Computers for Law School 2011 Forum

[laxbrah420]

My issue isn't how much better it would be with an SSD. It's that the parts it came with aren't performing like they should.

But no, I don't plan on keeping this after school. I'll probably donate it somewhere and pick up an Ultrabook. I like the look of the Folio 13.

For crying out loud, why pay a premium if it's not to take advantage of the warranty. If it takes four minutes to be usable and you've not installed something to cause that yourself, something's clearly broken, so file a warranty claim.

I have a T420s with a core i5 processor and no SSD. It takes 1m35s to go from power off to Windows 7 loaded, connected to the network, logged in to skype and with Firefox and Word started. That time includes the time needed to enter my password at the login screen.

I did make a warranty claim. They could find nothing wrong with it, according to them.

They couldn't figure out that they sent you a hdd with spinning platters and shit?

[kalvano]

They couldn't figure out that they sent you a hdd with spinning platters and shit?

You're very cute...stupid, but cute. Sorry I'm shitting all over your favorite brand or whatever, or you're all butt-hurt that your suggestion is wrong.

[zeth006]

They couldn't figure out that they sent you a hdd with spinning platters and shit?

You're very cute...stupid, but cute. Sorry I'm shitting all over your favorite brand or whatever, or you're all butt-hurt that your suggestion is wrong.

Sorry to hear things aren't going so great for ya. Customer service reps and technicians generally aren't always the cream of the crop, part of the reason I opted to buy a warranty from Square Trade instead of HP. ST's known for treating their customers pretty well.

[roaringeagle]

My experience with computers, and yes I have built my own desktop PC for fun (expensive fun) is that when it comes to laptops being cheap is generally a bad idea. HP is a clusterfuck. DO NOT buy HP. I have spoken. Dell commonplace laptops are also crap. The XPS line of Dell is a good tradeoff, with superior parts and durability. You can get it cheaper at Dell Outlet.com. Go to http://twitter.com/#!/@delloutlet to get coupons on top of the refurbished discount. I got my Dell XPS 17 a year ago with no major problems since. It has the following:

Blu-ray
i7 processor
3GB dedicated Graphics card
3D screen Hi-resolution (yes that's right, 3D!)
8GB RAM
Backlit keyboard
A dedicated sound card
awesome JBL speakers
9 cell battery
wireless N

I got all this for 999.99 with a coupon off Dell Outlet. However I plan on getting a Mac for law school.

[laxbrah420]

dude i could give a fuck about a lenovo. you just sound irrationally butthurt by them. it seems like you prefer complaining than figuring out why things don't work right. the fact of the matter is that basically all the parts come from the same plant and these manufacturers are designers who slap their name on random ass shit. there's a pct that won't work properly because of a bad component and figuring out which component is causing the issue should solve your problem. if heat is the problem though you're sort of fucked and it is indeed a shitty design job, unless they just did a shitty job with the paste. that's all im trying to suggest.
it must suck to not only have a shitty computer but also be a shitty dude.

[zeth006]

My experience with computers, and yes I have built my own desktop PC for fun (expensive fun) is that when it comes to laptops being cheap is generally a bad idea. HP is a clusterfuck. DO NOT buy HP. I have spoken. Dell commonplace laptops are also crap. The XPS line of Dell is a good tradeoff, with superior parts and durability. You can get it cheaper at Dell Outlet.com. Go to http://twitter.com/#!/@delloutlet to get coupons on top of the refurbished discount. I got my Dell XPS 17 a year ago with no major problems since. It has the following:

Blu-ray
i7 processor
3GB dedicated Graphics card
3D screen Hi-resolution (yes that's right, 3D!)
8GB RAM
Backlit keyboard
A dedicated sound card
awesome JBL speakers
9 cell battery
wireless N

I got all this for 999.99 with a coupon off Dell Outlet. However I plan on getting a Mac for law school.

$999 is worth it if you're gaming on a notebook.


