Computers for Law School 2011 Forum

[trudat15]

I know ppl mentioned Squaretrade a few pages back - better than applecare?

[haus]

I know ppl mentioned Squaretrade a few pages back - better than applecare?

I have never dealt with them, so I have no first hand experience to speak of. I generally find the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to be an organization used to clear up the reputation of fraudulent companies, so seeing their BBB status advertised on the front page seems to be a warning flag to me.

[ResolutePear]

I know ppl mentioned Squaretrade a few pages back - better than applecare?

I have never dealt with them, so I have no first hand experience to speak of. I generally find the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to be an organization used to clear up the reputation of fraudulent companies, so seeing their BBB status advertised on the front page seems to be a warning flag to me.

They are a legit company.

[gothamm]

This might be a stupid question but what does that trackball in the Lenovo keyboard actually do? It just looks like it will be a nuisance when typing

And can anyone actually way the Asus vs. the Lenovo thinkpad.

I also saw the ideapad today in Best Buy? How does that rate as a laptop? Thanks.

Holy crap, how do you not know what that does (it's called a trackpoint)? Dear lord. FWIW, I don't use trackpads, I only use trackpoints. Trackpads are the fucking worst ever. Nipple navigation ftw. I would never buy a laptop without one.

Also, continued LOL at the people who advocate for SSDs.

what do you mean by advocate? as in necessary for law school? or recommend them as a nice but unnecessary upgrade?

[ResolutePear]

This might be a stupid question but what does that trackball in the Lenovo keyboard actually do? It just looks like it will be a nuisance when typing

And can anyone actually way the Asus vs. the Lenovo thinkpad.

I also saw the ideapad today in Best Buy? How does that rate as a laptop? Thanks.

Holy crap, how do you not know what that does (it's called a trackpoint)? Dear lord. FWIW, I don't use trackpads, I only use trackpoints. Trackpads are the fucking worst ever. Nipple navigation ftw. I would never buy a laptop without one.

Also, continued LOL at the people who advocate for SSDs.

what do you mean by advocate? as in necessary for law school? or recommend them as a nice but unnecessary upgrade?

Unless you're gaming, I would recommend against them.

[beach_terror]

Unless you're gaming, I would recommend against them.

Nahhhhh. Let's hear the reasoning.

[ResolutePear]

Unless you're gaming, I would recommend against them.

Nahhhhh. Let's hear the reasoning.

Nah.

[beach_terror]

Unless you're gaming, I would recommend against them.

Nahhhhh. Let's hear the reasoning.

Nah.

Good talk

[gothamm]

They are expensive and ridiculously overpriced for sure. But so damn fun. Modern dual core processors are fast enough. So is RAM...4gb is the standard nowadays. HDD is a huge bottleneck for overall performance. My cousin installed an ssd on his 2006 2.0 ghz macbook. It's got a new life. Incredibly zippy overall and outperforms 2011 laptops in general use (non gaming, non encoding stuff)

[ResolutePear]

They are expensive and ridiculously overpriced for sure. But so damn fun. Modern dual core processors are fast enough. So is RAM...4gb is the standard nowadays. HDD is a huge bottleneck for overall performance. My cousin installed an ssd on his 2006 2.0 ghz macbook. It's got a new life. Incredibly zippy overall and outperforms 2011 laptops in general use (non gaming, non encoding stuff)

lol... Do you know how x86 and x64 architectures work?

[haus]

They are expensive and ridiculously overpriced for sure. But so damn fun. Modern dual core processors are fast enough. So is RAM...4gb is the standard nowadays. HDD is a huge bottleneck for overall performance. My cousin installed an ssd on his 2006 2.0 ghz macbook. It's got a new life. Incredibly zippy overall and outperforms 2011 laptops in general use (non gaming, non encoding stuff)

lol... Do you know how x86 and x64 architectures work?

Is one of your postings going to have an actual point?

[gothamm]

They are expensive and ridiculously overpriced for sure. But so damn fun. Modern dual core processors are fast enough. So is RAM...4gb is the standard nowadays. HDD is a huge bottleneck for overall performance. My cousin installed an ssd on his 2006 2.0 ghz macbook. It's got a new life. Incredibly zippy overall and outperforms 2011 laptops in general use (non gaming, non encoding stuff)

lol... Do you know how x86 and x64 architectures work?

yes, but relevance?

