I am going to be attending Oregon State University in fall of 2010, and I will need to purchase a laptop before doing so. I was looking at the Mac Book Pro 17inch, but the OSU website says that I need to have Windows for my Engineering program. Can someone recommend me a windows equivalent of the MB Pro for less than $2300? I really like the high resolution that the MB Pro offers, as well as the very minimalistic looks of the laptop. I also would like the laptop to stay quiet, and it does not need to play games. Thank you for your help! P.S. This is the website that says what the laptop needs to have for my program: http://engr.oregonstate.edu/students/wireless/recommend.html
http://www.pugetsystems.com/certified_sys.php?sys_id=25 Adding T9400 and 4Gb RAM sets you back under $2k Getting a 17" Inspiron with a T9900 and 4Gb is $1,303
MacBook equivalence: - HP Envy - more powerful (features Core i7M CPU and Intel Core 2 Duo for the 13inch model), better GPU, like the MacBook Pro, it's all in aluminum. - Dell Latitude E6400 - Ambient light sensor, backlit keyboard, powerful CPU option, 3 year warranty minimum - Option for Next Business Day OnSite Service (get your laptop fixed the next buisness day (or any other buisness day of your choosing) at the time you want, in front of you. Ultra easy to manage (1 screw provides you full access to the system internal). Reviews are excellent. Features a Quadro NVS 160 (Geforce 9400M but with 256MB dedicated memory, so it's faster - you can also overclock the GPU peaty high... laptop handles the extra heat well) - Features e-SATA, slim optical drive with blu-ray option, 9 hours of battery life (depending on your configuration) with a 9-cell battery, 5400RPM HDD is really fast... very close to a 7200RPM solution (7200RPM and SSD option available), supports up to 8GB of RAM. That is what I have, and I love it. You do NOT need to be a buisness to get this laptop from Dell Small Business. In Canada, during office hours tech support is from Ontario and not outsourced, service is great and they are very nice. If you order it, call to order, as you can negotiate (I just asked for a better price because I was not decided) a price.... They will give you a bunch of free upgrades on your system and cut down the price. They are very nice.
These are the minimum specs that I care to have 120gb or larger hard drive, 7200rpm or Solid State, will have a 500gb external HDD to put files on 2.1ghz C2D or equivalent/faster DVD drive, doesn't need to be built in, won't use it often The reason I would like a high resolution, not necessarily a large screen, is because I will be getting rid of my desktop computer and using a laptop as my primary computer. I don't want to lose the real estate that my 1680x1050 monitor gave me, but I want to sell the monitor for money or give it to my parents. QUOTE FROM [H]ard|Forum: I don't necessarily need a large screen. I want a high resolution. No brand preference. This will be replacing my desktop. I will be using the laptop for hw and notes in class. No games. Probably will use for movies if I go on a trip or a plane.
You know you can sync both your laptop and desktop... You setup a system so that every file you put in the location you want sync on your desktop. That is how I have my setup. Even my e-mail and RSS from Outlook, syncs with both computers, this even include my WInamp playlist and firefox bookmarks. In result preaty much my laptop = desktop. So I am able to work on my desktop when home, and continue my work on my laptop, and vise versa. I get to game and enjoy bigger real-estate on my desktop, and have power system on the go, all providing mobility.
I won't need the desktop for gaming because I won't be gaming anymore. Fact is I haven't bought a new game since christmas last year, and I haven't played a game since early this last summer. So I won't be missing anything by not having the ability to game. I was looking back at laptops again, and I think that by using boot camp to boot windows, the base model of the 15 inch Mac Book Pro with the 2.53ghz processor will be ideal for my needs. I will upgrade the laptop on the Apple Website to have a 500gb 7200rpm HDD, that way I can have plenty of room for any applications that I need to install for college and still have room for music on the OS X install. Does this seem like a good idea, or are there still better options for a laptop computer less than $1800? I am intrigued by the Mac because my windows computer, while running great for the first 8 months or so I owned it, has given me nothing but problems in the last year and a half...
Try looking at the toshiba A500. It has a 230M in it and you can configure it to under 1000. Here: http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cdetland.to?poid=457284
Ok, so keep the monitor, keyboard and mouse. And get a dock station for your laptop. All you do, is you come slide in your laptop and up you go, no USB/power cables to connect. Dell and Lenovo are the only brands with slide-in dock station support. You have to remember that: 1- You need to buy a full license of Windows 7... so your Mac just becomes more expensive. 2- You don't have Next Business Day onSite service... that means if anything breaks... expect to have your laptop back in 1-2 weeks.. that means NO COMPUTER for 1-2 weeks... can you handle that? 3- Battery life last a year to year an half life, if you use it everyday.. If you don't.. then it's LESS (yes, you read correctly). And Macbook Pro's battery is internal... you need to ship your system to apply pay service and battery. 4- Drivers for hardware for Windows (touchpad, keyboard for the special button, are managed by Apple... Apple hate Microsoft.. so you always need for updates and won't enjoy your system as the drivers will be full of bugs.. heck they can't even get iTunes to run smoothly on the PC) 5- SUPER glossy screen. I wish you great luck in doing serious work in a lit environment on it. I say look at Lenovos or Dell's high-end.. both are great system for serious work. And can be more powerful, and even have the same feature. I will upgrade the laptop on the Apple Website to have a 500gb 7200rpm HDD, that way I can have plenty of room for any applications that I need to install for college and still have room for music on the OS X install. Does this seem like a good idea, or are there still better options for a laptop computer less than $1800? I am intrigued by the Mac because my windows computer, while running great for the first 8 months or so I owned it, has given me nothing but problems in the last year and a half...[/QUOTE]
Dell Studio XPS 16 *UPGRADE*2.66GHz C2D P8800 (standard 2.13GHz C2D) Windows 7 *UPGRADE* E2E RGBLED Widescreen 1920x1080 w/ 2MP Camera (standard 15.6" LCD 1600 x 900) 4GB RAM 500GB Hard Drive *UPGRADE* Mobility Radeon HD 4670 wireless 802.11n card Total $1,574 equivalent comp for 200 and change less
Sounds good to me.. you can even upgrade the CPU further to a Core i7M. I don't know if Dell home laptop have the ability to be dock-able though, but I think it's not really a necessary feature. I would go with it, if you don't mind the glossy screen (I am anti-glossy screen person). The RGBLED will be kick-ass! Talking about providing color accuracy and brightness on a laptop screen.
