Computers for Law School 2011 Forum

[thelaststraw05]

After scanning through most of this thread I think I am pretty sold on going with a PC, and right now I am most intrigued by ASUS. I'm still researching specific models, but definitely something around 13" ranging $500-$700.

Besides the obvious (Amazon, Newegg, etc.), does anyone have a favorite website (or local retailer) to purchase from that are reputable and offer good prices? I know that Apple offers student discounts, but that obviously won't help me, so what about other retailers?

This is what I got. It is fantastic.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+P ... Id=1260752

That puppy's gone down in price. I'd definitely consider it.

Yeah, most important factors for me were: 1) weight and 2) price. This was the most competent computer in the 3 pound range for under a thousand dollars.

[clarsen]

After scanning through most of this thread I think I am pretty sold on going with a PC, and right now I am most intrigued by ASUS. I'm still researching specific models, but definitely something around 13" ranging $500-$700.

Besides the obvious (Amazon, Newegg, etc.), does anyone have a favorite website (or local retailer) to purchase from that are reputable and offer good prices? I know that Apple offers student discounts, but that obviously won't help me, so what about other retailers?

This is what I got. It is fantastic.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+P ... Id=1260752

Interesting! I've only owned Toshiba laptops and never had any issues. My first laptop (purchased in 2003) lasted me until just last year, and the only thing I ever did was updgrade the memory. My current Toshiba is also a great machine, but much too heavy and bulky to even consider for law school. Thanks for the link!

[zeth006]

After scanning through most of this thread I think I am pretty sold on going with a PC, and right now I am most intrigued by ASUS. I'm still researching specific models, but definitely something around 13" ranging $500-$700.

Besides the obvious (Amazon, Newegg, etc.), does anyone have a favorite website (or local retailer) to purchase from that are reputable and offer good prices? I know that Apple offers student discounts, but that obviously won't help me, so what about other retailers?

This is what I got. It is fantastic.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+P ... Id=1260752

Interesting! I've only owned Toshiba laptops and never had any issues. My first laptop (purchased in 2003) lasted me until just last year, and the only thing I ever did was updgrade the memory. My current Toshiba is also a great machine, but much too heavy and bulky to even consider for law school. Thanks for the link!

Get it. I've heard mostly good things about that machine. Thin/light and solidly built. Youtube videos do better justice in describing it.

The two complaints I've read are that it gets warm and the battery life isn't terrific.

The first complaint just shows the new cooling system is doing its job of dissipating heat. If you can't feel *any* heat coming out of the vents but the temperature reading software shows your CPUs are at near-melting temperatures, there's good reason for worry.

I think Toshiba was one of the first to introduce a cooling system that sucks air away from hot parts instead of blowing air toward them. I don't know which is better, but this seems to be the new trend in 2010/2011. HP's Coolsense relies on the same idea but goes a step further in setting the system so that it detects whether the notebook is on a desk or on a lap and adjusting the fans accordingly. I'm going to guess from this that the sucking system does the job better.

As for battery life, well, I'm plugged in most of the time. In the few rare times I wasn't plugged in, it was because I was in some rundown coffee shop with few plugs or I just forgot my charger. Easy solution to that I bought a second charger on fleabay for $20 which I use at home. The stock charger stays in my backpack.

[clarsen]

This is what I got. It is fantastic.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+P ... Id=1260752

Interesting! I've only owned Toshiba laptops and never had any issues. My first laptop (purchased in 2003) lasted me until just last year, and the only thing I ever did was updgrade the memory. My current Toshiba is also a great machine, but much too heavy and bulky to even consider for law school. Thanks for the link!

Get it. I've heard mostly good things about that machine. Thin/light and solidly built. Youtube videos do better justice in describing it.

The two complaints I've read are that it gets warm and the battery life isn't terrific.

The first complaint just shows the new cooling system is doing its job of dissipating heat. If you can't feel *any* heat coming out of the vents but the temperature reading software shows your CPUs are at near-melting temperatures, there's good reason for worry.

I think Toshiba was one of the first to introduce a cooling system that sucks air away from hot parts instead of blowing air toward them. I don't know which is better, but this seems to be the new trend in 2010/2011. HP's Coolsense relies on the same idea but goes a step further in setting the system so that it detects whether the notebook is on a desk or on a lap and adjusting the fans accordingly. I'm going to guess from this that the sucking system does the job better.

As for battery life, well, I'm plugged in most of the time. In the few rare times I wasn't plugged in, it was because I was in some rundown coffee shop with few plugs or I just forgot my charger. I bought a second charger on fleabay for $20 which I use at home. The stock charger stays in my backpack.

