Best Law School Laptop for the Money Forum

[primusux]

Has everyone bought their laptops already? I keep hoping Lenovo will come out with an X model with a 13" screen with the "i" processors before school but its looking unlikely till they dump the current old stock.
What's the consensus on screen size...will a 14" be too large?

[ResolutePear]

Has everyone bought their laptops already? I keep hoping Lenovo will come out with an X model with a 13" screen with the "i" processors before school but its looking unlikely till they dump the current old stock.
What's the consensus on screen size...will a 14" be too large?

I personally like 14", but for me personally it really depends on the resolution. I want the most resolution I can get on the smallest screen possible without having to wear death-ray glasses to read the screen. It's a toss-up.

[Mr. Matlock]

One thing PC users can do that Mac users can't:


--ImageRemoved--

It's funny because it's true.

There's always a point to be made... but no point exists.

There may be a point of pot calling kettle black here, but I got to hand it to you, you seem to really know your shit.

[lonerightly]

So up until recently I was looking at an Asus UL 12.1" but there are these new Acer notebooks out that seem to be amazing. Both of these are 11.6"
i5
4g ram, 500g hd, hdmi port, bluetooth, listed at 8hrs battery life $699
i3
3g ram, 320g hd, hdmi port, listed at 8hrs battery life $599

Obviously the i5 is faster but also will give less battery life, and also has bluetooth. Other than bluetooth which I don't use, and a faster processor but less battery life, is the $100 price difference worth it?

I'll be using it for basic tasks, like word processing, itunes, youtube, ocassional movie, and surfing the web. All tasks that I currently can do albeit not as well on a centrino laptop. Not really into games, or video editing so, i5 worth it?

I don't know, I was looking at something cheaper like the Asus 1201N, but that's tempting.

Anyone else here have a thought on this, i5 seems nice but I got the thought in my head that i3 is plenty fine for my needs.

[el jefe]

Anyone else here have a thought on this, i5 seems nice but I got the thought in my head that i3 is plenty fine for my needs.

You should probably get that new celeron processor intel just came out with. It seems nice.

[ResolutePear]

Anyone else here have a thought on this, i5 seems nice but I got the thought in my head that i3 is plenty fine for my needs.

You should probably get that new celeron processor intel just came out with. It seems nice.

The i3 is fine for the basics(IM, Email, Browser, Office, etc.)

The i5 is geared more towards power users who need a lot of these apps open and/or play games on occasion.

The i7 is a beast built for the top rigs - in laptops, you'll typically find these in laptops geared for gaming, video/graphics editing, etc.

The Intel Celeron is called the Intel Celery for a reason. It's an economic processor built for very low end laptops.

Oh, and whichever PC you choose - get Windows 7 to get the most out of your laptop. Especially laptops that use a SSD.

[lawschooliseasy]

Anyone else here have a thought on this, i5 seems nice but I got the thought in my head that i3 is plenty fine for my needs.

You should probably get that new celeron processor intel just came out with. It seems nice.

The i3 is fine for the basics(IM, Email, Browser, Office, etc.)

The i5 is geared more towards power users who need a lot of these apps open and/or play games on occasion.

The i7 is a beast built for the top rigs - in laptops, you'll typically find these in laptops geared for gaming, video/graphics editing, etc.

The Intel Celeron is called the Intel Celery for a reason. It's an economic processor built for very low end laptops.

Oh, and whichever PC you choose - get Linux to get the most out of your laptop. Especially laptops that use a SSD.

FTFY

[ResolutePear]

Anyone else here have a thought on this, i5 seems nice but I got the thought in my head that i3 is plenty fine for my needs.

You should probably get that new celeron processor intel just came out with. It seems nice.

The i3 is fine for the basics(IM, Email, Browser, Office, etc.)

The i5 is geared more towards power users who need a lot of these apps open and/or play games on occasion.

The i7 is a beast built for the top rigs - in laptops, you'll typically find these in laptops geared for gaming, video/graphics editing, etc.

The Intel Celeron is called the Intel Celery for a reason. It's an economic processor built for very low end laptops.

