The Ideal Law School Laptop Forum

[IHeartNewYork]

7) The airbag system would ask 'Are you sure?' before deploying.

That one made me LOL for real.

[angiej]

Ha, yeah I thought it was pretty hysterical myself.

[vut]

10) You'd have to press the 'Start' button to turn the engine off.

Haha.

Good thing it's now only an icon.

[hoffb86]

mac users - I could use some help in this thread.... http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 10&t=73580

Oh, and tagging this for future use.

[aholmes87]

Just got my T400 today and I love it so far.

The biggest thing for me is the keyboard. It doesn't feel like a laptop keyboard, it has more of the feel of a regular desktop keyboard. I have had it on for three hours sitting on my lap and haven't felt and heat at all. So far I'm quite satisfied.

[UNC2009]

this is a ridiculously good deal: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=2289 - that exact laptop is currently also for sale on newegg.com for $1800 or something stupid like that, and most models on ebay are closer to 1300-1500 even if actually used.

it was released feb 2008 (at ~$3,000) to compete with the macbook air, but has much better usability. main concern would be the processor - it will absolutely be fast enough for office and word processing - but would ham string the computer it in terms of gaming and some other cpu intensive applications.

Hattip to disco_barred: I just ordered my Lenovo X300 from TigerDirect.com. Can't wait to get it next week. I thought this price was a mistake. I saw the same laptop offered by my school's IT department for about $2,800 (but it was only offered to faculty). So this is an incredible deal!

If you want one, buy quickly. The website is experiencing intermittent times of "THis item is currently unavailable."

[270910]

Hattip to disco_barred: I just ordered my Lenovo X300 from TigerDirect.com. Can't wait to get it next week. I thought this price was a mistake. I saw the same laptop offered by my school's IT department for about $2,800 (but it was only offered to faculty). So this is an incredible deal!

If you want one, buy quickly. The website is experiencing intermittent times of "This item is currently unavailable."

Two pieces of good news: First, it arrived at my door today - which means it isn't vaporware and the price isn't a mistake (it's on Newegg & Amazon for like 2,000!).

Second, these computer must have been sitting around for a long time - I don't know if it means anything to you, but mine at least came with an SLC solid state drive - which should be faster and have better longevity than the MLC sold state drives that are much more common these days. It is also a much more expensive part!

Absolutely love it so far - the fit and finish is out of this world, as is the weight, and it's plenty snappy even on 1.2 Ghz. There's a lot to be said for being fast for the sake of being fast, but modern computers really don't need blistering speed for office and internet tasks.

[bigben]

A friend sent this to me, I don't know enough about computers to really join the debate of Mac v. PC but I thought some of you would get a kick out of this:

BILL GATES vs GM

For all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection for the way
computers have enhanced our lives, read on.

At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the
computer industry with the auto industry and stated: 'If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we
would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon.'

In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating: 'If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics (and I just love this part):

1) For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash........Twice a day.

2) Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to
buy a new car.

3) Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You
would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows,
shut off the car, restart it and reopen the windows before you could
continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.

4) Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause
your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would
have to reinstall the engine.

5) Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was
reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would
run on only five percent of the roads.

6) The oil, water temperature and alternator warning lights would all
be replaced by a single 'This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation'
warning light.

7) The airbag system would ask 'Are you sure?' before deploying.

Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out
and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door

handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

9) Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn
how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate
in the same manner as the old car.

10) You'd have to press the 'Start' button to turn the engine off.

Welcome to 1998.

[JoBo]

I just bought the brand new Asus Eee PC 1008HA... I wanted something extremely light for travel between school and my office, and this only weight 2.5 lbs.

It has a few small drawbacks like a non-removable 3-cell battery, but it still gets as good of battery life as my brother's 6-cell MSI Wind. I get nearly 6 hours when doing class work and typing work.

Just thought I'd let everyone know- they keyboard is remarkaby comfortable as well.

