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Laptop Buying Tips

 
Tips For Laptop Buyers

It's that time of season! The hunt for a new laptop for university! There's plenty of discussions in the forums going on right now about which laptop to buy and advice on computers. We've posted articles previously on recommended computer info, McMaster tech tips, advice on buying a computer for university (desktop or laptop?), discussed whether laptops are good in class or not, and written in many other tech articles, as well as hundreds of discussion threads about laptops and computers.

But when it comes down to it, if I were to choose a laptop, I would pick one based on the following five criteria (see below). I'm interested in hearing what your criteria is! Post a reply with what you're looking for in a laptop!
a) Thin (you don't want to carry around a bulky brick, especially in a backpack)

b) Light (don't get a 'desktop replacement' laptop! They are soooo heavy. Thats what I bought in highschool and it was a mistake, light is the way to go. You're carrying it around everywhere and you'll feel the strain on your back if you have a heavy laptop. Instead, go for light weight ones)

c) Affordable! Unless you are in the multimedia program (like me) or a hardcore gamer, you don't need the most powerful laptop in the world. The majority of university students will only do one of two things on their laptop while on campus: surf the Internet (facebook!), or use Microsoft Word to type up lecture notes. Thats it!

d) Brand name. In my experience, don't buy an Acer or Gateway. I know neighbours and family who have them and they are slow, overheat, and are built cheap. You get what you pay for. Go with HP, Toshiba, or Dell. PLUS, If you buy an HP, you can get a special discounted price if purchased through Audcomp computers (they have a deal with HP to give all McMaster students a special price). Also, if you buy a MacBook, they have student discount deals if you purchase as a student from the online Apple store, and usually they have a deal to get a free IPod with laptop purchases.

e) Long Lasting Battery! You're going to be having back to back classes, and nothing sucks more than your battery dying in the middle of a class and having to bust out the classic paper and pen!

What's up with MacBooks?
I know a LOT of friends who bought MacBooks and love them. I find they are pricey, but remember all the software that comes bundled on a mac (iLife, etc) which is great if you're into multimedia (having garageband, etc).
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Old 07-04-2009 at 07:43 PM   #2
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Haha. I was wondering when this article was going to come...
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Old 07-04-2009 at 07:52 PM   #3
~*Sara*~
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Awesome article Chad . I'll keep that in mind next week while I'm shopping for mine .
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Old 07-04-2009 at 07:55 PM   #4
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Don't forget to make sure your laptop has a GigaBit Ethernet card instead of the slower 100Mb ones if you're going to live in Res (DC++ runs faster on a better ethernet card).

For example: Although this is a great deal (http://h20386.www2.hp.com/CanadaStor...e tail=P79015&)

It, like many of the uber small laptops, has the slower ethernet since it's made more for wireless.

Although it's more expensive (http://h20386.www2.hp.com/CanadaStor...529&pid=C37181&) might be a better bet because of the larger screen and faster ethernet card. (If you're living in Res, you want a nice screen to watch all those DC++ movies on).

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Old 07-04-2009 at 08:16 PM   #5
feonateresa
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Nice article. :]

The biggest features I look for in a laptop... affordability and battery life I'd say, although the last one isn't as important to me. My Dell lasts about 4 hours and that's on the brightest screen. I like how it doesn't overheat easily too. It's light but not overly so, and is fine to carry around. And it has two headphone jacks! It seems insignificant, but it's nice to listen to music and watch movies with a friend. :] Oh, and it's lime green - my absolute favourite colour. (I'm going after the green vw buggy next ).

I'm not a gamer or need crazy programs, so the Dell works fine. I got Vista and it's fine despite what many people seem to gripe about. ;P
 
Old 07-04-2009 at 08:20 PM   #6
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i am gonna join mac this fall as first year eng. student and most prob will take software field in my second year. i m more concern abt weight, battery life, also good features... confused between dell studio xps http://configure.dell.com/dellstore/...-studio-xps-13 or macbook pro. also 13 inch or 15 ??? which one is better for me in ur opinion???
 
