Ok so, happy 100th topic to me. I've been putting off posting my 100th just because it's such a baller number.

Ok so check it... I've waited to get a laptop for awhile. At the moment I have a fairly low-end desktop that is slowly disintegrating. I, in part, want advice as to what sort of computer I should probably get. I'd imagine I need a laptop of some sort, but I don't know the market as well as you all do. I definitely don't want to be spending big bux, but I can probably muster at most 800 dollars. Maybe more if there's reason to, maybe not even that much. Do you think my desktop will last? I've had it for like two years and I abuse it pretty hard.

I also have an old computer lying around that I could probably scrap for parts, but I tried starting it up about a year ago and the video didn't work. Computer started up fine other than that

What else should I say?

Get something with a good battery life as opposed to a gaming laptop. Trust me, any decisions to get a "gaming" laptop now will come back to bite you in the ass a few weeks into the semester.

2 years isn't very old for a computer. Not anymore. I've used my last one for 3 years and now my little brother is using it for almost a year and it still works nicely. Doesn't play all the newest games anymore ofc but upgrading a 2 year old pc is definitely an option. What do you currently have?

We should start a "so you want a laptop..." thread and have a subtopic be college laptops...

IMO you want:

-The cheapest one you can find that is still durable. My Dell sucked, but the Acer I had for the last three years has worked great. I upgraded because I wanted to to my lenovo, not because it broke. I bought it from Microcenter and it was abut $350 - they usually have a laptop for a sale price around there. And if you get an expensive one, you're walking around campus with a huge STEAL ME sign hanging off your back. Also, college life can be inadvertantly hard on your laptop - even if you take good care of it, nothing's to say your dumbass roommate won't trip over the cord in a drunken stuper and fuck it up.
-Something light: don't give me that BS about never taking it to class...at some point you'll join a study group, or you'll find a group of friends that you have to walk a mile across campus to see.
-PC is preferable. I had to use a lot of programs that were PC only - no Mac versions. Usually my campus had the programs loaded on school computers, but your mileage may very with how accessible those are (for ex may not be 24 hr, may have a class in the lab, may all be occupied, etc). You don't want to end up with a deadline in three hours and no way to complete the project.
-Long battery life you must. Actually, a battery life of five hours should be enough. My Acer was two hours on energy save mode, and that was enough for what I needed. That, or else buy an extra battery pack.
-Do not I repeat not get a netbook. They're affordable and nice and small, but most of them do not have a CD drive, which makes installing software - if it is even possible - a major PITA.
-If you're doing a business/arithmetic/number crunch major, get a laptop with a number pad. This is a little counter intuitive to 'something light,' but my full number pad saved my life in my accounting and finance classes.

Really, I wouldn't spend more than $500 if I were you.

This. Ask me if you have any questions, plox.
I really don't care how much something weighs. I don't even think they'd make a computer I couldn't carry. Worst case scenario I put it in a backpack and carry it on my back. I imagine I'll use my laptop in class.
This actually brings up a good point. One of my classes, chemistry, seems like it has a whole bunch of online homework that is very math-involved. I don't even know how to use a numberpad, but I imagine it would be painful to try and do it without it.

My roommate is a nerd. The rest of what kame said I agree with.

Congrats on the 100th post lols

I agree with aristocrat... There's no need to get a "Gaming" laptop...
just get a laptop that has okay graphics and okay processor. an i3 with integrated graphics is already able to play games like Left 4 dead.
Gaming laptops are super low on battery life and hard to carry around.

Oh...using a numpad without practice is just as painful as using the top row...

And you say you don't care about weight, but I bet you will.

EDIT: Wait, are you inferring nerds don't drink excessively? Or are you saying you will have only one roommate for the duration of your laptop's lifespan?

13" is pretty much the perfect size.

I've got a lifebook now that's ridiculously light. I'm very pleased with it, but of course it was ridiculously expensive. 1.67 kg is really hard to beat.