Thanks for the additional information! I'm not too concerned about battery life as I too will be plugged in nearly all the time, and as you mentioned, heat is just a product of a computer working. I might just have to bite the bullet and get this thing. I start school in June, so I don't have the luxury of waiting months for lower prices or newer products.

EDIT: After doing some more research, I think I am sold on this laptop. 3.2 lbs + i3 processor = SOLD. The RAM is also exapandable to 8GB so there is no reason why this won't last me at least the next 3 years. To top it all off, a local Best Buy has it in stock!

[die Zauberflote]

Macs are a fashion statement. You can get a Lenovo or Asus that have similar to slightly better failure rates, for 2/3 of the price.

Sure a 1000 dollar mac destroys a 400 HP, but a 1000 PC is better than a Mac almost every time.

A 600 dollars ASUS is TCR.

I thought this for years and never considered a Mac; I had always owned top end PCs and had thought they were fine. However, for college graduation I was surprised with a mac book. Here is an honest, evenhanded explanation of my transition: It was like going from a stick with a rock on the end to a precision-machined tool. I would never consider a PC again. In start-up time alone I gain an hour of productivity per week.

[lawfreak]

First, is a Compaq laptop with windows vista good enough for law school? Is Word 2003 good enough for taking notes in law school or do I have to get at least Word 2007?

[homestyle28]

Think I'm leaning toward Lenovo's 11.6" Thinkpad x120e with an SSD upgrade.

[FalafelWaffle]

Macs are a fashion statement. You can get a Lenovo or Asus that have similar to slightly better failure rates, for 2/3 of the price.

Sure a 1000 dollar mac destroys a 400 HP, but a 1000 PC is better than a Mac almost every time.

A 600 dollars ASUS is TCR.

I thought this for years and never considered a Mac; I had always owned top end PCs and had thought they were fine. However, for college graduation I was surprised with a mac book. Here is an honest, evenhanded explanation of my transition: It was like going from a stick with a rock on the end to a precision-machined tool. I would never consider a PC again. In start-up time alone I gain an hour of productivity per week.

I think the construction of the Mac alone is second to none. If I were getting a PC I wouldn't even consider any non-aluminum or some form of metal alloy laptop. Ergonomically speaking, It's absolutely staggering to me how many OFF CENTER keyboards there are.
--ImageRemoved--
Even this bothers me. Look at that. Look at the line of keys on the right-shifts the rest of the keyboard left-nightmare nightmare nightmare. There are some PCs with great keyboards of course (Thinkpads), but seeing keyboards like that make me cringe.

I used to hate Windows (XP default is positively the ugliest OS I have ever seen, but not just that), but I've grown quite fond of Windows 7. I think some of the schools I'm considering don't allow Parallels, which is a borderline dealbreaker.

[lawfreak]

Do most people take notes in law school by computer or is by hand sufficient?

[bk1]

I thought this for years and never considered a Mac; I had always owned top end PCs and had thought they were fine. However, for college graduation I was surprised with a mac book. Here is an honest, evenhanded explanation of my transition: It was like going from a stick with a rock on the end to a precision-machined tool. I would never consider a PC again. In start-up time alone I gain an hour of productivity per week.

I'm highly skeptical that you gain an actual hour of productivity. If you get to class on time and turn it on, unless you are running an old PC, it should be up and running by the time you need to actually take notes. The notion that you actually do have an extra hour every week seems unlikely.

[wackyjack22]

Do most people take notes in law school by computer or is by hand sufficient?

I think most people take notes by computer but I was told last weekend that one of the three sections at Penn was forced by all 4 of their 1L fall professors to take notes by hand. Many profs have started to ban laptops in their class because they pose a distraction. My read on this is that it gives me a great excuse to buy a sweet 27 inch Imac and only sort of rely on my 3 year old macbook.

[FalafelWaffle]

Come on guys, this is played out. No one has to explain their brand/OS preference, just go with what you like.

[iwanta170]

I thought this for years and never considered a Mac; I had always owned top end PCs and had thought they were fine. However, for college graduation I was surprised with a mac book. Here is an honest, evenhanded explanation of my transition: It was like going from a stick with a rock on the end to a precision-machined tool. I would never consider a PC again. In start-up time alone I gain an hour of productivity per week.

I'm highly skeptical that you gain an actual hour of productivity. If you get to class on time and turn it on, unless you are running an old PC, it should be up and running by the time you need to actually take notes.

People still turn computers on and off? I just put mine on sleep and it starts back up almost instantly.

[FalafelWaffle]

Do most people take notes in law school by computer or is by hand sufficient?

