College and Laptops

Good advice on this thread. The one thing I would go against is trying to live off campus as soon as possible and avoiding the cafeteria. I think these things are very school specific depending on the quality and availability of on-campus housing the cafeterias. Plus, living off campus and not eating at a cafeteria makes it more difficult to meet people.

One big piece of advice I have is around studying. Being smart about how you approach it can result in either better grades, or the same grades but with less time spent. Study in the library, not your dorm room. There are far fewer distractions and it is much easier to focus. While sitting on your bed in your dorm room studying may "feel" really collegiate, you won't be as efficient. If you have a class that gets out in mid afternoon, go to the library until dinner instead of wasting time heading back to your dorm (same goes if you have say 1.5 hours between classes). And if you are the library and just not getting anything done (can't focus, exhausted), then leave. Come back to it later or the next day. All very basic advice and it may be obvious to some people, but it took me until my sophomore year to figure it out. And it had a big impact.

When choosing classes, base your class decisions off quality of professors rather than subject if at all possible. Toward this goal, befriend upperclassmen as they can give lots of good advice on professors.

In terms of computers, a Dell computer is another option especially for bang for your buck. I get emails with deals they have probably every other day. Today is for a laptop with 2GB of memory (you need at least this much), 15.4" screen and 250GB hard drive for $650. So, not too bad. Dells aren't my personal favorite, and I know some people don't like them. I prefer HP Pavilion computers, but you might pay a bit more.

But before buying one, check with your school first. See if they have better deals, which models they support, whether there is a student discount for windows or office software. At my grad school one could get Office premium edition for less than a third of what it would cost retail.

HP laptop would be perfect for you I think.

If you plan on having iTunes, do you plan on putting music on your computer?

Just taking a quick look on tiger direct, there are a few HP laptop's. There's one for $579 which would be good for what you need it for. There's a few more for around $750. They would be a bit faster, and have a bit more memory, possibly not even anything you would realize.

You really don't have to have a computer in college. I have one, and it's convenient, but there are plenty of computers at my school to go around. Heck, there's a computer lab in my residant hall with over 30 computers and hardly anyone uses it. If you have a jump drive, you can save all your stuff to it. Just make sure you don't lose it.

I pretty much just use my computer to play games and download music (legally). I don't know if it's worth the $700 I've spent on it.

If you are sure you want a laptop, you might look around at an office or electronics store and ask the clerks. Despite what many people think, some will tell you what you need to know. Also, the store I bought my computer from had weekly sales. My laptop was listed as $650 on every site I looked up on the internet, but I got it for $550.

If you're gonna get a PC, you should get a Lenovo. Their ThinkPads are built to last, should easily get you through college. R series is your best bet if you're only doing internet, classwork, iTunes. They're having a St. Patty's sale on their website for ThinkPads, base systems at $530.

I would also highly recommend a laptop with a trackpoint or something similar - this is the little ball usually in the middle of your keyboard used for a mouse. You just use your pointer finger, and you don't have to move your hands from the "home" position on your keyboard to use your mouse. A little weird at first but a million times easier to use than the touchpads (I don't like the friction created on the touchpads).

Hope this helps.

just some info wrote:

You really don't have to have a computer in college. I have one, and it's convenient, but there are plenty of computers at my school to go around. Heck, there's a computer lab in my residant hall with over 30 computers and hardly anyone uses it. If you have a jump drive, you can save all your stuff to it. Just make sure you don't lose it.

A jump drive is a good idea. Another option where you don't need to worry about it getting lost, stolen or damaged is using online storage (SkyDrive is one you can use for free). You can save 5GB of stuff online, giving you access to it wherever. If you have a hotmail account, you already have access to it (I know as I just tried it yesterday). (www.skydrive.live.com)

Having a laptop stolen or damaged is one big risk (both quite prevalent at many colleges), not just because of the cost, but what you lose. So, I would definitely recommend backing stuff up. Either with an external hard-drive (they are pretty cheap these days), if you have lots or pictures and music. Or if you are more concerned just about school files (papers, etc.), then something like skydrive where you don't have to worry about it getting stolen.