Not hating on notebook gamers by any means. But you get more bang for buck by paying $400-500 for a cheap notebook and taking good care of it and assembling a powerful desktop for $700. You get a lot more performance oomph out of getting a desktop for your Diablo 3 or Guild Wars 2 needs. I also tend to take any claims about durability with a grain of salt as all notebooks have a risk of failure. Your best bet is taking good care of your machine and getting a cheap warranty for that rainy day. I've had 2 notebooks die on me, but this HP is running strong 2 years in. Given my bad luck, there's something to be said for peace of mind from a 3-year warranty.

[roaringeagle]

My experience with computers, and yes I have built my own desktop PC for fun (expensive fun) is that when it comes to laptops being cheap is generally a bad idea. HP is a clusterfuck. DO NOT buy HP. I have spoken. Dell commonplace laptops are also crap. The XPS line of Dell is a good tradeoff, with superior parts and durability. You can get it cheaper at Dell Outlet.com. Go to http://twitter.com/#!/@delloutlet to get coupons on top of the refurbished discount. I got my Dell XPS 17 a year ago with no major problems since. It has the following:

Blu-ray
i7 processor
3GB dedicated Graphics card
3D screen Hi-resolution (yes that's right, 3D!)
8GB RAM
Backlit keyboard
A dedicated sound card
awesome JBL speakers
9 cell battery
wireless N

I got all this for 999.99 with a coupon off Dell Outlet. However I plan on getting a Mac for law school.

$999 is worth it if you're gaming on a notebook. Not hating on notebook gamers by any means. But you get more bang for buck by paying $400-500 for a cheap notebook and taking good care of it and assembling a powerful desktop for $700. I also tend to take any claims about durability with a grain of salt. Your best bet is taking good care of your machine and getting a cheap warranty for that rainy day.

I strongly disagree Here is a sample of a XPS 15z for 750 on dell outlet. keep in mind that you can get it even cheaper with a coupon from the twitter link I posted.

Sample XPS 15z (thin, light, powerful)


Processor: Intel Core i5-2410M Processor (2.30 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz)
Genuine Windows 7 Professional
XPS 15z
750 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
8 GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
8X DVD +/- RW Drive
NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M 1GB graphics with Optimus

That is a computer that comes with a one year warranty from dell and you can purchase more years if you want.

[zeth006]

My experience with computers, and yes I have built my own desktop PC for fun (expensive fun) is that when it comes to laptops being cheap is generally a bad idea. HP is a clusterfuck. DO NOT buy HP. I have spoken. Dell commonplace laptops are also crap. The XPS line of Dell is a good tradeoff, with superior parts and durability. You can get it cheaper at Dell Outlet.com. Go to http://twitter.com/#!/@delloutlet to get coupons on top of the refurbished discount. I got my Dell XPS 17 a year ago with no major problems since. It has the following:

Blu-ray
i7 processor
3GB dedicated Graphics card
3D screen Hi-resolution (yes that's right, 3D!)
8GB RAM
Backlit keyboard
A dedicated sound card
awesome JBL speakers
9 cell battery
wireless N

I got all this for 999.99 with a coupon off Dell Outlet. However I plan on getting a Mac for law school.

$999 is worth it if you're gaming on a notebook. Not hating on notebook gamers by any means. But you get more bang for buck by paying $400-500 for a cheap notebook and taking good care of it and assembling a powerful desktop for $700. I also tend to take any claims about durability with a grain of salt. Your best bet is taking good care of your machine and getting a cheap warranty for that rainy day.

I strongly disagree Here is a sample of a XPS 15z for 750 on dell outlet. keep in mind that you can get it even cheaper with a coupon from the twitter link I posted.

Sample XPS 15z (thin, light, powerful)


Processor: Intel Core i5-2410M Processor (2.30 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz)
Genuine Windows 7 Professional
XPS 15z
750 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
8 GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
8X DVD +/- RW Drive
NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M 1GB graphics with Optimus

That is a computer that comes with a one year warranty from dell and you can purchase more years if you want.

There's nothing really all that powerful or impressive about that notebook, and frankly for the money, it's ill-suited for gaming. That GPU's a joke for gaming. Even my ATI 5650 on my Envy 14 which I bought in 2010 is ranked quite closely to it at #142.

You're paying $250-350 more for a notebook with an i5 Ivy Bridge processor which BTW will become very common in $500 notebooks just as i5 Sandy Bridge procs started appearing in $500 notebooks at Bestbuy. Can't say it's worth paying that much for a word processing machine.