[glewz]

I know ppl mentioned Squaretrade a few pages back - better than applecare?

I have never dealt with them, so I have no first hand experience to speak of. I generally find the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to be an organization used to clear up the reputation of fraudulent companies, so seeing their BBB status advertised on the front page seems to be a warning flag to me.

dude, it says A+ BBB rating. If I had a business in insurance/warranties, and I received an A+ BBB rating, I'd advertise it on my front page as well.

[haus]

I know ppl mentioned Squaretrade a few pages back - better than applecare?

I have never dealt with them, so I have no first hand experience to speak of. I generally find the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to be an organization used to clear up the reputation of fraudulent companies, so seeing their BBB status advertised on the front page seems to be a warning flag to me.

dude, it says A+ BBB rating. If I had a business in insurance/warranties, and I received an A+ BBB rating, I'd advertise it on my front page as well.

Dude? OK, whatever.

BBB has devolved into a sham that shakes down companies for membership fees. Pay your price you get an A or A+, otherwise they slam you. Shady is a nice way of looking at it. If they had common sense they would distance themselves from this, not advertise it.

[Naked Dude]

I think I'll be ok with booting 30 seconds slower and launching word and adium 2 milliseconds slower. If I actually had to run some Adobe shit or pro tools I'd be all over it, but I don't need the SSD speed. I don't even need a big hard drive. For casual use not a good investment IMO.

You are absolutely correct. But the "need" argument takes you down a slippery slope, ultimately leading to "you don't NEED a laptop for law school".

There are so many benefits to SSDs that I can not explain. But if I had to, I would say that it makes everything so much more fluid on my mac. You just need to experience it so see what I mean

SSDs in the year 2011 are by no means an industry standard. Nor is anyone expected to have one in law school. It is definitely a premium upgrade. But the upgrade was so significant that I simply can not see myself using a hard disk. I guess you can call me an SSD snob.

I don't think you're a snob at all. All points duly noted. I don't want to make any broad sweeping claims. My laptop is a little overpowered for my purposes to begin with (the 2011 15" MBP, my one up grade was to the 7200 rpm drive. I thought long and hard about it. 128 gb is too small for me. I'm no hoarder but I'm not fully into the clod yet, and I can think of better uses for my money. I've bought bare bones computers my whole life, so it feels nice to have this new feeling of freedom. When I get a new laptop in 3-4 years for sure. I actually initially ordered it with one and changed my mind after speaking with some more knowledgeable friends. Let me know what your experience is, because I am genuinely interested

[Stoic]

This might be a stupid question but what does that trackball in the Lenovo keyboard actually do? It just looks like it will be a nuisance when typing

And can anyone actually way the Asus vs. the Lenovo thinkpad.

I also saw the ideapad today in Best Buy? How does that rate as a laptop? Thanks.

Holy crap, how do you not know what that does (it's called a trackpoint)? Dear lord. FWIW, I don't use trackpads, I only use trackpoints. Trackpads are the fucking worst ever. Nipple navigation ftw. I would never buy a laptop without one.

Also, continued LOL at the people who advocate for SSDs.

That's not what I meant. I mean like the actual usefulness of it? I keep hearing Lenovo's nice and I liked the keyboard when I used it but I found the trackpoint annoying when I was typing. I never actually used the trackpoint itself. But yeah trackpads are terrible.

[bk1]

Why do people have such a hard on for chiclet keyboards? How are they any better than the regular old keyboard that has come with IBM/Lenovo laptops since last millennium?

I've been using a keyboard with one for the past couple days and it pretty much seems on par with the old style outside of aesthetics.

[23402385985]

Why do people have such a hard on for chiclet keyboards? How are they any better than the regular old keyboard that has come with IBM/Lenovo laptops since last millennium?

I've been using a keyboard with one for the past couple days and it pretty much seems on par with the old style outside of aesthetics.

Much easier to type on, IMO. I love the island keys.

[haus]

Why do people have such a hard on for chiclet keyboards? How are they any better than the regular old keyboard that has come with IBM/Lenovo laptops since last millennium?

I've been using a keyboard with one for the past couple days and it pretty much seems on par with the old style outside of aesthetics.

