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College Laptops - Help me choose the right one

post #1 of 16
1/23/05 at 4:49pm
Thread Starter 
Hey guys!

I'm going to college in fall 2005 and I need to get a laptop. The school I'm going to has a mandatory laptop policy. They sell the IBM T42 currently in a bundle pack with all my required engineering software ($2300), and they'll have the newer model by time I get there.

Problem:

I am a huuuuuge gaming geek! I love half-life 2, Doom 3, counter-strike source, far cry. Yea, you name it, I've played it. Anywho, I'm afraid that the next IBM thinkpad (T43?) will have a blah videocard (x300 mobility possibly?) and I won't be able to game very well. Getting a desktop and a laptop is out of my price range... so this laptop has to take care of all my needs. Also, a desktop replacement (Inspiron XPS) is no good, because I need battery life in my classes and I don't want to carry around a brick.

So I turn to you. Should I get the Thinkpad? or should I get an alternative laptop (if so, name some good ones for me)?
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post #2 of 16
1/23/05 at 4:59pm
sager is coming out with 15'' screen laptop and it has 2 hours of battery life (with two batteries) and an x800 card(sager 7620). the basic model is about $2600(you didn't say a budget) and i don't know if two hours is good enough for you, and it's 2'' thick, but it does have awsome preformance

you can read about it in Sager News, Releases, Information, and Rumors part of the forum
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post #3 of 16
1/23/05 at 5:02pm
well right now the asus m6bne would meet those req. and their new sonoma based one prob will too.
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post #4 of 16
1/23/05 at 5:42pm
any centrino notebook with 512 mb+ ram and a mobility radeon 9700 will do the job. You can take a look at www.ibuypower.com, take a look at the sagers, www.discountlaptops.com, etc
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post #5 of 16
1/23/05 at 6:16pm
Since you don't need it till the fall you might want to just hold off since the Sonoma and Turion based processors will be coming out (hopefully) in March. Not sure how many systems will be ready by then, but hopefully the combination of a Sonoma/Turion with an X700 will do the job for you. But if you can't wait, I think the CL56 (mwave.com is the cheapest) and Sager 3790 (discountlaptops.com is cheapest I think) would be models you should investigate further.

Btw, anyone know the performance difference between the x700 and 9700?

edit: oops...forgot about the x700
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post #6 of 16
1/23/05 at 6:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FutureAsusOwner
well right now the asus m6bne would meet those req. and their new sonoma based one prob will too.
Agreed.
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post #7 of 16
1/23/05 at 6:31pm
Thread Starter 
I'm looking for major brand laptop manufacturers. This excludes ASUS, sager, and definitely mwave.
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post #8 of 16
1/23/05 at 7:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marines920
I'm looking for major brand laptop manufacturers. This excludes ASUS, sager, and definitely mwave.
is there a particular reason for this? (btw....asus and sager are major brand laptop manufacturers)


edit: mwave is a reseller. He is talking about the cheap cl56 that mwave is selling (if i could sell my laptop for $1200 or so, i would definitely buy the cl56 from mwave).
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post #9 of 16
1/23/05 at 7:54pm
Marines920, look at www.resellerratings.com

Here's mwave's ratings. Its ratings are much better than some of the "major brand" laptop sellers. All to be taken with a grain of salt though, of course. Don't just look at the ratings though, make sure you look at the actual testimonials...
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post #10 of 16
1/23/05 at 8:48pm
Thread Starter 
I'm sure it's fine, but my dad won't let me get from a place that he's not familiar with.
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post #11 of 16
1/23/05 at 9:04pm
Perhaps you can explain to him that Asus actually makes the laptops that other companies put their sticker on? It seems like it ought to be possible to explain to him the concept of ODMs and 'brand names'. A number of sites like agear and rjtech, mwave, etc. have articles about it which might be able to convince him.
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post #12 of 16
1/23/05 at 9:27pm
Thread Starter 
I'm gonna try talking to him about asus, definitely.


Also, how's the dell inspiron 9200 for a college student?
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post #13 of 16
1/24/05 at 12:25pm
9200 is pretty good actually. but i would DEFINATELY hold out until the dell 9300 comes out so you get the mobility x800 which = 2x mobile radeon 9700. you get PCI-E also

EDIT: if you are going to school in fall 2005 wait! you might be stuck with a crappy computer till then but you can get the best so you won't have something already outdated when school starts

EDIT2: I believe compal used to make dell laptops... correct me if i am wrong. I heard someones 8600 was compal, but i might be lying.
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post #14 of 16
1/28/05 at 2:52am
Marines920

dbhertz is right, check out http://www.powernotebooks.com/articles/Name_Brand.php3... it explains things fairly well there. You would be doing yourself a disservice by not considering some brands you don't hear of much (Asus, Compal, Clevo/Sager, etc), as these are some of the best. Companies like Dell and HP just slap their label on them after f'ing with them a little. Good luck convincing your dad. cheers
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post #15 of 16
1/28/05 at 11:06am

Sager

Quote:
Originally Posted by cjmichel
Marines920

dbhertz is right, check out http://www.powernotebooks.com/articles/Name_Brand.php3... it explains things fairly well there. You would be doing yourself a disservice by not considering some brands you don't hear of much (Asus, Compal, Clevo/Sager, etc), as these are some of the best. Companies like Dell and HP just slap their label on them after f'ing with them a little. Good luck convincing your dad. cheers
Definitely consider Sager! I too, was a little wary of purchasing "off-brand" computers, but started doing some research. I ended up buying a Sager 9860 and I couldn't be happier! You might want something a little smaller with battery power like their 3790 or 4750 series. I would highly recommend them. PCTorque sells Sager with incredible customer service and great extended warranties that you can get with the laptop...
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post #16 of 16
1/28/05 at 6:02pm
i don't know about him but i'd like to know where he gets the idea that he's going to have time in engineering school to play games. It's been over three weeks since i've played a game- for me in engineering school with as much as i do (and he will) use computers i'd say get a lighter... (ultraportable...?) lappy and a desktop for the gaming- besides the battery life is worth it.... that's just my opinion
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