[roaringeagle]

My experience with computers, and yes I have built my own desktop PC for fun (expensive fun) is that when it comes to laptops being cheap is generally a bad idea. HP is a clusterfuck. DO NOT buy HP. I have spoken. Dell commonplace laptops are also crap. The XPS line of Dell is a good tradeoff, with superior parts and durability. You can get it cheaper at Dell Outlet.com. Go to http://twitter.com/#!/@delloutlet to get coupons on top of the refurbished discount. I got my Dell XPS 17 a year ago with no major problems since. It has the following:

Blu-ray
i7 processor
3GB dedicated Graphics card
3D screen Hi-resolution (yes that's right, 3D!)
8GB RAM
Backlit keyboard
A dedicated sound card
awesome JBL speakers
9 cell battery
wireless N

I got all this for 999.99 with a coupon off Dell Outlet. However I plan on getting a Mac for law school.

$999 is worth it if you're gaming on a notebook. Not hating on notebook gamers by any means. But you get more bang for buck by paying $400-500 for a cheap notebook and taking good care of it and assembling a powerful desktop for $700. I also tend to take any claims about durability with a grain of salt. Your best bet is taking good care of your machine and getting a cheap warranty for that rainy day.

I strongly disagree Here is a sample of a XPS 15z for 750 on dell outlet. keep in mind that you can get it even cheaper with a coupon from the twitter link I posted.

Sample XPS 15z (thin, light, powerful)


Processor: Intel Core i5-2410M Processor (2.30 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz)
Genuine Windows 7 Professional
XPS 15z
750 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
8 GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
8X DVD +/- RW Drive
NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M 1GB graphics with Optimus

That is a computer that comes with a one year warranty from dell and you can purchase more years if you want.

There's nothing really all that powerful or impressive about that notebook, and frankly for the money, it's ill-suited for gaming. That GPU's a joke for gaming. Even my ATI 5650 on my Envy 14 which I bought in 2010 is ranked quite closely to it at #142.

You're paying $250-350 for a notebook with an i5 Ivy Bridge processor which BTW will become very common in $500 notebooks just as i5 Sandy Bridge procs started appearing in $500 notebooks at Bestbuy.

Who is talking about gaming? I am advising people on what laptop they should purchase for daily use in law school. They should invest a little more and go with the XPS which is a very durable laptop for daily use. When they go on sale with the twitter link I posted, you can get an awesome deal.

[zeth006]

Who is talking about gaming? I am advising people on what laptop they should purchase for daily use in law school. They should invest a little more and go with the XPS which is a very durable laptop for daily use. When they go on sale with the twitter link I posted, you can get an awesome deal.

Then it would appear as though we were discussing two slightly different points.

If you want the thin/light, I guess that's an alright machine, but I'm not too hot on the reviews I've read about the keyboard. Consumer reviews of the notebook as a whole on cnet aren't all that positive either. Touchpad actually seems to get positive reception though, which isn't common with PC notebooks.

I'd personally recommend the Envy 15, but that's just me.

[LAWYER2]

I've been using the same T60 for the past two years in Law school with ZERO problems. You guys are making too much out of this. PC's now-a-days are basically used for the Web and Data processing. Keep all your files synced online and you'll NEVER, EVER have to worry about a thing. I've contemplated upgrading and purchasing a new T510 w/ a SS HD, chucked full of RAM, but for what? I'm on a computer all day at work and if do school work, it's automatically synced. I love coming into work and seeing One-note open with all my notes from class up-to-date. The web and cloud computing have really taken a bite out of the need for expensive hardware.

[zeth006]

I've been using the same T60 for the past two years in Law school with ZERO problems. You guys are making too much out of this. PC's now-a-days are basically used for the Web and Data processing. Keep all your files synced online and you'll NEVER, EVER have to worry about a thing. I've contemplated upgrading and purchasing a new T510 w/ a SS HD, chucked full of RAM, but for what? I'm on a computer all day at work and if do school work, it's automatically synced. I love coming into work and seeing One-note open with all my notes from class up-to-date. The web and cloud computing have really taken a bite out of the need for expensive hardware.