[crystalhawkeye]

So if I kept Vista, what are those programs that can be removed to help system optimization? I'll probably just get AVG instead of Norton/MacAfee. Also, thoughts on the DVD Recordable feature? I can't see myself needing it and would rather save the money and get the Turbo Memory Cache.

What you should remove depends on the brand of computer. I work in tech support and we do this a lot. Why don't you send me a list of all programs when you receive your computer and I can help you to identify what to remove? The list of all programs can be accessed by typing "Programs and Features" into Vista's search bar. Screenshots work, too. It's a really simple process.

That would be great! I should be getting it in a few weeks. My Desktop just came back from the shop and seems to be working quite well thus far, so at least I have something for now.

[magnumxlv]

After a lot of consideration b/w the T400 and the X200 tablet, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the tablet, considering the price difference is minuscule and the lack of optical drive and low-end integrated graphics makes no difference for me school-wise. I'd much rather have something I could snuggle up with in a chair or bed with, and read and highlight notes with. Plus, I've wanted a tablet for the longest time and damn it if I'm not going to us this opportunity to get what I want . But if anyone has any solid reasons why I should reconsider, please let me know before I throw down the dough.

Also,, does anyone knows the difference b/w the default WXGA screen and the $200 upgrade for the "Multitouch, Multiview" screen? From what I've been able to ascertain, it pretty much just adds finger input in addition to pen input, and isn't "multitouch" in the true sense of the word (you can't use both finger+pen at the same time with the Lenovo). This is pretty much the only thing I'm still confused about, and is keeping me from purchasing the lapto , so your help is much appreciated. Thanks!

[lucydog]

Lenovo is having a "grads and dads" sale on its contractor website:

http://www.lenovo.com/cpp

Password: friendsandfamily

T400 is starting at $585
Y430 is starting at $457

I usually try to wait until the last minute to make technology purchases, but there prices seem like a good deal in case any wants to pull the trigger right now.

On a side note, has anyone heard any news about if Microsoft will give upgrade discounts to those who purchase Vista machines before the Windows 7 launch? I am 7RC1 right now and it is working extremely bad ass.

[Skadden Stairs]

Lenovo is having a "grads and dads" sale on its contractor website:

http://www.lenovo.com/cpp

Password: familyandfriends

T400 is starting at $585
Y430 is starting at $457

I usually try to wait until the last minute to make technology purchases, but there prices seem like a good deal in case any wants to pull the trigger right now.

On a side note, has anyone heard any news about if Microsoft will give upgrade discounts to those who purchase Vista machines before the Windows 7 launch? I am 7RC1 right now and it is working extremely bad ass.

fixed

[lucydog]

lol, oops, Verizon advertisements have started to rot my brain.

[Skadden Stairs]

lol, oops, Verizon advertisements have started to rot my brain.

haha.

I just wish they'd release the S12 sooner.

[TheIllogicalReasoner]

Sorry if this has been answered or is common knowledge.

Do most schools have enough places for everyone to plug in during class? I am probably going to do the computer at home/ netbook at school combo with one of the ASUS models, either the 1008HA or the 1005HA coming out soon and need to know if 4 hours is enough battery life, or if I really need to get one of the models boasting a 10 hour battery life.

Thanks!

[superflush]

Sorry if this has been answered or is common knowledge.

Do most schools have a place for you to plug in during class? I am probably going to do the computer at home/ netbook at school combo with one of the ASUS models, either the 1008HA or the 1005HA coming out soon and need to know if 4 hours is enough battery life, or if I really need to get one of the models boasting a 10 hour battery life.

Thanks!

Most good schools do. I know that sounds eh, I don't know. But I've visited at least a dozen law schools. And my experience has been that tier1 school pretty much have it covered extremely well, unless there is maybe a few older rooms, or there are a couple classrooms in an older building or something. But of the few tier2 schools I've visited, they had some really older classrooms with bad technology hookups. I personally would err on the side of caution, and go for bigger battery life (not necessarily 10 hours), but I'd want more than 4. One of the main reasons why is battery longevity (or battery lifespan). Also, the advertised battery times aren't necessarily true with wifi on and such. My almost 4yr old notebook is lucky to get an 1 of battery life right now, and it almost never got the advertised 4 hours with the WiFi on.

