Eyes on Final Fantasy Forums > Reference > Help Forum > I'm finally getting a laptop! (Help, please?)

[Azar]

Advice for college: go for portability over power. You should still try to get a Core 2 Duo, I'd say, but go for a small screen (maybe 14") and the lightest model you can find. I have a workhorse, and I never take it anywhere because it's too heavy and just a bother to carry. My roommate's 3 lb. Vaio, on the other hand, goes anywhere.

I'd definitely shell out the cash to get a sleek unit, if I were to do it over again.

[Kes]

Also, keep your eyes open for student discounts and any sort of sale. Just about everyone I know who doesn't have an Apple has the same Dell because they had this crazy good sale last year in the middle of the summer.

[Momiji]

Well, the one I have my eye on is a Dell, actually. I'm pretty sure it's what I'm going to get; it has everything I want and more for a decent price. I don't really care if everyone else has the same one. xD

[o_O]

Unless you're gonna get a Dell XPS, I'd strongly advise against a Dell.

Azar gives good advice too. I stopped taking mine anywhere because it's a 17" screen and consequently, the battery life sucks and it weighs a ton. Not that I bought it for taking to university, but I did for a while, before I got sick of it.

[Momiji]

Originally Posted by o_O ^

Unless you're gonna get a Dell XPS, I'd strongly advise against a Dell.

Why? o.O

[Ouch!]

Because Dells are monstrosities. I'm sure Face will give you a more detailed reason.

My suggestion is to look to see what deals your school might offer. I bought my MacBook Pro through my University and got it for $300 less with my student discount. It also landed me a free 8GB Video Nano iPod. If your school offers student deals, you might do well to take advantage of them.

[Omecle]

Sager are definitely the notebook of choice. They have cheap and expensive options and they are just pure awesome laptops -- they use the Asus chassis, a lot more customisable as to what you want put in, and the customer service is great.

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As face said, don't go near Dell unless you have enough to spend on a really decent XPS. Every single person I talk to who has bought a mid-range notebook or desktop from Dell have always been extremely disappointed.

But yeah, you'd want Core 2 Duo, late 7's/early 8's nVidia, a decent chunk of RAM (you'd probably get by with 2GB RAM on your budget, maybe...), and an internal HDD that is 7,200RPM (I notice last time I checked at notebooks that a lot of them were 5,400RPM which is just bleh).

You should get an external HDD later down the track to store stuff on, but I wouldn't say it's completely necessary with your budget currently.

[o_O]

Originally Posted by Ouch! ^

Because Dells are monstrosities. I'm sure Face will give you a more detailed reason.

That pretty much covers it.
Seriously though, I owned a Dell desktop machine and used a Dell laptop from work, and both gave me the worst computing experience I've ever had. The main reason I advised against Dell is that their customer support is notoriously bad - just Google "Dude, you got a dell" for some entertaining stories. If you ever need your Dell fixed, you might as well do it yourself because apparently they don't believe in warranties.