I think Kalvano's problem is a lemon notebook, not whether he can sync his files.

[LAWYER2]

I've been using the same T60 for the past two years in Law school with ZERO problems. You guys are making too much out of this. PC's now-a-days are basically used for the Web and Data processing. Keep all your files synced online and you'll NEVER, EVER have to worry about a thing. I've contemplated upgrading and purchasing a new T510 w/ a SS HD, chucked full of RAM, but for what? I'm on a computer all day at work and if do school work, it's automatically synced. I love coming into work and seeing One-note open with all my notes from class up-to-date. The web and cloud computing have really taken a bite out of the need for expensive hardware.

I think Kalvano's problem is a lemon notebook, not whether he can sync his files.

Generally speaking, of course.

[dextermorgan]

There's nothing really all that powerful or impressive about that notebook, and frankly for the money, it's ill-suited for gaming. That GPU's a joke for gaming. Even my ATI 5650 on my Envy 14 which I bought in 2010 is ranked quite closely to it at #142.

You're paying $250-350 for a notebook with an i5 Ivy Bridge processor which BTW will become very common in $500 notebooks just as i5 Sandy Bridge procs started appearing in $500 notebooks at Bestbuy.

Who is talking about gaming? I am advising people on what laptop they should purchase for daily use in law school. They should invest a little more and go with the XPS which is a very durable laptop for daily use. When they go on sale with the twitter link I posted, you can get an awesome deal.

The XPS is the gaming/multimedia line. If you want a Dell that lasts, get a Latitude.

[roaringeagle]

There's nothing really all that powerful or impressive about that notebook, and frankly for the money, it's ill-suited for gaming. That GPU's a joke for gaming. Even my ATI 5650 on my Envy 14 which I bought in 2010 is ranked quite closely to it at #142.

You're paying $250-350 for a notebook with an i5 Ivy Bridge processor which BTW will become very common in $500 notebooks just as i5 Sandy Bridge procs started appearing in $500 notebooks at Bestbuy.

Who is talking about gaming? I am advising people on what laptop they should purchase for daily use in law school. They should invest a little more and go with the XPS which is a very durable laptop for daily use. When they go on sale with the twitter link I posted, you can get an awesome deal.

The XPS is the gaming/multimedia line. If you want a Dell that lasts, get a Latitude.

Are you saying the XPS isn't durable? Mine has outperformed any laptop that I have ever owned/seen, except for the Mac, which is twice the price. I can definitely say again no HP even the Envy line and definitely not the Inspiron line from Dell.

[dextermorgan]

The XPS is the gaming/multimedia line. If you want a Dell that lasts, get a Latitude.

Are you saying the XPS isn't durable? Mine has outperformed any laptop that I have ever owned/seen, except for the Mac, which is twice the price. I can definitely say again no HP even the Envy line and definitely not the Inspiron line from Dell.

No. I'm sure you have enjoyed your XPS. I'm saying that the Latitude line will serve student/business users better. The Latitude is going to be much closer to what you will be issued when you start a real job. The Latitude is more pleasant to type on. The Latitude is the business class laptop from Dell, and like all business lines they are generally higher quality.

[zeth006]

There's nothing really all that powerful or impressive about that notebook, and frankly for the money, it's ill-suited for gaming. That GPU's a joke for gaming. Even my ATI 5650 on my Envy 14 which I bought in 2010 is ranked quite closely to it at #142.

You're paying $250-350 for a notebook with an i5 Ivy Bridge processor which BTW will become very common in $500 notebooks just as i5 Sandy Bridge procs started appearing in $500 notebooks at Bestbuy.

Who is talking about gaming? I am advising people on what laptop they should purchase for daily use in law school. They should invest a little more and go with the XPS which is a very durable laptop for daily use. When they go on sale with the twitter link I posted, you can get an awesome deal.

The XPS is the gaming/multimedia line. If you want a Dell that lasts, get a Latitude.

Are you saying the XPS isn't durable? Mine has outperformed any laptop that I have ever owned/seen, except for the Mac, which is twice the price. I can definitely say again no HP even the Envy line and definitely not the Inspiron line from Dell.

