Another son going to college, what laptop to buy thread

[89911]

I'm not sure what problems have had with their laptops, but I still have every one that I purchased and they all still work. Even have a Dell that is well over 10+ years old that my son has installed Windows 7 on. The biggest issue I have is battery life, which after a while renders them more and more useless. Same with the Mac, as the battery life is growing increasingly shorter. They are a lot like cellphones in that with each generation, you get more for less.

[89911]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Keep trying to tell people that but they don't want to listen.

Ask him to open up the Mac Pro tower for you.

The level of design, engineering and construction is quite impressive.

Check out the radical design for the new generation MacPro.

Keep scrolling the page down.

Apple - Mac Pro

I agree, but you are dealing with a product that has a limited lifetime that will be bypassed by much cheaper products that offer faster speeds, better resolution, better connectivity. I'm afraid buying a laptop has changed from 5 years ago. The specs and the prices of the newest generations of laptops are much better then Apple and it is becoming increasingly difficult to pay this amount despite how well it is made. And it's not like they make them simple or inexpensive to upgrade if wanted.

[LSA]

Disagree on the Macs are the Porsches of laptops. They aren't nearly as user serviceable aka no diy! I can't stand tiny laptops anything under 15" just feels miniscule I suppose that is personal preference but the keyboard just feels wrong when I type and the whole thing feels like a toy.

Don't be mistaken about inside components it's all the same from mfg to mfg, it's all made in China and assembled in a different case Foxconn, Intel etc . That's really why I still can't jump on the apple bandwagon their markup is huge.

Check out Asus laptops if you're going to go with windows. I'm partial to their G series but I use it for games and IT work when I'm not at home. My first one I picked up from craigslist for $300 and I got 3.5 years out of it after some real abuse. Picked up one of these for less than those macbook airs above Amazon.com: ASUS Republic of Gamers G75VW-AH71 17.3-Inch Gaming Laptop: Computers & Accessories

[Cajundaddy]

I have both and I can't stand big clunky laptops.

Mac = complete freedom from virus and malware attacks, elegant keyboard, compatibility with everything and amazing 5hr battery life. $1300

Acer= 2 hr batt, clunky keyboard, constant software updates to keep the bad guys out, several virus and malware attacks in airports. $300

Both will be useful tools for college. No issues with internal hardware on either. Win OS is just so "last century".

[MRM]

Lots of good advice here. I am learning a lot from the debate between high-end/long lasting versus cheaper and planned upgrade soon. I really don't have a set budget. We're more interested in value than cheap, but if cheap is the best value, that's even better. I'm going to check out ASUS, Lenovo and Apple for now. Anything else I should put on the short list?

What is the issue with touch screens? Are they desirable or not ready for prime time?

[JR Indy]

Another vote for a Mac. My son is a CS major at UC and loves his. He has it set up to run Microsoft or Apple OS. The machine has never had a problem.

[89911]

One other point is that virus's, as far as my family of 6 goes, has seemed to fade away as problems nowadays. The only one that has any problems is my 85yo mom and some of my employees at work who should know better on what sites to go on and download. Personally, I haven't encountered one on one of my computers for years.

[RWebb]

the Macs have a much higher resale value also

if he was gung ho for an engineering or physical sciences, comp. sci. major then maybe a Win based unit

the mac is a nice gloss on Unix too so maybe even if he did have a comp. sci. interest...

I switched from Windoze to OX-X/mac a year ago, and while the transition was hellish, I won't be going back - Apple really put a lot of thought into making it easy to do computing tasks on the mac

but the real questions are:

what are his preferences??

what does the college like, support, or discount?

what will his friends be using?

Macs are very common in universities

[MRM]

That's a good point. I called his university and they don't sell, support or recommend anything. They leave it up to the students. However, the head of their bookstore did volunteer that she uses a MacBook Pro with the latest Windows Office suite.

He will be doing mostly word processing, Excel spreadsheets, things like that. Eventually he'll take some higher level economics course and will need to do some statistical analysis, light regression analysis, things like that. For now he'll be using it for taking notes, class projects, PowerPoint and writing his papers. He's planning to major in economics as a liberal arts major, not in the College of Business which would require more math, accounting, etc. No idea what his friends will have.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by MRM

Lots of good advice here. I am learning a lot from the debate between high-end/long lasting versus cheaper and planned upgrade soon. I really don't have a set budget. We're more interested in value than cheap, but if cheap is the best value, that's even better. I'm going to check out ASUS, Lenovo and Apple for now. Anything else I should put on the short list?