Oh, and whichever PC you choose - get Linux to get the most out of your laptop. Especially laptops that use a SSD.

FTFY

I would love nothing more than to see the world using Linux.. but pleasent memories remind me otherwise:

I got a call from a friend saying he needs a firewall on his Linux box. I said: it comes installed.

He said: cool. What do I click?

Obviously I was referring to ipchains, but... I wasn't going to explain that.

EDIT: Also, that's going to be hard to pull off since lawl schools don't even have that as an option for support(i.e. exam software)

[ApexChaser]

Has everyone bought their laptops already? I keep hoping Lenovo will come out with an X model with a 13" screen with the "i" processors before school but its looking unlikely till they dump the current old stock.
What's the consensus on screen size...will a 14" be too large?

From the blogosphere, my understanding is the 13.3 option is being discontinued in favor of the 12 inch X and 14 inch T options.

The main issue for me is weight, not screen size. The jump from the 12 and 13 in. to the 14 in. is about a pound - a 33% increase in weight. The 14 is still relatively light at 4 pounds but is it light enough for you?

I already bought my laptop and went with a 12 inch. I'll be bringing my lcd panel for home use though.

[ResolutePear]

Has everyone bought their laptops already? I keep hoping Lenovo will come out with an X model with a 13" screen with the "i" processors before school but its looking unlikely till they dump the current old stock.
What's the consensus on screen size...will a 14" be too large?

From the blogosphere, my understanding is the 13.3 option is being discontinued in favor of the 12 inch X and 14 inch T options.

The main issue for me is weight, not screen size. The jump from the 12 and 13 in. to the 14 in. is about a pound - a 33% increase in weight. The 14 is still relatively light at 4 pounds but is it light enough for you?

I already bought my laptop and went with a 12 inch. I'll be bringing my lcd panel for home use though.

One solution I've rigged up involved an existing LCD-TV and a laptop with a HDMI-out plug. Works best with 1080p, but you'd get a pretty decent reduction of required space... if space is an issue and especially if a wall-mount is used.

[Mr. Matlock]

Saved over $500 getting the 13", instead of the 15", MBP. I LOVE IT!! Got the 4gb of ram. Now I just need bootcamp/parallels and some basic window software for the tests and I'm set.

[ApexChaser]

Has everyone bought their laptops already? I keep hoping Lenovo will come out with an X model with a 13" screen with the "i" processors before school but its looking unlikely till they dump the current old stock.
What's the consensus on screen size...will a 14" be too large?

From the blogosphere, my understanding is the 13.3 option is being discontinued in favor of the 12 inch X and 14 inch T options.

The main issue for me is weight, not screen size. The jump from the 12 and 13 in. to the 14 in. is about a pound - a 33% increase in weight. The 14 is still relatively light at 4 pounds but is it light enough for you?

I already bought my laptop and went with a 12 inch. I'll be bringing my lcd panel for home use though.

One solution I've rigged up involved an existing LCD-TV and a laptop with a HDMI-out plug. Works best with 1080p, but you'd get a pretty decent reduction of required space... if space is an issue and especially if a wall-mount is used.

+1 Also, there are DisplayPort to HDMI adapters for about $10 for anyone considering an X series but concerned by the lack of HDMI.

[savagecheater]

How's this one looking?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834114925

[blurbz]

How's this one looking?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834114925

Looks good to me!

[op-ti]

How's this one looking?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834114925

I would vote against a TOSHIBA

[sdlaw]

I'm looking at lenevo's and wondering what the major differences between thinkpads and ideapads are. I have 1000 to spend...1100 is my max. Looks like I can only get 160 gig solid state hard drive for that price and that isn't enough for me. I have that on my current laptop and it's completely full. Do the performance benefits of solid state really outweigh the cost. Doesn't it make just as much sense to beef up the processor and go with standard Hard Drive?

Thanks

[beach_terror]

Do the performance benefits of solid state really outweigh the cost. Doesn't it make just as much sense to beef up the processor and go with standard Hard Drive?

Thanks

Yes, you're right. Solid state drives are too expensive for their performance increase. Beef up other components, and give SSD's a year or so to fall down in price.