Bah. You're going off purely anecdotes. Do you have any data to show us that the Envy line is that bad compared to the XPS? The XPS 15z that you bring up is pretty new to begin with, so you really can't conclude much about it.

[roaringeagle]

Are you saying the XPS isn't durable? Mine has outperformed any laptop that I have ever owned/seen, except for the Mac, which is twice the price. I can definitely say again no HP even the Envy line and definitely not the Inspiron line from Dell.[/quote]


Bah. You're going off purely anecdotes. Do you have any data to show us that the Envy line is that bad compared to the XPS? The XPS 15z that you bring up is pretty new to begin with, so you really can't conclude much about it.[/quote]

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/34197 ... e-problems

I am sure you can find xps problems on there too. I just hate HP for screwing me royally when I bought from them.

[albanach]

The XPS is the gaming/multimedia line. If you want a Dell that lasts, get a Latitude.

Are you saying the XPS isn't durable? Mine has outperformed any laptop that I have ever owned/seen, except for the Mac, which is twice the price. I can definitely say again no HP even the Envy line and definitely not the Inspiron line from Dell.

No. I'm sure you have enjoyed your XPS. I'm saying that the Latitude line will serve student/business users better. The Latitude is going to be much closer to what you will be issued when you start a real job. The Latitude is more pleasant to type on. The Latitude is the business class laptop from Dell, and like all business lines they are generally higher quality.

This is spot on. The other great thing about the latitude range is that it changes slowly and each model is sold by the millions. That means if your screen or your keyboard breaks out of warranty, a quick trip to eBay will get you another one.

The XPS line contains some great and fast computers, but they're not designed with the same longevity in mind as the latitude range.

[NYC2014]

Hey guys, trying to get my desktop ready for DIII. As of now, my computer's slow as fuck; I have FPS issues playing most flash games. Here are my current specs:

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+
Processors: Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.00 GHz (x2).
Computer: ACPI Multiprocessor PC
150 GB capacity on C drive.

I went to computer - > properties - > hardware and found this. What would give me the best bang/buck in an upgrade (and is there any more info I should include)?

[roaringeagle]

Hey guys, trying to get my desktop ready for DIII. As of now, my computer's slow as fuck; I have FPS issues playing most flash games. Here are my current specs:

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+
Processors: Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.00 GHz (x2).
Computer: ACPI Multiprocessor PC
150 GB capacity on C drive.

I went to computer - > properties - > hardware and found this. What would give me the best bang/buck in an upgrade (and is there any more info I should include)?

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSale ... d=d977c2f7

I hope the link works. You get a rock solid XPS computer for 519-550 which you can easily upgrade yourself when you have more money, as the motherboard supports upgrades on memory (not that 6GB needs upgrading) it has at least one PCI-Express slot for a Video card. Also you can get a Blu-ray drive to put in this computer for 45-55.

Here is another set up for 559 that comes with a video card pre-installed:

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSale ... d=83317a6f

[NYC2014]

Neither link works.

[NYC2014]

Are sites like http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html legitimate ways to choose computer parts? Is there more to it than just the raw part score?

[roaringeagle]

Neither link works.

It is hard to directly link to Dell Outlet. Just search Dell Outlet on google and you'll find it. Search"Dell Outlet Twitter Coupons" and it will link to coupons.

[NYC2014]

Here's what I have, after doing as much research as I was able to:

1) Hard Drive: I could buy a 500 GB, 7200 RPM hard drive, or keep what I already have ("WDC WD1600AAJS-75M0A0" [150 GB]).

2) Memory: I could buy a 8 GB, DDR3, or keep what I already have (2.99 GHz, 3.00 GB).

3) Power Supply: I’ll keep what I already have (700w Raidmax RX-700).

4) Video Card: I can buy a GTX 460 or keep what I already have (NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+).

5) CPU: i5-2500 or i3 2100-2120? I can’t salvage mine.

6) Motherboard: ASUS M5A97? Evo? I can’t salvage mine.

I have a keyboard/mouse/speakers/monitor already, of course. I'm not sure whether I need to buy a new case.

Does anyone have any suggestions, based off of the above?