Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners OT: Notebook computers

My son wants me to buy him a labtop or notebook computer for his college work. I have no idea what to buy as far as brand, model, etc. I'm sure some of my axiom lovin' friends can answer this question for me. I'm trying to keep the purchase in the $1500 or less range. I'm lost in a labtop jungle. HELP!

What is the predominant platform at your son's school? (Windows, Linux, Mac, etc.)? If there is no preferred platform (and if he's not doing anything that involves computers directly, like programming), you might want to consider the Apple iBooks. There's the 12" model and the 14" model, with various processor speeds. They're really well built (very sturdy), and the operating system is quite good these days. Of course, if he's into games, you'll probably want to look at a PC laptop. Also, which OS does he prefer? In any case, you should make sure you get (or can get) education pricing for whatever you buy. You'll save a couple of hundred dollars.

What school does he go to?

If you head to the student store on campus, many offer good deals on PCs and Macs to students. Also some have pretty good service as well.

-curtis

Windows. He has professed a disinterest in Apple. He'll probably want Windowsxp home. He's looking for a desktop replacement.

At least get him XP Pro. XP Home kind of bites.

Agreed on the XPPro. But be warned, machines pre-loaded with XPPro are much more expensive than PCs pre-loaded with XPHome. XPPro is targeted at business users that have more cash to spend.

Also, if you buy a machine with XPHome, and then load XPPro, getting service from the company that sold it to you may be difficult.

-curtis

Dude get a Dell!!!

Why:
support
very competitive
whatever is lowest speed. Even that is fast enough to do all his college work. You spend extra just on DVD, CD burner and upgraded video card. Do you want him to play or WORK!!

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&kc=6V419&l=en&oc=5100cs&s=dhs

Check out this site, I got a laptop from them that I'm using for college, and it's the finest computer I've ever had.

http://www.velocitymicro.com/category.php?cid=3

Otherwise, I'd get a Dell Inspiron. Stay away from Compaq and HP laptops, I've never had one that worked.

Steve

You mentioned he's looking for a desktop replacement. What specifically is he intending on doing with this computer? Does he know what his major will be? How much travelling with it will he be doing? How long we'll he be away from a power socket?

Toshiba, IBM, Dell and Apple would be where I'd focus my interest. I also really like the very slimmed down Sony's but Sony is quirky and they're "desktop replacement" models aren't terribly competitive. I also tend to believe that if you want a portable computer, the focus should be on portability and not a perfect replacement for a desktop. You can get very powerful laptops that will pretty much do anything a desktop can but their battery life is non-existant and they're heavy as hell.

Talk to the school's bookstore, though. Most colleges have cut deals with one provider or another and they will be significantly cheaper than any normal purchase.

He's going to be an art major(graphic design). He wants to use it to draw stuff. And, of course, he wants to play games and watch DVD's. I don't know if I want to foot the bill for that, though.