In need of Geek Assistance.

As some of you already know, I will soon be a college undergraduate.
Heading out of the comfort of my parents' home in a rural town and into the unforgiving downtown district of Houston.

But enough about my grief,

I started this topic because I may need a new machine soon.
Yes, the laptop I am using now, although only a couple years old, is starting to wear out.

The computer screen flickers at times, even when I don't move the laptop,
I struggle with the charging cable when my laptop refuses detect its presence,
And the computer itself sometimes has problems starting up whenever I turn it on,
Which is why I usually just put it in sleep mode instead of turning it off.

Nothing set in stone yet, I just want to see your technological wisdom flourish through your phalanges as you list machines which would suit my needs.

But what are my needs? Well I don't need something extraordinary,
I just want a laptop that has the appliances any college boy needs,
And it's reliable enough to last 4-6 years without any major issues.

So there you go Geeks,
Get to it. Chop chop.

For 500 bucks you can get a gateway that's cheap and can run modern games well.

For example it runs bfbc2 at 60fps at 1336x758 no problem.

Also sturdy and long battery life(you might want to disable the graphics card)

Macs are always nice for school.

Personally, I have a Compaq CQ60. It's cheap, and it does everything I need. If you want more memory and better performance, I'm sure you can update it.

Remember though, a computer is an investment, so don't let price throw you off. If you think you'll need something more powerful, get it.
The most important thing for a college student is Microsoft Office and good memory.

Laptops are hard to upgrade for the average user.

I almost busted mine installing a 7200rpm drive.

Office and software can easily be achieve free.

get one of those little tiny laptops, they're cheap and made just for microsoft office pretty much.
Then build or buy a decent PC.
Like Liquid said, laptops are hard to upgrade, so if you want something for games, as in if you a serious, then get a desktop for that and get a cheap tiny laptop for school work.

I might be getting a Panasonic ToughBook.

My brother has had one for his whole college career and still in tip-top shape.
It's expensive, but his laptop has outlasted plenty of computers that I have used.

Looks like you can call a Pred missile with that!

I don't know about that, but it can resist pretty much everything.

This is one from '07

It looks like the thing doctors use in their office. Heavy-duty little things.

My friend has a laptop from Alienware. Not sure how good it is compared to other laptops, but looks into it yourself if you're curious.

It's the laptop all police officers use on their cruisers. I believe.

Vnzuelan Dude wrote:

It's the laptop all police officers use on their cruisers. I believe.

Pretty sure the Toughbooks are used in the Army as well. They don't call them toughbooks just for marketing bliss. <= Just had to add that.

I'd listen to Fatty TBH. The thing is, what you are doing / planning on doing has VERY low requirements out of hardware. If you are looking at surfing the net, typing reports and perhaps a flash game here and there to kill some time, a small laptop is absolutely all you need and all you should get. It's stupid to buy a $1500 laptop that offers more performance than you will ever even come close to using. An entry level laptop will offer plenty of performance for that while not blasting the budget to hell. Stay well the hell away from Acer. <= Seriously. They are cheap, but they are cheap for a reason.

Durability is funny, in all honesty. Some people have had shit products last a while, others buy the same thing and it breaks instantly. You may say 4-6 years, but by then most any hardware will be on it's last legs - particularly with a laptop where heat is more of an issue (Heat is the killer of components!). By then, if you are not a SMART PC user, you likely have trashed windows to hell and back to the point it runs slow as hell as well. If you are careless and drop it, well, unless you get a toughbook, you are fucked. The hardware should easily last that time span - if you take care of it. If you are careless or rough unnecessarily, nothing is going to help. It's Hardware AND Software AND the guy behind the keyboard.

Personally, if I were looking at Laptops (I'm not) I'd look through Toshiba's lineup. I have heard nothing but good things from them in terms of their products, probably a bit on the slightly expensive side for what you get, but you get a good lasting product for that money.

Remember, smaller screens mean smaller keyboards. However, you can buy a USB keyboard nearly anywhere for cheap (like, $15) - plug it in when you are at home to type that report with comfort!

Price Range us up, broski.

My research group only operates with Toshiba Satellites.

My supervisor had two and they are still functional.

I've had two also. The first lasted 4 years, then the screen started to fail. But I was using it every day, moving between work and home. Non-stop-around-the-clock use (even when I'm sleeping) for number crunching and programming. Not bad.

The second is still going strong after 2 years. I now has a break thx to the new PC. But it is still fast according to laptop standards and I've had no issues yet.

Don't go high end, as what you are buying is already weaker than PCs. Thus, you should aim for a shorter life span/cycle. Don't go higher than i5, it's useless. I went i5 for the calculations I do, but I did not, an i3 would have been fine. Don't go for a large screen, you want to be able to carry it without a trolley. And let's be honest, it looks silly. Don't buy a built with a separate (standalone) graphics card. The price will jack up and you won't be able to run most recent games on decent settings (last time I checked it was so).

FrenchB wrote:

Don't buy a built with a separate (standalone) graphics card. The price will jack up and you won't be able to run most recent games on decent settings (last time I checked it was so).

My 500 dollar gateway is benching 60fps on bf2 maxed...

on 1336x768 that is

I guess I just have bad luck with computers.

I use my current laptop daily for a bit more than a year and it's starting to fail me. It's an hp.
From what I can remember, I've never physically abused my machines, and have not dropped them more than half a foot from the air unintentionally. The cable always has some elbow room so it won't bend or break. It's just deciding to fuck with me.

And as I type this I am using my right arm to find a working angle so the screen will stop flickering. ah there it is.

Honestly, it doesn't seem like it gets any more reliable than a toughbook.
Although it doesn't have the perks of high performance gaming computers,
( It's not like I am playing anything more advanced than Super Mario 64 on it anyway)
Why it's so expensive makes sense to me.

At the rate I am buying machines, I don't think cheap it's the way to go.
I could be buy a regular ol' $500 laptop tomorrow. Which could break in 1-2 years.
And that would suck because College is poking at my ribs, and I don't think he is very patient with my technical difficulties.

And I swear, the next time my laptop refuses to accept my hot metal rechargable loving,
I am going to SHANK my laptop harder than prison sexual insecurities.


By the way, besides in gaming, is there any difference between a 4G and 6G?

Liquid* wrote:

My 500 dollar gateway is benching 60fps on bf2 maxed...

on 1336x768 that is

csbro.

This:

FrenchB wrote:

Don't buy a built with a separate (standalone) graphics card. The price will jack up and you won't be able to run most recent games on decent settings (last time I checked it was so).

Guess that you meant BC2.

He probably doesn't need it unless he wants to seriously start gaming on PC. It's a college laptop. So if he can shave a hundred or two with the graphics card...

Also, chances are that his parents won't pay for it.

I like my laptop and I am sure NSL likes his, Mine is an ACER hasn't dont to bad and it runs the gamesI play. NSL has an HP.


Acer Aspire Timeline AS5810TZ-4274 Laptop
Mine looks like this
Front:

Back:

bump.

I've been looking into some Toshiba netbooks. Doesn't seem too expensive.
Small size, light.

Price range doesn't matter too much for me. lol
I have the money. I just wish to use it efficiently.

Because no matter how conservative I am with my money,
I always fuck things up and end up paying more than I have to. For everything.

Toshiba Satellite FTW.