Need a laptop for school!

[Vitaliy]

Can anyone recommend me a good laptop that i can use for school. I am going to college this year and I need a new laptop. I need a light weight one that's easy to carry around. I have been looking, but all of the light weight ones do not have a cd rom, and I think I might need one for school! I also want lots of battery life. I am trying to spend up to $650. Can anyone recommend a laptop that is close to my guidelines?

Thanks!

[mDust]

Good recommendations would depend on what you'll be using it for at school. Here is a link to pricegrabber with a search for laptops under $650. You can narrow down your search by filtering for exactly what you need/want. When you narrow it down to a half dozen models, use the compare tool on them and narrow your selection further. Then post links to them with what you expect to be doing with the machine and it will be much easier to determine what will work for you. Feel free to ask any other questions as well.

[Vitaliy]

Well I am majoring in computer science in college. I am not sure the specs I really need, just need internet, cdrom/dvd, vista, not too heavy, good battery, and being able to use it as my main computer too, like playing games (nothing that requires a great graphics), surfing the net, staying connected etc. Can you help me narrow the possibilities?? Thanks your help is appreciated!

[mDust]

These are all about as good as it gets for sub-$650 laptops.
They all have
-decent processors and 4GB of RAM which will allow you to multitask easily
-graphics chipsets that will allow you to casually game
-wireless N
-Windows 7...which is better than Vista
-DVD burners
-320GB HDDs minimum
-all under 6lbs

The only issue is battery life. One lists its battery life as 2.75 hours (which isn't good) and none of the others even supply that info. You can probably find out by finding each laptop on the manufacturer site or elsewhere, but I didn't feel like doing that. Set the power-saving settings in Windows to "max battery" and the battery should last you all day through your classes as long as you aren't constantly using it.

[Vitaliy]

I think I have found a good computer. It is a Dell studio 15. I found it for $599 on their website.

You can add anything you want to it, and this is what I debating on adding:

It has a 2010 Intel® Core™ i3-350M 2.26GHz (3M cache) , for $35 more I can upgrade it to NEW 2010 Intel® Core™ i3-370M 2.4GHz (3M cache). Should I do the upgrade?

It has a 3GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz, for $45 more I can get 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz. Should I upgrade?

It has a 56 Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell), For $40 more I can get 85 Whr Lithium Ion Battery (9 cell). Should I upgrade?

If I upgrade all of that my total comes to $719. Should I upgrade all of that, or is can I leave something out?

Also, in general, do you think it is a good laptop, regarding its specs?

Link: http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/noteb...55&cs=19&s=dhs

it's the $599 one.

Thanks!

[diluzio91]

Hmm... imho, i hate them... big hot and low peformance... if you are willing to spend 720 you would be able to find a better laptop on egg from asus or someone with a discrete GPU

[mDust]

Since this is a light duty laptop, I'd say the processor upgrade is optional. The performance difference between those two i3s is negligible. I'd pass on the ram upgrade as you likely won't even use the 3GB at any point in time and if you find out you could use more, it's easily upgradeable in the future. I'd spring for the 9-cell battery without thinking twice. The bigger battery means you aren't going to have to worry about recharging in class.
However, one thing I'd definitely consider getting is a graphics chipset. HD video will be choppy and most games (depending on what kind of games you play) won't work at all without one. It is another $150, so it may or may not be worth it for you.

[OvRiDe]

HD video will be choppy and most games (depending on what kind of games you play) won't work at all without one.

Where that might be true on the gaming part, the Core i3 has a GPU onboard that is capable of decoding 2 HD streams simultaneously. It does have enough power to play some games but your not going to rival any Crysis benchmarks. I just recently picked up an i3 lappy for my daughter and from experience.. HD video is definitely NOT choppy. So far the i3 has done an excellent job at what every she has thrown out it, and the battery life with the 6 cell has been really good. She normally doesn't run it down, but I know there have been several 3-4 hour stints. She does a lot of video chatting since she is deaf, so her network usage is pretty constant, unlike normal web surfing, and the battery seems to hold up pretty good.

For school work in general, I can't imagine it won't do anything you need it to. For an entertainment PC ie. Music and videos, it should be more then adequate. For a Gaming PC, well your not going to find much in the price range you listed.

[mDust]

the Core i3 has a GPU onboard that is capable of decoding 2 HD streams simultaneously.

Good to know. I didn't think it was that powerful. I've only seen complaints about it to be honest.