Help Artha find a college laptop.

[Artha]

Just went to orientation, and found out a computer is required.

Required:
Processor:....Pentium M or Centrino or equivalent
RAM:...........512 MB minimum, 1 GB recommended
Hard Drive:...80GB minimum, 120 GB recommended
Monitor:......12" color (bigger's ok)
Video:.........64MB or more
CD-RW/DVD
10/100 BaseT Ethernet
Wireless must support 802.11b/g
DVD burner is optional but recommended

I'd like to be able to play WoW (Min/Recommended specs here (http://www.blizzard.com/SUPPORT/wow/?id=aww0823p)) on it, even if all of the settings can't be turned up. I have some money to spend, but cheaper is better. Not really sure on laptop price ranges, so no definite limits.

[Back]

Apple has a student discount (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?family=BackToSchool2006&cid=AOSA10000040754&siteID=3Ek%2AYLydb5M-BInFZmK1OpT6GFWpZpRXWw).

[Artha]

I forgot to mention, but so does Dell. They've also got discounts for Target, where my mom works, but I'm not sure if they stack.

[radamanthys]

If you're going new, I've had good results with Dell laptops, so far. When you're buying, look up coupon codes on the net. Every once in a while you find one that stacks with their current deal, and you get one hell of a deal.

e.g. I got my brother a totally tricked out 600m for 800 bucks. It had a "600 dollars off any laptop 1400 or more" or something like that. So, I just added stuff until the price dropped back down. Adding that extra thing made it cheaper by 600 dollars. I was, like, W00t.

[Gan]

Weezy can get you some discount codes for Dell.

Take a look at the lattitude 610 models. I used one for my previous job and it was a nice piece of equipment.

[Bobmuhthol]

Holy shit, I think I found the best laptop ever.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834224051

$1830 with $400 instant savings = $1430, 256MB video memory, 1GB DDR2 RAM, 80GB HDD, DVD +/- RW drive, 2.0GHz Pentium M.

The 256MB video is a dedicated card. You'll win at WoW, as far as laptops.

[radamanthys]

I played WoW on my 5150 at med. settings with a 64mb Radeon Mobility 9000 and a Gig of SODIMM DDR, and 3.2ghz processor...

I bought that in '03, so you should be fine these days.

[Bobmuhthol]

I was playing WoW with 128MB of shared memory, 512MB total memory (384 usable), and an AMD Athlon 3400+. It's definitely not an impossible thing to do, but it's infinitely better with good hardware (luckily the processor saved my ass on that one).

[Anailea]

Whichever laptop you end up buying, get the accident coverage, Dell's is really good. I dropped my laptop and the screen broke, I called that day, they picked it up the next day and I got it back two days later. Really worth it.

Anailea

[Bobmuhthol]

If you're clumsy and drop laptops all the time, otherwise it's a waste of money, and dealing with Dell is a waste of life.

[radamanthys]

Dell has been no worse than any other major, save for Retail dealers (which suck, like compaq, etc).

[Celephais]

Bob, that's a pretty poor deal on newegg. You can buy the same loadout on Dell for way cheaper.

I bought my i9300 w/ 256gb dedicated VRam (a 6800 instead of a 6600 too) over a year ago for cheaper (around $1200) and it plays WoW beautifully (at 1920x1200 lots of details on).

If you're patient (watch slickdeals.net) some very nice dell deals will pop up, the E1705 is incredible for gaming, and can be had very cheap, only problem is it isn't super portable. It's about the same size as my i9300, and I find I have no problem moving it around from place to place, like if I go to a friends or want to be outside, but it's more of a "okay, I'm going to lug it over here now" kind of thing.

[Bobmuhthol]

<<Bob, that's a pretty poor deal on newegg. You can buy the same loadout on Dell for way cheaper.>>

You can't buy that laptop from Dell, though.

Edit: I'd like to see these spectacular deals, because a similar Dell laptop costs $1,750 from what I just saw at dell.com.

[Sean of the Thread]

e-machines!

[GuildRat]

Go HP, Compaq line....good deals and service per my experience.

[Bobmuhthol]

<<e-machines!>>

My computer is better than yours. :)

[Wezas]

<<e-machines!>>

My computer is better than yours. :)

Pre or Post Windows ME?

[Bobmuhthol]

Windows XP Professional SP1.

[Celephais]

Windows XP Professional SP1.

I just priced out a Dell E1505, 256 VRam (7300... next gen VCard too, better DXsupport) with 1gb ram, 80gb hd, dual core(1.86ghz vs your single core 2.0ghz... rather have the dual personally), DVD+-RW, for $970 on dell... sounds like $400 cheaper for a better machine to me.

