Ideal laptop for the college student?

well im currently a college student and i bought a 8600 back in august. it costed me around $1500 after rebates which wasnt too bad. I carry my laptop around for studyin sometimes and its not too heavy. although i dont play graphic intense games such as halo, half-life, etc. i believe it can handle it with the 128mb ATI graphic card.

i dont recommend the 9200 because its heavy and low battery capacity. i get at least 4 hrs out of my 8600 which is well adequate for typing papers in my english class. However, i sometimes wish i had gotten a 600m or 700m just for their ultra portability.

700m or 600m = ultra portability, limited game play
8600 = well rounded system with decend game play /w 128 mb ATI graphic card
9200 = awesome for gaming, but very limited in portability, and heavy

heres my 2 cent

I am a sophomore in college and I found that the best thing to do was build a semi-cheap desktop for some gaming, tv recording, music, and movies as well as an ultraportable 700m. The two of these together add up to about the same price as a good notebook with the best mobile graphics card (Around $1500). You get the best of both worlds with this setup, and you can upgrade the desktop in the future to accomodate your needs.

It all depends on what your needs are. Figure it out and prioritize variables like portability, gaming, etc, first before you even start looking at a computer. Then once you have that set, then look at the computers that fits according to your needs. If you don't, you'll end up with a big clunker that you don't want to carry around, or something small that doesn't play your games.

For me, ultraportable is what I wanted for college. I have a desktop at home. I bought a 5000e originally 3 years ago, and i hated carrying it around because of the weight. plus it wasn't well constructed so it fell apart on me. I bought it without looking at what i really wanted. I was originally planning to get a desktop replacement and only one computer, but then i decided to buy a desktop along with the laptop. Desktop replacement was still in my head, so in the end, I had two computers that did the same thing and the laptop didn't suit my needs.

When the 5000e died, the top of my list of needs was portability after lugging around that behemoth for a semester. I am not a gamer, but I want to be able to watch dvd's on a portable system when I travel. I bought the 700m because of that. I use it for office applications, photo editing, surfing the web. I hate sitting at home to do homework, so the light weight is a definite plus for me when i'm biking to various hotspots around campus. I've spent lots of hours on it since i've gotten it.

my needs aren't your needs, though.

well i got a Inspiron 9100, mainly since i like to play games during my breaks since i commute... but i did have a smaller laptop a while back. between the two, if you want to play games do it at home with a nice desktop setup and spring for a lighter "on the go" kind of laptop like the 700m. ya know something small, light, pretty quick but no workhorse. an ideal situation would be to use like 1000-1500 on a lappy and maybe 1500-2k on a desktop that'll play well. getting a major gaming lappy will atleast cost ya 2k for a good setup with the 6800go from sager/alienware/etc. dell might be announcing with ATi their M28 (next gen laptop graphic card that will follow the current high end offering from dell the MR9800 in the iXPS) in the next week or so so watch out for that too.

Does a college student need an ultraportable? Depends on you. Engineering = lots of math? I haven't tried typing mathematical equations on my computer, nor do I particularly want to. I'm sure you'll take non-engineering classes too though, right?
http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=48232

Personally, I wouldn't want an ultraportable as my sole laptop because the screen is too small. Maybe you could hook a monitor up to it, though, while youre at home.
The 9200 is probably a great computer...if you want one of that size and weight. I wouldn't expect to take that bad boy with you on a daily, or maybe even weekly, basis.
Edit: This could be a great computer for you, though, if it's what you want. It looks awesome; but go see how big a 17" laptop is before you decide on this. 7.7lbs is far from light, but not unmanageable.

I would say that 8600 is a good compromise as a main computer. It's got a big screen, the graphics card you want, good battery life, and it's fairly light. I've got a 5150, and now I wish I had gotten a 600m/D600. I never brought my laptop to class or the library in college, but in med school I bring it all the time. The weight gets to me (since I commute on my bike).
Basically, I concur with nitewolf.

One thing people haven't suggested yet is waiting. If you're very antsy to get one now, go for it. However, You don't start school for another 9 months or so, and technology changes very quickly. The new M processor is coming out in '05, and who knows what else. Right before school starts, you might be able to get better specs for less than you would pay now. And check with your school, they often have suggestions and special discounts you can get through them.
If you are concerned about money, I'd also suggest checking out dell outlet. You can find some pretty good deals. Both of my dells have been from there.

Basically, you have to figure out what you want in a laptop, and then find ones that have that.

Sorry to go off topic, but jmmmmm do you really run windows 95?

I love my 8600. I take it to school fairly often, but would love it to be a bit lighter. It is a great computer, and plays heaps of high res games at full setting with no problems. I mainly use it for websurfing, email and schoolwork, and the WSXGA 15.4" screen is the best!

Wouldn't mind one of the smaller 12" widescreen ones though. I haven't seen the Dell, but another brand and they look pretty good.

Back to school ones sometimes are good, but the upper-end components don't seem to change as much. (For example, most of the time reductions appear to be on 2400 desktops, not the 8400.) That's just an observation, not necessarily the truth.

I would wait as well. You don't need the computer and it certainly won't hurt to see what is coming out.

if you always wait for the new thing for computers, you will be constantly upset. identify your needs and fit the computer to your needs. if you need the computer now, then get it. if you don't, you can spend more time researching and checking out computers. it's silly to think in terms of oh, i'll wait b/c technology is getting cooler, or the prices "might be" cheaper.

laffingbilly, that's what I was getting at. He's a senior now and unless he needs a computer now, there's plenty of reason to research the current market and what is to come.

I say wait until the summer. Next quarter the new set of Pentium Ms will be released with a new chipset. the 740,750,760 and 770. They will all run with a 533MHz fsb and PCIe support as well as DDR2. That means that the current line of Pentium Ms will have their price slashed.

Further more, Intel's release of the new Alviso chipset next quarter is supposed to coincide with ODM's releases of new laptops.

That means that if you wait until this summer, you'll be able to benefit from lower prices than what you'll pay now, or you'll be able to benefit from having new technology to choose from, or both.

To those that argue about the constant waiting.. and "possible" price cuts, currently there are no significant upgrades on the roadmaps coming right after that, and price cuts are a given with any release of technology that replaces an older one. Case in point: Intel and their CPU pricing strategy.

To recap, if you wait until this summer, you'll be able to choose from newer technology, newer laptop choices, and better prices on current choices. Furthermore, I wouldn't suggest buying any Mobile Pentium 4s or Celerons, as intel is discontinuing these next year and focusing purely on Pentium Ms for laptops, and Desktop Pentium 4s for large XPS-style gaming laptops.

Choosing your laptop a good 9 months ahead I think is way too early.

Cheers

D

yeah, plus if you are looking at dell, they'll probably replace the 600m, or as my luck has it, discontinue the 700m since i just bought one.

When does this new quarter start? I find myself playing the waiting game not because I'm that interested in new technology but because I'm poor and hope a better deal will come up.

I've noticed that the 600m is totally cheap right now, but does anyone anticipate the 700m having better prices early in 2005?

i say get the most expensive you can afford

Giz: next quarter is Q1, 2005, and starts January and goes through to March.

If you want to purchase now, Dell has an online coupon that lasts until 6am CST tomorrow Nov. 18 and gives you 25% off your purchase.
coupon: 7JPF6$CQK3ZRBB

D

don't count on brining ur 9200 to class and have lots of room on the desk.

totally true... my 15.4" i9100 takes up most of a regular "newer" desk, and the old tiny desk in some building at my school it doesn't fit all four feet at all...

i'm happy that my 700m can fit on the desk perfectly

Get something cheap you can afford, I like the 5160 pretty good