what do i look for in a laptop?

[cgk123]

my sister says she needs one for college so what should it have for this purpose?
is one of these desknotes a good idea at this price?

http://www.nordichardware.com//revie...index.php?ez=5

[Mirclbob]

If she is taking it to class, don't get the Desknote style. (fast & EZ to upgrade but no internal battery & too much of heat for laptop usage) If you can look for a used/refurb IBM T-20. PIII 450-700 w/ 128-256 ram and 6g or larger HD & 14" screen. Make sure case hinges, LCD screen, & drives are in good shape. Add a new battery, Win2K or XP a w/p progam & she's good to go. Its a good reliable portable workhorse. Check e-bay or local off lease places. Should be $350-575 US$'s. Bob
BTW if she's just gonna use notebook in the dorm then the Desknote is fine. I've got a couple of them (using on right now).
PM or email me & I'll get you a good price.

[cgk123]

i assume she will use it for at least some classes but at leat 50 % of the time at home/dorm.

what do you do about warranty on an old p3 laptop?

[Mirclbob]

Dell or Gateway for good warranty, but you're gonna pay. The real problems w/ laptops are user abuse (drop, spill, screen damage) you'll need a good extended warranty to cover those items. Common machine failures are battery, lcd inverter, cpu fan & hinges. If you're gonna go new w/ extended warranty, check this out: http://catalog.us.dell.com/CS1/cs1pa...44&l=en&s=dhs.
New chipset, decent graphics, great battery life. Figure $15-1600 w/ extended warranty & accidental coverage. Bob

[Namek]

Well first and foremost:

She's going to be using this at college?

Yes.

Will it be running on a battery a lot?

?

If so...I recommend going with an Intel Centrino / Pentium M based computer.

This will provide an awesome combination of power/battery life.

As for what company to go with?

Depends really..

If you want the whole warranty deal...I'd probably go with Dell.

If you want the lowest price..I'd look towards http://www.powernotebooks.com -- They have a P-M / Centrino notebook that starts at $1499 and has a decent set of components in it--esp. for a laptop

Also, don't forget to check out AMDMB.com's Pricegrabber.com price service. It helps you and us. (link on the right --->)

Namek

[cgk123]

i have never went to college and never used a alaptop at all let alone there, so i am not sure exactly how much a laptop will be used in the classroom, it may just end up being a dorm thing/take home thing.

any college kids here know how much one would actually use the battery in class versus how much it would be used in dorm room or library?

another big point is price; i think she wants it for about 1000 usd inc warranty

[Mirclbob]

You can find good new laptop at that price point but not w/ a 3 yr warranty & accidental damage coverage. That kind of warranty coverage runs about $250-450 for the warranty alone. Be careful on the low end machines some like Winbook & ESC (Desknote)are know for terrible customer support. You can do a new Dell or Compac/HP laptop around $1000-1100. Something like an Inspiron 1100 w/ 1.8 or 2G celeron, 14" TFT, 1 battery, DVD, 128 ram, 20-30G HD, full 3yr mail in plus accidental damage. Make sure it has both LAN & PCI wireless capabilities. Look for Intel cpu as the AMD's use more power & run hotter. BTW Tell her to be careful those things grow can legs. Bob

[Kilroy1231]

Quite honestly I have seen one undergraduate student bring a laptop to class... grad students tend to bring laptops to class often (though my experience is limited to not quite one year) the desks here are just too small and slanty to facilitate laptop usage. It may be different elsewhere but maybe not. Take that into consideration though. I can reccomend to not get a laptop (not a desknote) which uses a desktop processor as they are pretty loud, huge and eat batteries like a cop eats donuts.
I have a laptop (along with a desktop) here at the university and the laptop is somewhat overkill for what I use it for, mostly papers, watching movies, playing music and the occasiona game...
I would suggest a low end Pentium M laptop (by low end I mean low speed). I would reccomend Dell or IBM but that might be because I have only had experiences with Dell and IBM laptops (these experiences have been good by the way) however you may be able to get a good deal on a P4M laptop that these guys are trying to get rid of. P4M may not be the latest and greatest but it is probably adequate for what your sister requires.

[noahm3]

Personallly?

I would go for a 1ghz+, 128mb+ram, 20gb+ HD, a DVD/CD-RW drive, and fairly good battery life. Oh, and at LEAST 16mb video memory.