#msg155345 date=1275423148]
So far I've really liked my Toshiba tablet PC. I don't know if your notes involve lots of diagrams or anything, but if they do it might be kind of handy. It's been super reliable in the last like... five or more years that I've had it although I'm sure there are many new versions available.

Only issues I've had with mine are the power supplies falling apart (I'm fairly rough on them though) and a key popping off the keyboard/otherwise failing. A replacement keyboard fixed that. I even poured a drink into it once accidentally, carbonated sugary beverage, and it was fine after we cleaned it up a bit.

Handwriting recognition is great.

Hmm. I haven't considered tablet PCs before. Since I'm taking Organic Chemistry next year, it would probably be useful.

Time to expand my search. +1.
[/quote]

<3

Pay attention to pressure sensitivity; if it doesn't matter to you, don't worry about a higher end tablet PC. It mattered to me because I use it for drawing/photoshop, but if you're just using it to make notes and diagrams, you probably won't really care much about that.

[copulatingduck]

my laptop has a low-end vidya card and the whole thing runs ridiculously hot, to the point where's it's uncomfortable to use at all. But the form factor for mine is also really small (12")

I would suggest a medium sized lappy without the dedicated card (I have a hard time typing on the small netbook keyboards)


w7 runs just fine on my laptop (3-4 years old at this point), so you should be just fine with that

[Luinbariel]

my laptop has a low-end vidya card and the whole thing runs ridiculously hot, to the point where's it's uncomfortable to use at all. But the form factor for mine is also really small (12")

I would suggest a medium sized lappy without the dedicated card (I have a hard time typing on the small netbook keyboards)


w7 runs just fine on my laptop (3-4 years old at this point), so you should be just fine with that

Yes, that's a good point too. I've used HeK's eeePC and that thing is fucking impossible to type quickly on. Mine has a more or less "full" sized keyboard and it's amazing, no issues there. It's heavier than a small laptop of course but it's really worth avoiding the frustration of trying to type on a toy.

[Versus]

12" is pretty good

[Kirby]

w7 runs just fine on my laptop (3-4 years old at this point), so you should be just fine with that

Ditto on this.

My lappy's a Single Core non hyperthreading 1.6GHz Intel Centrino (lol) with a gig of RAM and Intel video and it runs w7 like a champ. It can get bogged down quick if I try to multitask it too hard, but it's 5 years old running an OS 2 versions newer than what it came with, I'm not gonna knock it for that in the least.

But like I said in the other laptop thread; plzplzplzplzplzplzplz get anything with more than one core in it, w7 lol's all over a single core, it's designed with newer hardware in mind from the get-go.

[Vlambo]

What is your budget Eightball?

[Versus]

my 1201N kinda rapes, runs photoshop, firefox with a shitload of tabs, other stuff all at the same time on W7 with just a dual core atom processor

[beep beep diglett]

my 1201N kinda rapes, runs photoshop, firefox with a shitload of tabs, other stuff all at the same time on W7 with just a dual core atom processor

not everyone  lives in a mansion : (pots this in ur sig if u want caff to bring back !!!)

[Didzo]

I have had an Asus NJ10 netbook with a 10.2in screen, Intel Atom CPU, 2GB RAM, 320GB storage, and an Ge9300 graphics card for a year and a half or so. I actually just RMA'd it because of a glitched up screen (2 year warranty), but other than that, I have no complaints with Asus. Their tech support didn't give me any grief either.
Side note: Holy shit have netbook prices dropped since I got mine!

As for the size, it really doesn't matter if it's small if you're using it for note-taking, on-the-go essay typing, and whatever other secondary tasks you have. My netbook can actually handle lightweight gaming and has decent graphics, not that you'll be using it for that anyway. It can run pretty much any program you throw at it, so long as you don't go crazy with multiple windows. Not that you'll want to or need to.

On the netbook keyboards: It will take you a day or two to get used to the smaller keyboard. However, I have mastered using it, and so can you.

Also, a small screen size makes for longer overall battery life and a huge plus in convenience. A netbook can fit anywhere and is light; lugging around anything larger is pointless.

[copulatingduck]

idk i have to type with 3 fingers on this crappy eeepc i dont think ill ever get used to typing like a ninja turtle

[Versus]

yeah don't get a netbook smaller than 10"

[Eightball]

[quote author=Versus-pwny- link=topic=4660.msg155405#msg155405 date=1275427971]
my 1201N kinda rapes, runs photoshop, firefox with a shitload of tabs, other stuff all at the same time on W7 with just a dual core atom processor

not everyone  lives in a mansion : (pots this in ur sig if u want caff to bring back !!!)
[/quote]
Actually, I was just considering that.

I was also considering this similar one.

Looked at some tablet PCs, most of them are either too small (8-10") or too expensive ($1000+). Shame, I was interested in some of the Eee tablets. Forgot to mention that my budget is up to about $800, but I can't picture anything fitting my description costing more than that.

[Luinbariel]

HeK says that our friend has something you might like, not sure if it was already mentioned. An Asus tablet PC. I tried it out, it was pretty sweet and small, but I have no idea of the price. Sorry if this is a repeat, just posting without skimming.

[HeK]

Look at the ASUS Eee PC T91.

It's a 9 inch touch-screen convertible laptop/tablet. It's $500 and packs a lot of capability into a small package. This thing is the perfect size for classrooms with the half-desks and tossing into a backpack.
While I feel laptops are not the best option for classes (lack of versatility when compared to basic paper) a convertible notebook offers benefits unparalleled by other options (except for paper).

At the price point you can buy an additional battery or a second laptop if yours gets stolen (growing problem with laptop toting students).

[Didzo]

Actually, I was just considering that.

I was also considering this similar one.

Both of those look good to me.

Also, make sure you buy a computer lock.

[Vlambo]

So, I'm highjacking the thread again, but this was a laptop I was seriously consider buying, and then they knocked off another $50. So that puts it at <$600 with taxes and shipping in. Should i just pull the trigger and buy it?

[Vandamguy]

i cant remember if you were planning on gaming with it or not..
if not then yes. asus warranties are tops and a free 1 year accidental