Which laptop for college?

[ravenclawtrekkie]

Can I ask why you're not a Chromebook fan?

I like having a traditional operating system. I do video and graphics editing as hobbies, and I play some MMO computer games, all of which are more suited to 'regular' computers. Chromebooks are fine if they do what you need them to do, they just don't do what I need.

Obviously I'm in over my head here. I had a laptop years ago, and I have an Ipad. But for school, I seriously prefer my desktop computer.

I've always preferred desktop computers as well, TBH. The only time I was glad to have a laptop was studying abroad in Japan. I bought my current laptop to replace a desktop because I was moving from NY to FL and had to pack everything I was taking with me into a hatchback Toyota, and I just didn't have room for the desktop. When I replace this laptop, it will be with another desktop.

So I'm looking for some idea of what to buy-- what features, how much memory, what brand names...

Those of you in the know, what would you buy? (Oh, and since someone asked, he'll be a criminal justice major)

Like I posted above, my recommendation on specs is "the best you can afford." Computers don't age particularly well. If you buy the bare minimum now, it won't last long. A Core i5 processor and 8-ish GB of RAM should be decent for a while. My preference for storage, especially on a laptop, is an SSD (solid state drive).

Brand names don't matter all that much - most of the parts come from the same places regardless of what company puts them together. The main difference between brands is the warranty and customer support. Everyone has a brand they like and a brand they hate, and for each person who hates Dell or HP or Asus there's someone who swears by that brand.

 

[Aliceacc]

OK, thanks.

I'll see what's on sale when we get back from WDW, and go from there.

 

[richmo]

Alice, on a few of your comments...
- I'm thinking the school may be recommending Windows computers because they're giving him Microsoft Office. Its quite likely the version of Office they have to give out is the Windows based version, not the Mac. If he went with a Mac, he'd have to buy Office on his own, which isn't necessarily cheap. (Although there are Apple apps that can deal with Office file formats pretty well). And if they're giving out Office, it would be fair for them to expect students to have access to all its features.
- Same for the Chromebook. There is no Office app for Chromebook. Most Chromebook users use mostly cloud based Google Docs. Google Docs isn't bad, but its pretty basic...many Office features are not included.
- A PP mentioned that you can use Office Online on a Chromebook, which isn't a bad option. I believe using it is free and I understand it has most, but not all, of the features of the MS Office that you would use on a PC.

As far as what to buy, I'd strongly recommend going to a retail store (Best Buy, etc. or Costco/BJ's, etc.) and let him get a feel for what's available. Sometimes a great featured laptop is a fail because the keyboard feels weird, or the trackpad is too intrusive, screen size too big or small, etc. I'd tend to stick with major brands: HP, Lenovo, Dell, etc., then read reviews on the models he's interested in before purchasing. I'd be inclined to go for at least 8 Gb memory. Disk drives are a little tricky now: a lot of the laptops will have higher capacity (1 terabyte, or maybe 750 Gb +), but you'll also see solid state drives that are generally much less capacity and more expensive. A big advantage to the solid state drives is that they're fast and have no moving parts...but as I said, they're expensive. There's also some hybrid drives out there that use solid state to boot up and a traditional drive for most everything else. Not sure if they're coming thru in new laptops or not.

 

[Aliceacc]

Thank you so much-- that's exactly the advice I was looking for.

And, yes, the school is giving them Office.

 

[justme0729]

I just graduated college and I got a 5 pound macbook pro (2011) when I graduated highschool. I still use it and its great for being at home but I always wished I got something that was lighter and easier to carry around campus. I say get something light with good battery life so he doesn't need to find outlets to charge at the library etc.!! For macs... I would get the new macbook air or maybe the macbook pro when it comes out.