I think most people take notes by computer but I was told last weekend that one of the three sections at Penn was forced by all 4 of their 1L fall professors to take notes by hand. Many profs have started to ban laptops in their class because they pose a distraction. My read on this is that it gives me a great excuse to buy a sweet 27 inch Imac and only sort of rely on my 3 year old macbook.

I think the distraction thing is bullshit. It's grad school, the average person is in their mid-20s and fairly mature. I also get really pissed when people say that someone IMing or on Facebook in front of them is distracting. It's called willpower. Either get over yourself and take responsibility and ignore what people in front of you are doing, or take some freaking Adderall

[Baylan]

Do most people take notes in law school by computer or is by hand sufficient?

I think most people take notes by computer but I was told last weekend that one of the three sections at Penn was forced by all 4 of their 1L fall professors to take notes by hand. Many profs have started to ban laptops in their class because they pose a distraction. My read on this is that it gives me a great excuse to buy a sweet 27 inch Imac and only sort of rely on my 3 year old macbook.

I think the distraction thing is bullshit. It's grad school, the average person is in their mid-20s and fairly mature. I also get really pissed when people say that someone IMing or on Facebook in front of them is distracting. It's called willpower. Either get over yourself and take responsibility and ignore what people in front of you are doing, or take some freaking Adderall

I've had people literally play full-screen games in front of me during class. It is distracting. I have the willpower to ignore it, but that doesn't mean that it isn't a distraction. IMing or Facebook are less distracting, but seeing a friggen fire-breathing dragon attack grabs my attention - kind of like when someone honks their horn or flashes their lights while you're driving.

Personally, I think that profs should be more than willing to allow laptops in the rooms, but if they're that upset about the distractions... disable the internet. 98% of the distraction is now gone.

And encouraging people to take Adderall without a prescription is an awesome idea... Not that we really need to get into that debate for the umpteenth time.

[jesss]

are HPs really that bad? I'm not a gamer and so i'm looking for a laptop with long battery life, that doesn't weigh much and that runs at a decent speed. around or under 15-inch screen, $800 price range. I'd also like it to look fairly sleek. i was checking out some vaios. any thoughts on these? other suggestions? asus looks a little bulky to me. there are just so many options out there!

i'm sad to be giving up my macbook pro but since i'm paying for my new one, i'd like to save some dinero.

[alexanderhamilton]

As someone whose had an HP for 4 years, they're not altogether horrible if you're not a gamer provided you get it regularly serviced (once a year) and back up your data. The battery life is miserable though. Can barely break an hour. Also like most laptops it degrades over time.

[bk1]

As someone whose had an HP for 4 years, they're not altogether horrible if you're not a gamer provided you get it regularly serviced (once a year) and back up your data. The battery life is miserable though. Can barely break an hour. Also like most laptops it degrades over time.

HPs are more likely to break than comparably priced machines from more reliable brands.

Was battery life always bad? If you're using the battery you've had since day 1... I think an hour charge after 4 years is pretty damn good.

[bloobook]

.

[thelaststraw05]

This is the new Toshiba that is almost exactly like the one I bought 6 months ago.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+P ... &cp=1&lp=1

[alexanderhamilton]

As someone whose had an HP for 4 years, they're not altogether horrible if you're not a gamer provided you get it regularly serviced (once a year) and back up your data. The battery life is miserable though. Can barely break an hour. Also like most laptops it degrades over time.

HPs are more likely to break than comparably priced machines from more reliable brands.

Was battery life always bad? If you're using the battery you've had since day 1... I think an hour charge after 4 years is pretty damn good.

I think it's about 45-50 minutes. I keep it plugged in almost all the time so it doesn't really matter I guess.

[clarsen]

This is the new Toshiba that is almost exactly like the one I bought 6 months ago.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+P ... &cp=1&lp=1

I just bought this computer! I planned on picking up the Toshiba you previously listed in this thread (Protege R705-P35) but it had been discontinued. The price isn't bad, and this thing only weighs 3.2lbs! I only plan on using the laptop for law school, so it has more than enough HD space (640GB) and the processor should be plenty fast.

[wolverine2014]

For those of you who are Mac users, what are your thoughts on Time Capsule?

[ZFB]

I picked up the Lenovo X120e for under 400 (I didn't need to buy any extra software). Will pick up reasonably priced memory from newegg when its on sale because i didn't want to pay lenovo's inflated prices for crap memory. Should provide all the power I need for law school related tasks.

[ColomboHeat]

I really like the idea of the Lenovo X120e, but I would like to find one in a store to get my hands on the keyboard first.