What laptop to get for college?

[agentx619]

I'm going to be going to the University of Florida (Go Gators!) next year as a mechanical engineering major, so I am required to get a laptop for school. Now my first dilema is whther or not to bring along my desktop also. The problem with bring my desktop would be that Id have no computer when I go back home and also that I might spend too much time playing games in college, which I want to limit. So if you have any advice on that elt me know.

As for the laptop, I am undecided if I should get a nice gaming laptop so I wont need to brign a desktop and I can still occasionally play games. But I think my best bet would be for a laptop that isnt too heavy, has good battery life, is pretty fast, can store and play movies and music, and I want to be able to play games of a graphics quality of HL2 and CSS on the laptop (Mainly just to be able to play episode 2 + 3). I really don't want a laptop that would go above that graphics quality, so my ultimate question is: Which laptop is best for this purpose?

Thanks in advance for your help

 

[Asus]

I would get a notebook with Centrino or Turion mobile CPU. They would have the best size/weight and battery life. An Athlon 64 (desktop CPU) would be OK but it would not have near as much battery life as the mobile CPUs. Some also put a better battery in the notebook with more cells (6 cell, 12 cell etc).
If you are going to take it around though and plug it into a wall outlet when you sit down then you are just going to want a slim notebook.

Intel has Core Duo CPUs out for notebooks (Dual Core) and are pretty nice. I don't think AMD has Turion X2's out yet, their dual core notebook chip.

For graphic chips in a notebook ATI is going to be the best, Nvidia is next and Intel is basic as a rule of thumb.

I have not looked at laptops for awhile so I don't know what kind of models HP, dell or any of them have put together atm.

 

[hungryduck]

I would get a notebook with Centrino or Turion mobile CPU. They would have the best size/weight and battery life. An Athlon 64 (desktop CPU) would be OK but it would not have near as much battery life as the mobile CPUs. Some also put a better battery in the notebook with more cells (6 cell, 12 cell etc).
If you are going to take it around though and plug it into a wall outlet when you sit down then you are just going to want a slim notebook.

Intel has Core Duo CPUs out for notebooks (Dual Core) and are pretty nice. I don't think AMD has Turion X2's out yet, their dual core notebook chip.
For graphic chips in a notebook ATI is going to be the best, Nvidia is next and Intel is basic as a rule of thumb.
I have not looked at laptops for awhile so I don't know what kind of models HP, dell or any of them have put together atm.

AMD's turion64 X2 is out right now....a few companies are selling laptops with them.
If you really want to spring for a nice machine...pick up a 15.4in macbook pro...and you can still play source games at a nice quality through windows....(You can install windows on a mac now too, through bootcamp).
Otherwise, I'd reccomend a dell e1705 or an XPS laptop....you can get a nice one with a 7900GS video card for around $1300 if you can find the right coupon codes.

Check this comparison on mobile processors out.
http://crave.cnet.co.uk/laptops/0,39029450,49273534,00.htm

 

[agentx619]

Do you think the XPS M1210 would allow me to play CS:S and HL2? Because if it could, it seems like the perfect one for me. Especially since itll be light and easy to carry around. The only thing I am unsure of is how high do I need to go with the customization. If anyone could help me out with what I need to pick it would be great. Like I am unsure what I need to connect to wireless internet (if anything?), if the screen size will allow for HL2 or CSS to play, and if the graphics card it coems with is good enough?

Link: http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=M1210S1&s=dhs

 

[SimonomiS]

Get this.

I'm just kidding, it's not even in production, I just wanted to post it somewhere because it's so drool worthy.

 

[Dancingwllamas]

Depending on your will-power, I would bring your desktop with you. Typing long lab reports kinda sucks on a laptop, but laptops are nice when inputing data into Excel for various projects you get assigned.

That Dell will allow you to play CSS and HL2, but it likely will not be all that great looking. Wireless is often very helpful (especially if there are many hotspots around school, which there should be at any self-respecting engineering school).

 

[Kamikazie]

just wanted to post it somewhere because it's so drool worthy.

Or this.

 

[Hazar]

another option would be to get a macbook pro or whatever they're called and install the bootcamp software.

 

[hungryduck]

Or this.

That think looks stupid.