What is the issue with touch screens? Are they desirable or not ready for prime time?

Most of the laptop/notebook applications are not designed for touchscreen. Also, from a Man/Machine Interface, switching from laptop keyboard to touchscreen is silly. When I'm doing serious work on my Android tablet, I use an external keyboard and a mouse.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by red-beard

When I'm doing serious work on my Android tablet, I use an external keyboard and a mouse.

Sorry to hijack, MRM, but the above is interesting to me.

I have an old laptop I use when I get up in the morning. I am a very early riser so I like to get coffee, get back in the rack and check email, get news, surf, etc. I prefer the screen size of the laptop to my iPhone.

My wife has an iPad which I like but the lack of a mouse is the deal breaker for me, I have to have one.

So, what tablet do you use? What is the set up?

Thanks.

Sorry, MRM!

[red-beard]

Any of the Android tablets will allow you to connect a mouse and/or keyboard.

With Documents to Go (about $15) you can read/edit word, excel and power-point documents.
ES File Explorer (free) lets you have file access to everything including local network drives, shares, FTP sites, etc.
VPN is built in and I can access my work Network from anywhere.
Dell has an app to allow printing to local printers on the network. Most of the other manufacturers do as well.

I am using a Samsung Galaxy Note 8. (~$399, depending on color)

Amazon.com: Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 (16GB, White): Computers & Accessories

Combination keyboard, cover and stand: ($35.99)

Amazon.com: VSTN®Ultra-thin Bluetooth Keyboard for Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet(Samsung Galaxy Note 8, WHITE): Computers & Accessories

Any Bluetooth mouse ($26.99)

Amazon.com: Gigabyte GM-M7700B Compact Bluetooth Laser Mouse: Computers & Accessories

And finally, upgrade the internal storage by 32GB ($23.70)

Amazon.com: SanDisk Ultra 32 GB microSDHC Class 10 UHS-1 Memory Card 30MB/s with Adapter SDSDQUA-032G-U46A: Cell Phones & Accessories

And while this is not necessary, I like the full cover. The above cover/keyboard will still snap onto this case. ($14.99)

Amazon.com: Blurex Slim Case for the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 with a Multi-Angle Stand: MP3 Players & Accessories

Total cost around $500.

[red-beard]

So, you can use it as a pure tablet anywhere, but it can be used with a mouse & keyboard for more serious work.

[MRM]

Not a hijack at all, Paul. James, Paul, keep going. This might be a good alternative for us.

[red-beard]

Here is a pic of the setup. This is not the keyboard case. But the keyboard case has real keys, not rubber push buttons.



I use an AT&T Elevate (4G/LTE) Wireles/Wifi unit when I'm away from home or the office.

You might think about a desktop for serious work and then one of these for everything else. All together is under 1 lb

[red-beard]

Oh, I forgot, if you connect the power cable to a PC's USB port, the internal storage and the micro-SD card come up as flash drives...

[nostatic]

My son is still using one of my old Powerbooks. I think it is 6 years old. Still runs despite him beating the crap out of it.

Due to some nerve inflammation typing is painful. One good use of the tablets is the dictation is well integrated and makes up (somewhat) for lack of a real keyboard. Frankly I don't find the tablet + keyboard to be compelling. Requires you to carry more crap and is not particularly elegant. Might as well buy a Macbook Air - size/weight will be roughly equivalent and you'll have a better user experience imho. Though you lose touchscreen ability (which may or may not be important - depends on the app).

[nostatic]

James, do you ever connect to projectors? That is another capability that is a must-have. Also, can Android to encryption/remote wipe? iOS does this easily.

[red-beard]

Yup, $15

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Adapter-Hdmi-3Fhu-Galaxy/dp/B0080CXSOU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375912442&sr=8-1&keywords=bluetooth+to+hdmi

And yes, Android can do full encryption and remote wipe.

[red-beard]

Yup, $15

Amazon.com: Samsung Adapter Hdmi Epl 3Fhu For Galaxy S3: Cell Phones & Accessories

And yes, Android can do full encryption and remote wipe.