[sdlaw]

Do the performance benefits of solid state really outweigh the cost. Doesn't it make just as much sense to beef up the processor and go with standard Hard Drive?

Thanks

Yes, you're right. Solid state drives are too expensive for their performance increase. Beef up other components, and give SSD's a year or so to fall down in price.

Good to hear regarding the solid states, I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something. I was also looking at the HP Pavilion dv6t Select Edition Series with the following configuration.

Processor: Intel i5-540M Dual Core Processor 3 Ghz
Memory: 6 gigs
Hard Drive: 500 gigs at 7200 RPM
Graphics: 1 gig switchable graphics card
Fingerprint scanner, backlit keyboard etc.
6 cell lithium battery w/ extra 9 cell for long days

It comes out to about 1300 but I get 20 percent off all HP stuff through a family member who works for HP and Free Microsoft products through same family member so it will be below my $1100 range when all is said and done. It seems like this setup would give me more bang for my buck then any of the Thinkpads within the $1100 range.

Also I'm only planning on this lap top really lasting me through law school and maybe 1 more year so durability isn't a huge issue to me.

Thoughts anyone?

[beach_terror]

Do the performance benefits of solid state really outweigh the cost. Doesn't it make just as much sense to beef up the processor and go with standard Hard Drive?

Thanks

Yes, you're right. Solid state drives are too expensive for their performance increase. Beef up other components, and give SSD's a year or so to fall down in price.

Good to hear regarding the solid states, I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something. I was also looking at the HP Pavilion dv6t Select Edition Series with the following configuration.

Processor: Intel i5-540M Dual Core Processor 3 Ghz good
Memory: 6 gigs Excessive, 4gb is more than enough
Hard Drive: 500 gigs at 7200 RPM good
Graphics: 1 gig switchable graphics card if you're playing video games, sure?
Fingerprint scanner, backlit keyboard etc. I don't see the need for the scanner honestly, backlight keyboard is win though
6 cell lithium battery w/ extra 9 cell for long days

It comes out to about 1300 but I get 20 percent off all HP stuff through a family member who works for HP and Free Microsoft products through same family member so it will be below my $1100 range when all is said and done. It seems like this setup would give me more bang for my buck then any of the Thinkpads within the $1100 range.

Also I'm only planning on this lap top really lasting me through law school and maybe 1 more year so durability isn't a huge issue to me.

Thoughts anyone?

Game away

[ResolutePear]

Do the performance benefits of solid state really outweigh the cost. Doesn't it make just as much sense to beef up the processor and go with standard Hard Drive?

Thanks

Yes, you're right. Solid state drives are too expensive for their performance increase. Beef up other components, and give SSD's a year or so to fall down in price.

I want to chime in on this for a second:

SSDs are dependent on the application at this point. For instance, if the laptop is prone to shaking - a regular HD might fail in instances where an SSD wouldn't since an SSD doesn't have any moving parts.

In most of the scenarios - this is a moot point.. just thought I'd weigh in.

[savagecheater]

Well, I've made my decision.

Dell Latitude E6410. I've done significant research on the two, and the i5 processors do not fare as well in the Thinkpads (especially the 410s) as they do in the Latitudes.

i5 2.40 ghz
4gb ram
nvidia nvs3100m
14.1in screen
250gb 720rpm hdd
windows 7 professional 64.

[kalvano]

Well, I've made my decision.

Dell

I'm sorry.

[blurbz]

The specs are clearly good--just take really, really good care of it.

[savagecheater]

The specs are clearly good--just take really, really good care of it.

Posting from my 5 year old Dell Inspiron E1505.

To be honest, the reviews of recent Thinkpads did not impress me. Heat problems were rampant.

[blurbz]

This is credited. In the interest of openness, I had a tough choice between lenovo and dell: I went with lenovo after talking to a number of people who had problems with both companies and stories about their support. I'm posting on a 4 year old Toshiba that I've never had any problems with, so I know it's possible to break the stereotypes--I just wanted to ensure that I was comfortable with the tech support that I was going to get if I needed it.

Seriously, though, your computer specs look good! I don't think it was a bad buy at all.