[superflush]

Lol, I just looked at your stats. You should be fine with plugs at whatever law school you end up at, imho. I still think you should take the my overall battery outlook into consideration though.

[magnumxlv]

I've actually decided on a T400 now after looking at prices and considering how the tablet will be more of a novelty than anything else.

I have it configured pretty well (lowest clock 6MB L2 cache proc, 4GB RAM, 160GB 7200 RPM HD, 9-cell), but they seem to offer LCD backlights in only WXGA and not WXGA+!

Does anyone know if this is only a temporary supply issue or do they not offer that at all?

I'd really much rather have the WXGA+ for the extra screen estate.

[cconnoll]

I am looking at the HP Notebook 4200 or 6200.

Anyone have any thoughts on either of these? the reviews seem to be ok. I have never owned an HP.


4200 specs:

17 inch screen
320 gb hard drive
3 gb ram
2.0 ghz dual core

[bigben]

I've actually decided on a T400 now after looking at prices and considering how the tablet will be more of a novelty than anything else.

I have it configured pretty well (lowest clock 6MB L2 cache proc, 4GB RAM, 160GB 7200 RPM HD, 9-cell), but they seem to offer LCD backlights in only WXGA and WXGA+!

Does anyone know if this is only a temporary supply issue or do they not offer that at all?

I'd really much rather have the WXGA+ for the extra screen estate.

I got the 1440x900 screen with the LED backlight, so it does exist. I guess you'll have to call and find out if they are getting more.

[bigben]

I am looking at the HP Notebook 4200 or 6200.

Anyone have any thoughts on either of these? the reviews seem to be ok. I have never owned an HP.


4200 specs:

17 inch screen
320 gb hard drive
3 gb ram
2.0 ghz dual core

My thought is I hope you aren't planning on carrying that thing anywhere, except on rare occasion, and certainly not in conjunction with casebooks.

[cconnoll]

I am looking at the HP Notebook 4200 or 6200.

Anyone have any thoughts on either of these? the reviews seem to be ok. I have never owned an HP.


4200 specs:

17 inch screen
320 gb hard drive
3 gb ram
2.0 ghz dual core

My thought is I hope you aren't planning on carrying that thing anywhere, except on rare occasion, and certainly not in conjunction with casebooks.

Because of screen or weight? I am used to hauling a 17in screen in my backpack. It does weigh 7 pounds, which sucks, but I have always had a loaded backpack and my laptop right now weighs 6 pounds. I can see how the hp t4200 combined with casebooks could be straining on my back.

[crystalhawkeye]

Here's my final set-up:

Processor1 Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.40GHz 1066MHz 3MBL2) 25W
Operating system12 Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
Operating system language Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium US English
System graphics Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
Total memory8 3 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
Keyboard Keyboard US English
Pointing device UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)
Hard drive4 160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm
Intel® Turbo Memory hard drive cache Intel Turbo Memory 2GB
Optical device5 CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo 24X/24X/24X/8X Max, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
System expansion slots Express Card Slot & PC Card Slot
Wireless card10 Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN) with My WiFi Technology
Mobile Broadband Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
Battery60 9 cell Li-Ion Battery
Power cord Country Pack North America with Line cord & 65W AC adapter
Language pack Language Pack US English

And only $922. I think that's pretty good.

Did you get the discrete or integrated graphics?

Whatever the cheaper one is. I think integrated, right? I don't game at all or watch movies so I'm not concerned about having less-than stellar graphics.

[bigben]

Because of screen or weight? I am used to hauling a 17in screen in my backpack. It does weigh 7 pounds, which sucks, but I have always had a loaded backpack and my laptop right now weighs 6 pounds. I can see how the hp t4200 combined with casebooks could be straining on my back.

Both size and weight. If you're used to it I guess it's all good.