Find a direct deal through a deal site such as dealnews.com. As mentioned before, there are very frequent deals that can save you hundreds of dollars on PC's. Buying direct gives you more control over what you're purchasing.

I saved $1100 on my laptop purchase (saved roughly 50%) by using coupons available to anyone found on these sites. Do do some waiting and it will come to you.

Specs wise, get a 15.4" screen or smaller. You don't want to be lugging a 17" around campus. Look to get a Intel Core 2 Duo with at least 2ghz, 2GB+ of ram and a hard drive of at least 160gb. Get a DVD burner unless it's a lot more $ extra, get a larger battery (it's nice).

Don't: get any software accessories, waste money on a fingerrpint reader, case designs, extra software, or really any accessories. Gauge if you really need anything beyond a laptop with solid specs. Webcams and blue tooth could be nice, but make sure you'll use stuff like that.

Again, I'd recommend getting a good deal on more expensive PC than just picking one up with a cheap retail price. You'll typically get a better quality and better made PC. Lenovo/Thinkpad makes great machines, HP, Dell, Sony do a good job too. A solid route to go is to look at business models (Dell Vostro, Latitude). They\'re built noticeably tougher than a standard home/office laptop from most companies. You want something that will last 3-4 years, so get decent specs and a good build quality; I think that can definitely be had for under $1000

if you can hold off until summer, do so. quite often, brands will compete with each other for the back-to-school market and throw in additional goodies like printers, cameras, upgrads, drives, ipods (if apple), etc. that you might not otherwise be able to splurge on.

you could perhaps contact the adviser in your intended dept. and see if he or she recommends any specifics. marketing and advertising quite often push for macs due to the use of apple specific design programs, for example. others require PCs for econ math/stats programs. remember, if anything like this is required though, there is a high chance you will have access to a campus computer lab with everything you need.

above all, don't listen to TRG who just likes to see her word vomit everywhere on this forum and didn't address your question at all.

Thanks for the suggestions! I am not buying one until I get graduation money (late May). I always take a while to make decisions, so I want to figure out what I want before then. I plan to go into the finance/accounting area, so I am not if I need a special computer for those areas. Waiting for the summer deals sounds like a good idea. Has anyone had a Lenovo? I have never heard of these. thanks..

not sure*

Lenovo is the company that bought IBM's PC business. The computers look the same as when they were called IBMs.

If you are going into finance/accounting, you will probably need to get a financial calculator at some point. The most used ones are HP-12C and HP-17B. I would wait until you are in a class where you need one.

I would recommend checking out Dell's deals on refurbished/returned machines. I got one really cheap about three years ago, and haven't had any problems with it so far. You can usually find pretty high-end models for fairly low prices. Half the time, they've never even been used, just returned by the buyer or left behind after canceled orders.

I 2d that. Dell/HP tries very hard to be the price leader. The cheapest they have are not the top of the line, and the screen isn't the largest nor the small high density screen, usually 14-15". Their prices are very low for a new notebook.

ALWAYS buy from a huge billion dollar company like Dell/HP, Fujitsu, Sony, etc. because notebooks always break and need service, and the big companies have the best 800 numbers. You will need alot of help with windows, no matter what, it is really terrible, and has to be rebooted all the time.

Got an Asus eee recently and loving it. 2 pounds, fits in a coat pocket, runs Linux, keyboard just big enough to get used to touch-typing pretty quick, solid state hard drive, even has a builtin camera. Works great right out of the box. You can plug in a full size keyboard, mouse, monitor.

Some people install Win XP on it and are happy. I'd think that would tax the limited CPU and memory more, but people say it works well. But the preinstalled Linux setup already has great net functionality and comes with Open Office which is compatible with Word, Excel, etc.

The best news: it's friggin' cheap! As in 300 or 400 depending on which model. Google it, people are gaga for this. A similar model with a few inches bigger screen coming later (a few months?) probably a few hundred bucks more.

Forget lapTOPS, lapDANCES are where the action is at. You'll have time for computers later in life when you actually have to work. For now, hit the strip joints, drink it up, and live large. You're only young once.

Just don't be a major dumbass like kartelite and put it in your checked luggage when you travel.