Old 07-04-2009 at 08:30 PM   #7
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I've had two Toshiba laptops in the past six years; both haven't failed me once.
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Old 07-04-2009 at 08:36 PM   #8
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Andrew-which Toshiba if you don't mind.. I'm planning to get one in the next week or so.. and since my old one is also Toshiba, I'm sticking with what I know and trust
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Old 07-04-2009 at 08:37 PM   #9
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What you are describing is a netbook, just so you know
 
Old 07-04-2009 at 08:46 PM   #10
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It's a Toshiba Satellite U300, although I think it's the older version now because it's been a year and a half. I'm sure this is the newer kind. http://www.toshiba.ca/web/product.gr...9444&category=

Talking about a year and a half, my laptop still doesn't feel sluggish even with lots of music and programs in it. Maybe mine can last 1.5-2 more years? I don't know.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I would also like to add a thing or two about netbooks. Sure, they are cheap, they have long battery lives (up to 7 hours), and they are quite minimalist (which is fine if you don't want the extra bells and whistles), however the biggest downfall with netbooks is the lack of a CD/DVD drive. It's a big problem when there are programs/files on CDs and you need a "middle-man" device to get files from the CD into a CD drive-less netbook. Saying this, netbooks would be good if you have a desktop at home, as it can act as your desktop away from home. But I do not recommend using your netbook as the primary computer.
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Last edited by _Luu_ : 07-04-2009 at 08:51 PM.

~*Sara*~ says thanks to _Luu_ for this post.
 
Old 07-04-2009 at 08:49 PM   #11
endearing66
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Quote:
Originally Posted by endearing66 View Post
i am gonna join mac this fall as first year eng. student and most prob will take software field in my second year. i m more concern abt weight, battery life, also good features... confused between dell studio xps http://configure.dell.com/dellstore/...-studio-xps-13 or macbook pro. also 13 inch or 15 ??? which one is better for me in ur opinion???
what u say?
 
Old 07-04-2009 at 08:51 PM   #12
adrian
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Quote:
Originally Posted by _Luu_ View Post
It's a Toshiba Satellite U300, although I think it's the older version now because it's been a year and a half. I'm sure this is the newer kind. http://www.toshiba.ca/web/product.gr...9444&category=

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I would also like to add a thing or two about netbooks. Sure, they are cheap, they have long battery lives (up to 7 hours), and they are quite minimalist (which is fine if you don't want the extra bells and whistles), however the biggest downfall with netbooks is the lack of a CD/DVD drive. It's a big problem when there are programs/files on CDs and you need a "middle-man" device to get files from the CD into a CD drive-less netbook. Saying this, netbooks would be good if you have a desktop at home, as it can act as your desktop away from home. But I do not recommend using your netbook as the primary computer.

I looked at that laptop, its got the Intel shared memory graphics chip. If you want a decent graphics card, I suggest the non-shared memory type(I have ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 on my Toshiba A350), and it costs the same I think.
 
Old 07-04-2009 at 08:56 PM   #13
Chad
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Quote:
Originally Posted by adrian View Post
What you are describing is a netbook, just so you know
Funny you say that. I actually wouldn't get a netbook, just my own preference. I think netbook screens are too small, may as well own an iPod Touch haha. I like having at least a 15" screen or bigger for proper web browsing on a larger screen, but also because I do web design on my laptop and need a larger screen.

However, netbooks serve their purpose, and are very cheap to buy for those looking for something to just do the basics. There are some really nice ones on the market right now at FutureShop... such as this LG ($429), this Dell ($599),

They even have a netbook called a Whatchamacallit lol. Looks ugly.
 
Old 07-04-2009 at 08:57 PM   #14
_Luu_
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chad View Post
....They even have a netbook called a Whatchamacallit lol. Looks ugly.
Just for namesakes, I might just get that.
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Old 07-04-2009 at 09:02 PM   #15
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Haha.. very nice name
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