Help me BG! Choosing an all around laptop for school?

[*Shinzon*]

Ok so I realize there's a thread in the tech section about laptops and pc building but whenever I've posted in there my questions get easily overlooked or just flat out ignored. If this needs to be moved into the tech section then by all means please do, just looking to get a lot of responses to help me make a decision.

So here's the background:
After buying an HP DV7 Laptop from QVC (my mom ordered it for me) I had to return it about a month later. I turned it on one day and a white plume of smoke came from the vents and the machine would just not start back up. The machine would work but do nothing, smelled like burnt components. So we file a warranty claim and they say they'll send us a machine and we just need to send ours back. Long story short apparently the entire batch QVC got from HP was defective and they've been getting so many returns that they are no longer fulfilling the warranty claims and are instead refunded our money.

The issue:
Now I need to find a new machine. I'm not really savvy when it comes to PC components. I know enough and I've even built a machine on one occasion but I don't really keep up with stuff. So I need some help deciding on an all around good laptop for around $600-$650. I'm in law school so it needs to have pretty good speed and have good battery life.

I've been browsing Newegg first so and the first couple of machines on this list, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...NG&PageSize=20, seem ok but I don't know which would be better. Help me decide or add more suggestions, just has to been in that 650 range max. Thanks.

[Vandole]

moved to appropriate forum

[hey]

If it's only being used for school, just buy the cheapest thing you can find. You don't need to spend $600 to run a web browser, word, and email.

If battery life is a concern, you can buy a better battery and undervolt/clock the cpu.

[*Shinzon*]

The issue is that I need the laptop for school classes and I need an insurance policy in case my PC goes. I need to have a machine that can, if need be, do what my PC does. My pc lately is giving me all sorts of various errors and it's just caused by old components being wonky.

[Kerberoz]

Do you actually need a laptop? Usually better off spending the same amount of money on a desktop + tablet/netbook/high-end phone.

[*Shinzon*]

Yes, I already have an android phone and I don't particularly like or appreciate tablets. Practically I like the simplicity of a laptop.

[Gredival]

You need a laptop in law school to take exams on. Most everyone's typing speed far exceeds writing speed, and it is in one's best interest to be able to input as much information (spew as much shit) as possible during timed exams. Also the preferred method of note preparation is much more practical on a laptop.

That being said, you don't need a particularly high end machine to run bluebook or examsoft. Your choice should be dictated by what else you want the machine to be able to do.

You say you want a backup for your PC, what do you do on your PC? Gaming? Which games do you play right now, which do you want to be able to play, and what are the minimum resolutions you want to play at?

Also to help you stay in budget see if your school has any special deals. I know that Dell University has a lot of partnerships with schools and can get you really nice deals.

[*Shinzon*]

You need a laptop in law school to take exams on. Most everyone's typing speed far exceeds writing speed, and it is in one's best interest to be able to input as much information (spew as much shit) as possible during timed exams. Also the preferred method of note preparation is much more practical on a laptop.

That being said, you don't need a particularly high end machine to run bluebook or examsoft. Your choice should be dictated by what else you want the machine to be able to do.

You say you want a backup for your PC, what do you do on your PC? Gaming? Which games do you play right now, which do you want to be able to play, and what are the minimum resolutions you want to play at?

Also to help you stay in budget see if your school has any special deals. I know that Dell University has a lot of partnerships with schools and can get you really nice deals.

Cool, I'll have to check that out and see if the university has any partnerships with any companies. Basically in terms of serving as a back up it mostly needs to just be able to handle most multimedia tasks and light gaming. I haven't been able to really do much gaming lately but I'd prefer at least having the capability to play games on mediocre settings basically, so it doesn't need to be high end. Again just looking for something all around that's gonna give me snappy response for multitasking. Also you pretty much hit it on the head with taking notes.

[hey]

Yes, I already have an android phone and I don't particularly like or appreciate tablets. Practically I like the simplicity of a laptop.