Comfort with a keyboard is very important with a system, especially a laptop. This is one reason that I would not be interested in ordering a machine online or over the phone unless I have had an opportunity to work with a like model in person for long enough to determine how the keyboard works for me.

Personally I am fine with the traditional IBM/Lenovo layouts, I also do well with most of the Mac keyboards. I do not care for the feel of my corporate Dell machine, but this is a personal matter that everyone needs to sort out for themselves. For those who plan on spending a great deal of time with their systems, or plan to use them in time sensitive situations (e.g. exams, cutting deadlines short on writing assignments) it is worth spending a little time to compare your options to increase the chance that you will end up something that suits you.

[kalvano]

This might be a stupid question but what does that trackball in the Lenovo keyboard actually do? It just looks like it will be a nuisance when typing

And can anyone actually way the Asus vs. the Lenovo thinkpad.

I also saw the ideapad today in Best Buy? How does that rate as a laptop? Thanks.

Holy crap, how do you not know what that does (it's called a trackpoint)? Dear lord. FWIW, I don't use trackpads, I only use trackpoints. Trackpads are the fucking worst ever. Nipple navigation ftw. I would never buy a laptop without one.

Also, continued LOL at the people who advocate for SSDs.

That's not what I meant. I mean like the actual usefulness of it? I keep hearing Lenovo's nice and I liked the keyboard when I used it but I found the trackpoint annoying when I was typing. I never actually used the trackpoint itself. But yeah trackpads are terrible.

It's fantastic. I love my Trackpoint.

[Naked Dude]

Island keyboards aren't necessarily better, but comfort is essential. Thinkpads and macs have great ones. I cannot stand off-center keyboards or trackpads. Look at any HP, Toshiba, et al and a lot of them have an extra row of page up/page down type shit (im not saying these keys arent useful, but most laptop keyboards ive seen are in desperate need of re-design) and it makes the QWERTY keyboard off center. It's a pain.

[albanach]

Island keyboards aren't necessarily better, but comfort is essential.

This is important. For anyone thinking of buying a new computer for law school, priority should probably be given to the keyboard and display. Those are the two computer parts you will be using every day for three years.

It's also worth considering a decent external monitor and keyboard for your desk at home, since it's easier to get a better ergonomic position with those than with a laptop by itself.

[ResolutePear]

They are expensive and ridiculously overpriced for sure. But so damn fun. Modern dual core processors are fast enough. So is RAM...4gb is the standard nowadays. HDD is a huge bottleneck for overall performance. My cousin installed an ssd on his 2006 2.0 ghz macbook. It's got a new life. Incredibly zippy overall and outperforms 2011 laptops in general use (non gaming, non encoding stuff)

lol... Do you know how x86 and x64 architectures work?

yes, but relevance?

How is the HDD a bottleneck with office, then?

I just don't see how a memory-resident program can be affected by HDD access directly, without calling upon 500MB office files(.doc, .xls, etc.). Please, enlighten us.

[Naked Dude]

Island keyboards aren't necessarily better, but comfort is essential.

This is important. For anyone thinking of buying a new computer for law school, priority should probably be given to the keyboard and display. Those are the two computer parts you will be using every day for three years.

It's also worth considering a decent external monitor and keyboard for your desk at home, since it's easier to get a better ergonomic position with those than with a laptop by itself.

I don't know why so many laptops have this--it's, to me at least, really atrocious in terms of ergonomics and it kills my wrists. Look on the right side . There's got to be a better way to place the home/page up/page down/end keys. The keyboard could use fewer keys to make it more like this . Say what you want about the Thinkpad. It's almost the antithesis of a Mac. Unglamorous, kind of ugly, bulky and uninspired and unambitious aesthetically. But it's a solid computer, and I wish Toshiba and HP would make their notebook keyboards like that, because it's driven me away from some of their stuff I've otherwise liked.

And it is nearly impossible to find a good PC laptop larger than 15" without a full numeric pad! I found some great Toshibas in which this was the dealbreaker . Note this isn't a new model or the one I looked at, but the keyboard is the same. Toshiba Portege, loved it, one of the dealbreakers was the keyboard.

[FantasticMrFox]

I mainly got the Mac because of the keyboard and the touchpad; I just hate Dell.