[Wezas]

I just priced out a Dell E1505, 256 VRam (7300... next gen VCard too, better DXsupport) with 1gb ram, 80gb hd, dual core(1.86ghz vs your single core 2.0ghz... rather have the dual personally), DVD+-RW, for $970 on dell... sounds like $400 cheaper for a better machine to me.


Oh yeah? Well Dell Support sucks compared to NewE...err.. nm

[Artha]

One thing I just noticed in putting together a Dell system is that the wireless card is 802.11a/g. I need one that's 802.11b/g...possible to order one and easily install it?

I know next to nothing about laptops and even less about wireless protocols.

[Androidpk]

http://www.gnswireless.com/AvsBvsG.htm

[Skirmisher]

Just wondering why you need it to be compatible with "b" format.

And yes, companies including Dell offer wireless cards for their laptops that are G compatible, A/G, A/G/B, pretty much whatever you need.

I think you can most likely also pick up one from Newegg, Tigerdirect or the like for at least as good a price, but if the price differential is small i'd probably just get it from the same place to keep things simple.

Here is the first one i pulled up off Newegg as an example that should be usable with all three a/b/g formats.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16839124001

This is a Wikpedia explanation of the various wireless formats.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11

[Artha]

Just wondering why you need it to be compatible with "b" format.
I guess it's just what the college uses.

For the E1505, Dell only offers two options for wireless cards:
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/g Mini Card (54Mbps)
Intel® PRO 3945 and Dell 350 Bluetooth Internal Wireless Cards

From reading the GNS Wireless link, it seems like an a/g card would be able to use all three formats, right?

[Bobmuhthol]

To use all three you need an a/g/b card. Incidentally, there's one in the laptop that I posted earlier. Dell still sucks.

Edit: The G4 Revolution is the absolute best laptop that ABS makes, and it is designed for gaming. Just sayin'.

[Skirmisher]

Intel Pro Wireless 3945 is one of those offered with that model and the help window expands to seem to say that yes it can work with all three modes.

Mini PCI Express

Wi-Fi certified
IEEE 802.11b
IEEE 802.11g
IEEE 802.11a

802.11b: up to 11Mbps
802.11g: up to 54Mbps
802.11a: up to 54Mbps

[Artha]

Edit: The G4 Revolution is the absolute best laptop that ABS makes, and it is designed for gaming. Just sayin'.
Yeah, it's nice. Right now it looks like I can design a stronger Dell for about the same price (though it'll come loaded with junk), but if it gets too expensive I'll probably the go ABS route.

[Wezas]

Less junk (and sometimes better deals if you don't mind skipping out on a free printer) if you use Dell Small Business.

[Artha]

This (http://ecomm.dell.com/dellstore/basket.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&itemtype=CFG&details=undefined) system's comparable in price with the other one (with a mouse and case for each), but a little pricier without discounts...opinions? Changes?

[Artha]

I ended up getting a computer directly from ABS. It's slightly pricier than the NewEgg G4, but I got a better mouse/cooling pad/stuff with it, a free 258mb USB drive, twice the RAM and 100gb 7200rpm HDD.

Only thing I'd prefer is dual processors (I got a 2GHz processor, dual processors weren't an option), but I don't do very many processor-hogging tasks, let alone multitask them so I'm not too worried.

Thanks for the help everyone!

[Bobmuhthol]

Newegg owns ABS. :)

[Artha]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v348/BPMdotEXE/Random/O_RLY.jpg

[Bobmuhthol]

Ya rly.

[Artha]

http://jeweledplatypus.org/pixels/other/nowai.jpg

[Stanley Burrell]

Those owls look burnt or dead.

Get an HP Compaq!

Or a Dell!

Or a Mac!

I don't care!

(But remember: College is like the primordial ooze of viruses and spyware, so... Reg' Mechanic, SpySweeper and a 3-year subscription to a company that makes anti-virus software is always the hot shit. Make sure to RUN THEM.)

[radamanthys]

I hate virus scanners. I haven't had one active for years, and haven't gotten a virus in years. I run ad-aware and spybot about once every month or two.

And maybe Housecall once in the past few years. Otherwise, its been rather clean, even at school ;-)

[Bobmuhthol]

<<and haven't gotten a virus in years.>>

I don't know about that. I don't run virus scanners either, but over a year or two I piled up over 5,000 viruses that didn't negatively impact my system.

[StrayRogue]

I hate virus scanners. I haven't had one active for years, and haven't gotten a virus in years. I run ad-aware and spybot about once every month or two.

And maybe Housecall once in the past few years. Otherwise, its been rather clean, even at school ;-)

Run panda scan. Its free and online.

[Artha]

A lot of the newer viruses don't leave much of a mark.

They just send your bank info to a hacker when you go to wachovia.com. Or turn your computer into a spam mailer/DDoS robot when it's idle.