I was pondering implying the first for a moment, but then I just decided I wanted to describe my roommate in brief. I left it up to you to decide if a nerdly person drinks.

I say that I don't think I care about weight because I just can't imagine such a thing as a tiny weight phasing me.

Need something lightweight and mobile, but still have a keyboard? Try a netbook or chromebook. They usually are lightweight and have great battery life.

If that's not your style you can always try a tablet, which range from very simple to being a tablet PC. They tend to be more lightweight than netbooks and even allow you to take notes the old fashioned way. May be easier to read digital texts as well.

Or you could go with a regular laptop. Compared to the above two options it's going to fall flat on its face, you may think of them as mobile, but unless you do a lot of traveling, you'll find that the "mobile" allure isn't always very alluring. If you do lug it to classes every day it's going to be a large and constant nuisance, since presumably you'll have gotten a large screen since it serves as your dorm computer as well. I'll give you a list of reasons why getting a laptop for college is a bad idea:


Portability
Most laptops with larger screens and decent cooling are going to not only be heavier, but more bulky and unwieldy. It's really just going to be like an extra book that you drag around, which can quickly grow annoying. Not to mention when it's parked on your desk it's going to be hooked up to at least a mouse, perhaps some headphones, and a wired internet connection (optional, but may be faster than the wireless the uni offers). That's just the basics, you could also have it hooked up to an additional larger monitor and a keyboard. Now when you want to bring it somewhere you have to unhook up all of that stuff (let's face it, in college you're going to be lazy).

Power
If you think that your laptop is going the be the only thing you need to drag along you're horribly mistaken. Unless it has an ungodly battery life you're going to be bringing your power cord. Which is just one more thing to carry.

Distraction
Oh sure sitting there in lecture and writing notes on your laptop is just a grand idea isn't it? The hell it is unless you have some super zen like discipline. Too many college students have already fallen victim to booting up their computers and jumping on the internet or playing games instead of paying attention to the lecture.

Typing Notes
Typing notes in lectures may work for a philosophy or literature class. That's the extent of it, really. The harder into the science you get and the more you'll find out that your word processor is downright terrible at recording mathematical formulas and dimensional analyses. It's downright impossible in calculus classes when the professor starts drawing things. Unless of course, you're a master at creating interactive Mathematica functions. It's a damn hassle and far easier just to write it out on a sheet of paper (or alternatively, a tablet).

Cost
The mac daddy of it all, cold hard cash. The aforementioned technical problems (weight, battery life) can be remedied easily by spending more money. Spend enough and you can even get a machine that has a respectable battery life and can play Skyrim at high settings with respectable frame rates. But even if you did have the money to drop on such a machine, I doubt you would want to subject it to trekking all over campus -- it also makes you a target for theft. Unless money just doesn't matter to you in the slightest, don't bother.

---

There are plenty of reasons to get a nice big sturdy desktop, preferably with a case that locks. It's cheaper to the same amount of power, and you can run the latest games no problem. And it may be wise to secure it to your desk as well -- regardless of how vigilant you are of locking the door when you leave, you can't be assured that your roommate is and theft can be a problem (all the more reason not to get a laptop).

More options include a higher quality smartphone as a makeshift graphing calculator or just use an actual calculator (Wolfram Alpha Mobile). In my Chemistry experience I've never needed more than a basic TI-30X, but it wouldn't necessarily hurt to have a fancier graphing calculator (although I've never found a use for one). I advocate learning how to do your math without a calculator unless it's for just raw calculation (which the TI-30X is more than sufficient for).


Convenience is the ultimate key here. A smartphone, for example, is something you never forget, can easily pick up, and can slide in your pocket no problem. A tablet is a bit heftier but still is easy to grab and just go with. A laptop is not.

Eww dislike netbook, tablet and chrome book...I haven't seen the latter, but the ones I've seen of the two previous do not have a CD drive, and you need that capability for classes. Not everything you'll use is a digital download.