You still may want to consider a netbook. It's basically a laptop, but smaller, with the cheapest, shittiest hardware they can find, that will run what you need for school just fine, but not much else, other than really old games, etc.

The money saved here can be easily get you a cheap computer that would be far better than a $650 laptop, should your computer die.

[Gredival]

Well I was faced with a similar situation about a year ago and I ultimately settled on this:

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineS...=22&l=en&s=dfh'

$690, Alienware m11x (Generation 1)

Can handle semi-modern games at decent settings on default resolution, and it's more than suitable for anything you encounter in law school. I made the choice to go ultra portable for the stellar battery life on normal use (7+ hrs), and easy on the back. In undergrad I went with a 17" laptop and it was a pain to haul it around all the time, especially when I already had a stuffed bag.

But the number one thing you can do to improve your experience imo, especially with a mobile laptop, is to upgrade to an SSD. If gaming isn't as big of a concern you can go with a cheaper machine and use the savings to pick up an SSD.

And if there's a significant chance your laptop will become your main machine, consider investing 100-200 more and going for a mid-range laptop in the 13-14" range. Asus has really good deals on gaming laptops in the low 1k area.

[hey]

Alienware

[Vandole]

$690, Alienware m11x (Generation 1)

[shaddix]

Again just looking for something all around that's gonna give me snappy response for multitasking.

upgrade to an SSD. If gaming isn't as big of a concern you can go with a cheaper machine and use the savings to pick up an SSD.

I would like to emphasize that this is more important than practically everything else.

[Isiolia]

Well I was faced with a similar situation about a year ago and I ultimately settled on this:

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineS...=22&l=en&s=dfh'

$690, Alienware m11x (Generation 1)

When my brother came back to school about a year ago (and moved in with me), he wanted to get a new laptop. We wound up getting him an m11X R2 for some of the same reasons. Size, battery life, plus honestly, despite it being Alienware, it was one of the better priced CULV laptops at the time. Plus, as it is a Dell, could get their service plan (which has been consistently the best for me at work).

I don't think they're worth $1k base like the current revision is though :/


Also, I agree, popping in an SSD will do more towards the snappy response/etc than basically anything else you can do right now.

[avelle]

Haters.

[Gredival]

See:

Size, battery life, plus honestly, despite it being Alienware, it was one of the better priced CULV laptops at the time.

I had 30% off from buying through my uncle's work. All in all I paid $700 for a laptop that can run Starcraft II and HoN. Plus decent value retention given brand and being able to tell derps on Craigslist that it was an i7? I don't see the problem here.

The only other machines in the 11" market that can actually game were the Timeline and Envy which were both more expensive and were in the "Might as well get my money's worth with a 14" gaming laptop" range.

[Omnipotent]

Asus transformer, and I mean this coming from someone looking for exactly what you wanted. I wanted something small to carry to classes, fun to play around with during down time and something I can type fast on and do my school work. Has polaris office for PP/Excel/Word, 15+ hour battery life and a great response for a keyboard which makes it great for notes. Also is only 450.

[jmc]

Asus transformer, and I mean this coming from someone looking for exactly what you wanted. I wanted something small to carry to classes, fun to play around with during down time and something I can type fast on and do my school work. Has polaris office for PP/Excel/Word, 15+ hour battery life and a great response for a keyboard which makes it great for notes. Also is only 450.

This is a decent idea too....also, if you have a microcenter near you the price would be $400 with their current $50 off any android tablet promotion.

[SwampdonkeyPLD]

If he's in law school though, and types his exams, I don't think the exam 4 software will work on it. He better check that out.

Edit: Also, I don't know what Polaris is, but if it doesn't have a table of contents function or a cite function, writing briefs/memo's is going to be a bitch.

[Sonomaa]

my brother got this
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004KNVK84
its fantastically fast, has the dual video card system (shuts off the big one when you are not gaming) and it has decent battery life. getting a model similar with like a corei5 would probably put you in a good price range