Comments on: What laptop should I buy for college? (2013 edition)

By: Tien

Tien — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 05:16:26 +0000

LOL This review was too cute and so helpful! I literally laughed out loud! as I was reading the section you wrote about HP, written by a hurt customer hahah I am totally with you. My brother bought an HP laptop like a month after I bought my Lenovo. Two years in, while mine was still working as smooth as oil, he found his screen dead. Oy!

By: Naresh

Naresh — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 09:09:51 +0000

I need to buy a high end laptop. I am not able to decide between the Asus N550JV and the Lenovo Y510p. I will be using my laptop for running engineering programs like CAD, Catia etc.

By: Kompiuteriai Kaina

Kompiuteriai Kaina — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 15:27:05 +0000

I have got ASUS VivoTab and i love it very much! It's amazing how easy you can have and computer and tablet, two in one :)

By: niket

niket — Sat, 12 Apr 2014 17:46:43 +0000

nhinkle , I am searching for a long lasting laptop from 2 months and I have researched lot & many users are saying Dell quality is very bad now a days ,under 4 to 5 months they replaced motherboards,HDD,fan problems ,heating problems and many are saying Dell is not for long last. And many are saying they used Hp also & their quality is good long lasting and in my research I haven’t read much problems about HP quality & many are saying they will not buy Dell again.

…….So I am really super confused please suggest me one of these.

I am talking about these 2 specific models –

http://www.flipkart.com/dell-inspiron-15-3521-laptop-3rd-gen-pdc-4gb-500gb-ubuntu/p/itmdhz2rbh73qtvg

http://m.snapdeal.com/product/hp-15d009tu-notebook-laptop-3rd/1907556309

By: Jay francis

Jay francis — Wed, 26 Feb 2014 12:46:56 +0000

As an alternative to all the above, you can pick up a super nice used Thinkpad X200s for $150-$200 on ebay. It will have years off life left in it and more processing power than you'll ever need.

Then install a decent tiling manager and you'll be to work effectively with more open apps than if you had a wall screen. Resolution upgrades are much less effective than solutions like tiling managers, because using them to fit more stuff on screen requires (doh) smaller text. A good tiling manager gets round this completely - my subnotebook's 12" screen is just as usable as my 28" desktop now.

I'd also consider Linux rather than OS X or Windows, at least as a dual boot.

By: Lee

Lee — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 05:39:32 +0000

+1 on ASUS Zenbook. I own one and not only love its power but also its portability it is light and never cause me back pain which my previous laptop did.

By: Nur

Nur — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 16:24:07 +0000

I can't agree more with the HP. Yes I owned one before, during my warranty period, the cable didn't work and so I went to the HP centre for replacement. 5 months after that, the charger didn't work again. I insisted on buying a generic one and it works good until now. Now I'm getting mid-range ASUS laptop for my college.

By: Leisak

Leisak — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 03:45:07 +0000

I'm just starting a medical degree and want a computer thst is simple, lightweight, where I can do papers and print out reports. Any suggestions?

By: Amanda

Amanda — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 08:19:12 +0000

Hi nhinkle,

I would love your advice on which pc to buy if I need to run both advanced autocad 3D and Solidworks 2013. At home I have a Macbook with OS 10.6. I'm currently taking both a civil engineering class and a mechanical engineering class that uses these programs. I recently purchased an ASUS pc 4 GB RAM and 500 GB hard drive that came with Windows 8 but I'm afraid since its such a new product that it won't help me much in the engineering field. I have a 1 year student license with these programs but once I download on a pc at home thats it. At school we use desktop computers I believe they're Dell (but i'll check) with Windows 8. I've also noticed this ASUS is acting more like a tablet than a PC, esp with the touchscreen apps that it came with.

Do you recommend purchasing a Dell or HP to run these programs. I am thinking about getting a desktop at home but would prefer a pc. I really want to stay around $600 and do not want another MAC ! (what a waste of money)

Thank you :)

By: Lexine

Lexine — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 10:45:16 +0000

That was the most useful piece of writing I've ever read for laptop-seeking college students. Thanks very much!

I'm currently in a dilemma over the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon for its weight (non-touch because I won't use it much and to save $) and the Thinkpad T440s for its screen and battery life. Any advice as to which might be better?

I'm in my sophomore year and looking for a 14" laptop that can handle academic work as well as future office work. Willing to shell out for a quality device, so long as it can last me a good 4-5 years. It needs to be portable because I travel a fair bit: preferably no more than 4 pounds. Long battery life is, as always, a plus; average (6 hours and up) is fine. I'm in social sciences and we do more writing and research, so no need for spectacular graphics for design work. My pet peeve is a Windows 8 system that cannot be downgraded to Windows 7 - Windows 8 drives me nuts (hoping for better in Windows 9.)

I prefer Thinkpads because they've undergone military-grade testing, and the way my laptops get bumped around when I travel, they need to be able to take a beating.

Help in weighing these options would be greatly appreciated! Suggestions of different models and brands are welcome, but durability is the biggest draw for me.