Have you... actually used one? I find it astonishing that you're recommending a chromebook.

I find 15" the perfect size, if only because the keyboard will actually be wide enough to let me type comfortably at full speed. Screen's also larger but only physically. Chances are you're still getting 1366x768 if you don't pay extra.

Seems like 15" cheap notebooks with full number pads tend to be made by HP, and HP fucking sucks. Hell, look at their goddamn arrow keys.

Ahahahahahahahahaha are you kidding me. They're the size of freaking PSPs now.

You just don't have big enough pockets.

EDIT:

Don't get a netbook.

I forgot to mention that I have a smartphone. It fits in my pockets just fine (if only barely). Also a TI-84 Plus.

What's so great about a chromebook?

I like the idea of a netbook, but the screen size really irritates me. I hate being so limited spatially. Some time ago I was stuck on my mom's netbook for a day, and when the power came back on, I was so refreshed to finally have my 19" monitor (20"? somewhere around there) again.

Is there a way I can ensure my desktop will maintain its life for another couple years so I can get a low end laptop/large netbook/whatever? At least two more years I'd hope... I've been getting some pretty extreme lag lately for no real reason, like to the point of youtube being unusable due to system lag.

Maybe you should uh.. make a point so your opinion means something?

I could get a USB CD drive.

Keyboard size doesn't matter too much to me.

USB CD Drive is another piece that could break, that you'll have to carry around, and could get lost. I know in a perfect world none of those things matter, but you should be preparing for the worst case imo. Longevity trumps others.

EDIT: Also, you do know that the capability of a netbook is a fraction of a laptop, right? I know they've gotten a little better, but you'll start burning through processor power fast if you have word, internet, and any other program open at the same time.

I haven't used a CD on my desktop in a year. My work laptop is different, as I have a use for it.
Use google docs. Automatically saves your notes online so you can access them anywhere, including on your desktop. You're not going to have any other program open at the same time. Well maybe, I don't know. My 9" netbook is awesome, and so long as I don't push 1 GB of memory, it's fine. It's tough to use GIMP on it, but far from impossible. I'm starting to think you don't actually own a netbook and are trying to use a laptop as a primary computer.

Google Docs is passable for taking notes but it's inadequate as a primary word processor.

Netbooks aren't as weak as Kame claims but it's definitely slow enough to have noticeable delays for tasks that should happen nearly instantly. Especially for people who have trouble maintaining their computers' software properly.

laptop keyboards are inadequate as a primary word processor keyboard.

The average pc component is going to last 5-8 years on average which means your 2-year old computer just reached ~30 in human years.

First of all make sure the temps are pretty low which is the number 1 factor in electronic device longevity. And hopefully you've never overclocked your system, for this also reduces the life of the component significantly. Quantifying these factors is pretty difficult though. I've read somewhere that for every 10°C a part runs hotter it's going to last half as long.

If you plan on upgrading to make it last longer I recommend another 2 or 4 GB or RAM. 2GB is fairly low these days and when they are used up your computer slows down to a crawl whenever you switch or start programs.

To fight your lag problems I recommend reformatting it because if you didn't maintain (remove software, CCleaner, defrag, etc.) your computer for 2 years it's gonna be cramped with a ton of junk that's slowing down the system. Windows installation shouldn't take more than an hour and often brings slow computers back to new health.

In any case update your drivers, especially for the video card, but also main board. This can also be the cause of weird issues if ignored when newer programs don't work properly with older drivers.

Maybe you don't understand what I mean when I say
My room went unvacuumed for about two years. My computer remained in the same spot, barring a few times it was moved for LAN and such. The last time I opened the case, everyone in the room started coughing, and that's not an exaggeration. How much would it cost to get a RAM upgrade? Is it really worth it? What else can I update cheaply? What about my old computer... Would it be worth it to unearth it?

So far on my to-do list is to get a can of that aerosol spray stuff for computers and formatting, then? Also driver updates