Laptops

[Jakemaster]

Hey guys.  Next fall I will be shipping off to college, and of couse Ill be getting a laptop.  Right now Im probably going to Kansas, and because Id be saving so much money for my parents if I went there (not to mention I can probably get some scholarship money for my ACT score), I am going to try and convince them to get me a nice laptop.  

So, who makes the best laptops?  I need one that can handle basic school stuff, but also CAD and, of course, flight sim.

[ozzy72]

Well there are a couple of factors here;
a) cost
b) Moores Law
By the time you go the power of computers will have advanced quite a bit (double every 18 months according to Moores Law)

[masmith]

If I was you Jakemaster I would go either for a Sony VAIO, good screen, good graphics, Ok CPUs but great.

Or if you want gaming quality go for alienware.

[ctjoyce]

Supprisingly enough, HP makes excellent laptops. For $1400 you can get

HP dv5000t 15.4'
Intel Centrino Core Duo T2400 1.8Ghz)
2GB DDR2 RAM
nVidia GeForce Go 7400 128
80GB HDD
DVD / CD Burner

$1150

Alienware are good, but when you can get this package at that price, it seems silly to do so. I personally like www.cyberpowerinc.com or www.voodoopc.com

Cheers
Cameron

[Jakemaster]

Well anything right now is just what if, I dont know IF my parents will actually get me what I want.  The alienwares seem really nice to me because they have SLI 7900GS.

[Politically Incorrect]

I took CTs sdvice and bought from Cyberpower, got a Asus Z81sp at a good price but at that good price you get no support at all.
Took almost 2 months to get the laptop and after that i can't even get a email answer, I bought XP Pro and all they send is the typical "recovery disc" which is useless and doesn't allow you access to the repair console I know this due to the pc not booting becasue of a "missing or corrupt file" couldn't repair it and the "recover CD" wouldn't help had to use another XP Pro disc I own to even get it to format the drive, again attempted to contact customer support which BTW they flaunt 24/7 support for life. Well Still haven't got anything back from them, they don't answer the phone or when they do put you on hold and leave you there.

you may get a goodprice but you will get no support so I recomend buying elsewhere even if the cost is a little more. So I can't recomend Cyberpower

Don't get me wrong its a excellent PC and CT was spot on about the Z81sp being what I wanted for my needs, it is the customer service that sucks and too me that ranks higher as to whether or not i deal with someone again or recomend them more so than cost.

Killernotebooks is a place to look at, that and he is willing to help you out even if you didn't buy from them This will be where I buy my next one shortly.

[richardd43]

I have a 10 pound HP with the 17 inch screen and a full keyboard. If you don't push it to hard it will do about 45 minutes on the battery.

But once you plug it into the wall it is one heck of a computer. It came with Media Center installed and included an exterior TV card that works pretty good.

No, I would not buy another laptop of this type, would like something a little more portable.