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I'm back in the college, and think its high time I bought a portable computer. I literally have never owned a laptop (work gave me one for a while, only used it docked as a desktop), I've always been a desktop man. But the idea of doing simple work at a coffee shop is now very appealing to me, and since my class is mostly programming oriented (Fortran 77 bitches!) I need a computer to do it.

My price range is ~500$. I have a 150$ store credit at Fry's, so that's where I would have to buy at. Ultimately I really only need it to do the following:

Word Proc
Interwebs
Matlab 7
Simple Compiling
Spreadsheets

Ideally it could also do the following

FL Studio (music production software, not as hardcore as reason but needs a decent computer)
Simple gaming : no dragon age or ME2, I have a desktop for that, but something I could run Eve Online on as well as more low end games would be nice
Get me laid.

Right now I am looking at the EEE PC 1205 with Nvidia ION. Supposedly this thing can actually handle higher end gaming (barely), and I like that while it is ultra portable it also has a more realistically sized screen and keyboard. I've been looking at netbooks because they are soooo damned light and cheap, but honestly there are a lot of decent laptops in the 500$ range too, so netbook/laptop, whats your suggestion?

Edit: The worst part is having to cudgel my way through Frys online store. My GOD, why is it that no other store can come up with a system even 1/10th as good as Neweggs?

Edit: Ok, I guess what I need to do is watch the sales. I haven't been on slickealz in a while, and just last weekend there was this monster on there. Good lord.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/eMachin...ategoryId=pcmcat196200050013&id=1218159404821

Matlab, eh? Make sure you get yourself a good CPU and a good amount of RAM if you plan on doing anything complicated in it.

Also, FORTRAN FTW!

Get an iPad.



....What? It can do all of that (save the Matlab 7), and it's in the price range! Someone had to do it!

I have the HP Mini 311-1025 with ION (not LE), it does struggle with a dozen browser tabs open and some facebook flash games get choppy. Most netbooks have no optical drive, so if you want to install academic software and your older games, you may want a proper laptop. Some 13 or 14 inch laptops should be slightly bigger than a netbook, while still providing enough power for applications and games (especially if dual processor). The battery life and light weight of a netbook are beneficial enough for me to use it as my travel machine, because I have a full laptop parked on my desk. I would recommend avoiding a netbook for your first laptop experience.

Bubble181 said:

Someone had to do it!

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:angry:

I can't keep my Vow of Inanity if you beat me to the punchline.

Sorry honey, I won't do it again. Cuddle? :-P

No. I'm still mad at you.




Wait . . . you're an owl again? Okay.

*cuddles*

;-) Yeah, the Squider has run its course. We're back to chasing rodents together. *hug*

First thing we do, we hunt down and exterminate all squiders. They give me nightmares.


Also, in before Charlie Dont Laugh's "Genocide is hilarious" comment.


Also also, Sorry for the derail. You may really find the netbooks a little too small for some fairly common tasks. I don't like doing word processing on mine, for example. The screen space just doesn't let me see enough of the page to feel comfortable doing it. Spreadsheets are simply out of the question, and I don't even like doing any drawing on it at all.

I still love my netbook for internet browsing - though even that I have to accept a fair bit of irritating horizontal scrolling.

But...But...Genocide IS hilarious!*
And yeah, netbooks have their advantages, but for anything but surfing and maybe some light typework on the go, I find them a bit smallish. Personal opinion, of course, I tend to even think the same for my sister-in-law's 14.5" laptop. Gimme my 17.4"! So, anyway, take that for what it's worth.


*Only of fictional creatures. Includes, but not limited to, squiders, uruk-hai, goblins, halflings, and moderate Afgani

Go Lenovo. If you want to go the PC route I suggest Lenovo's notebooks.

Also Ross, Fortran sucks

Lenovo, by the way, is the Chinese company that bought IBM's PC business.

Gruebeard said:

Lenovo, by the way, is the Chinese company that bought IBM's PC business.

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Yep, It's also my understanding that they were doing all the manufacturing before buying the division, the quality of some of the new thinkpads pale in compared to the IBM branded ones, but the IMO better than any other pc notebook maker.

Apple also makes great notebooks, unless people have an adversion to OSX and Apple I would recommend the Macbook Pro.

Yeah, I'd probably buy a Lenovo laptop over anything else even if only because I prefer the little red keyboard nipple over the trackpad that every other laptop seems to have.

And every IBM laptop I've used has also been a nice solidly built machine.

How much is mobility an issue? Because if you only need to carry across the room or downstairs once in a while, you can really go wrong with a $500 deal laptop that weighs 7-10 pounds. It will be powerful enough to compile code just fine, have a decent amount of memory, hd-space, and it might even be relatively decent for gaming.

If you need to be able to carry it around a lot, and you're sticking to your $500 budget, a netbook is your best bet, BUT it may not be especially conducive to compiling code and doing anything else at the same time. You may have similar problems if you're dealing with really large spreadsheets with lots of codependent formulas.

TeKeo said:

How much is mobility an issue? Because if you only need to carry across the room or downstairs once in a while, you can really go wrong with a $500 deal laptop that weighs 7-10 pounds. It will be powerful enough to compile code just fine, have a decent amount of memory, hd-space, and it might even be relatively decent for gaming.

If you need to be able to carry it around a lot, and you're sticking to your $500 budget, a netbook is your best bet, BUT it may not be especially conducive to compiling code and doing anything else at the same time. You may have similar problems if you're dealing with really large spreadsheets with lots of codependent formulas.

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In my opinion, the best deal you can get should supersede weight.
Any adult man shouldn't have any issues lugging the heaviest of laptops around, especially with a laptop carrying bag/case.
And heavier equates to more calories burned during the day

I inherited a macbook, which is out of your price range, but I was a only-desktop user all the years before it.
I totally overlooked the advantages of a laptop's portability, the ability to take a computer with me anywhere & use it anywhere (mostly in my home) has easily changed my day-to-day life.

Woot.com & deals.woot.com have good deals on laptops/netbooks constantly.
Check these
http://deals.woot.com/deals/search?q=laptop&page=2&sort=bestmatch
http://deals.woot.com/deals/search?q=netbook

Covar said:

Also Ross, Fortran sucks

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Tell that to my thunderstorm simulation :humph:

Well I just bought one and am typing on it right now. Its an MSI book, which is a brand I'm not too familiar with outside of their hardware, but the specs were nice for the price. CTD P7250 (or something like that, 2.2 w/ 2mb L2), 3 gig ddr2, 360 HD, and, the real ticket, a discreet radeon 4750. Plus it has a num pad which is nice, but its taking a little getting used to as it makes me hit num lock a bunch instead of backspace. Also other standard crap like webcam etc. Was on sale for 599 at Frys. Hopefully MSI doesn't put out shit machines, we'll see. There was no bloatware which is definitely a good sign.

Laptop with a numpad?
:wub:

Yeah I was surprised just how common that was in a lot of the low end laptops. Its something thats damn near a necessity for me in a computer. My last laptop (for work) I had to go and buy a disconnectable num pad. That was just not that great. This is much damned better.

BOOM BABY!

Edit: I am now using my laptop while sitting on the toilet. I now know what it is to be a god.