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Rank: Frosh
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/13/2008
Posts: 7
Location: Barrhead
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I am looking for a laptop to use for school next year but I don't know to much about them. Anybody know what brand is the best and works the best? Thanks for your help!!
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Rank: Student Body President
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/5/2008
Posts: 1,396
Location: Wilfrid Laurier University
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What's your budget? Will you just be doing basic stuff like word processing, surfing the internet, etc.?
-Stringer
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 175
Location: Ontario
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nascarchic wrote:I am looking for a laptop to use for school next year but I don't know to much about them. Anybody know what brand is the best and works the best? Thanks for your help!! While I do not know what brand is best, the one thing I'd recommend is that it should have 2 GB RAM memory (not 1 GB!). Secondly, if you want to carry it around, look at weight and battery life.
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 230
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If you can 't afford a macbook/macbook pro, i recommend buying an hp with 14.1" screen size, 12 cell battery and 2 gb ram.
Queen's Commerce 2012
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Rank: Frosh
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/16/2008
Posts: 39
Location: Guelph
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poppy1337 wrote:If you can 't afford a macbook/macbook pro, i recommend buying an hp with 14.1" screen size, 12 cell battery and 2 gb ram. I would recommend saving up, and buying a Macbook (you probably don't need the pro unless you do a lot of video editing/gaming)... Macbook is amazing, can install absolutely any windows software on it (including Windows XP and it works great), never have to worry about getting a wireless, it's small, light, portable... has a ton of stuff on it that's just fun... and - you'll be carrying around a sexy macbook? Lol.. save up if you can't afford it - it's worth the wait without a doubt!
A.
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Rank: Frosh
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/12/2008
Posts: 34
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Buying a good name brand - such as HP is very cost effective and you'll be getting the performance you need. Macbooks are more expensive and performance wise you can get everything you need without spending an extra 1000$ on a macbook.
But ya, for laptops battery life is vital if your going to be carrying it around.
University of Western Ontario Biological & Medical Sciences 2012
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Rank: Student Body President
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 1,180
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i've had a tecra toshiba since the beginning of the year and have no complaints.
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Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 521
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I got an Acer for Christmas a year ago, my advice, DON'T GET ONE. My motherboard got fried and had to be replaced(luckily was still under warranty), and it's just so cheap and flimsy. I'm going to be looking into an HP or Toshiba for university. That's the common brands most of my friends carry and they say they serve their purpose very well.
UWO '12 Social Science
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Rank: Frosh
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 45
Location: Canada
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My sister bought a Toshiba laptop and the battery overheats constantly! There is this huge like blob, lmao, on her laptop because of the battery overheating and discolouring the laptop. Oh and one of our younger cousins dropped the laptop on the ground and now the screen randomly goes nuts and all theses lines show up until we adjust the screen. I dunno its hard to explain...but in short shes not happy with it at all. I am thinking about buying an HP or Macbook 
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 230
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If you don't see yourself using mac os x, then don't even bother buying a macbook. Buy a light HP with good specs. Will give you more bang for the buck! I personally have a macbook and couldn't be happier but that's because I love leopard os x.
Queen's Commerce 2012
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/6/2008
Posts: 50
Location: British Columbia
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I'm planning on getting a Macbook pro. 
UBC Bachelor of Science 2012
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Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/6/2008
Posts: 393
Location: Kitchener, ON.
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bigbadsheep wrote:I got an Acer for Christmas a year ago, my advice, DON'T GET ONE. My motherboard got fried and had to be replaced(luckily was still under warranty), and it's just so cheap and flimsy. I'm going to be looking into an HP or Toshiba for university. That's the common brands most of my friends carry and they say they serve their purpose very well. I've always heard bad things about Acer and the related components  I'd never get one. What's everyone think about Dell laptops?
Accepted to Carleton University, Honours Bachelor of Arts in Law
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 112
Location: Richmond Hill
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Would any of you recommend bringing a monitor from home and hooking it up to the macbook? I find the screen a bit too small, especially if i want to watch movies and stuff.
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 73
Location: Ontario
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nascarchic wrote:I am looking for a laptop to use for school next year but I don't know to much about them. Anybody know what brand is the best and works the best? Thanks for your help!! Lenovo, Asus, Dell, HP, Tobisha, Fujitsu Don't buy Voodoo, Alienware, Segar (sp?) or Sony because they're high-priced and mostly for gamers Don't buy "cheap" laptops (ex. Acer) because they use cheaper materials than other brands, which means the laptop is not durable Don't buy MacBook Air, it left out a lot of features, overheats fast, not enough ports (aka USB), no replaceable batteries and slow at loading programs I would recommend Dell Vostro 1400/1500, Dell Latitude D680/D830, Lenovo R61/T61/T61, Fujitsu LifeBook Series and HP Pavilion dv9700t/tx2000z (there are more models that are good though). When you're buying laptops from Futureshop, Best Buy, etc., look for: 120GB (or more) hard drive with 5400 RPM 1GB ram with expandable 4GB (1 x 2GB is small) WIFI integrated (wireless Internet, just in case the university offers free Internet access) USB ports (x3) 6-cell Lithium-Ion (that's expandable to 9 or 12-cell Lithium-Ion) -> the more the cells, the longer the hours, 6-cell is about 4 hours long while 9-cell is about 6 hours long 14.1" to 15.4" (usually the screen sizes determines the weight of the laptop, 4lbs to 5.7lbs)
McMaster '12
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/6/2008
Posts: 247
Location: Toronto
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I went to Apple Canada's website and their cheapest laptop is like 1150 CAN (MacBook 13"). So... think about that.
Whereas a Dell is pretty cheap, way under a 1000 depending on the laptop (in terms of their Inspiron 1525 laptops).
I wouldn't buy a Macbook Air either, it just feels like one of those new trendy things that fall apart within a few months. =\
I still want a MacBook and I might just be willing to spend 1150.
McMaster '12!
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 219
Location: Sudbury
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D.Dickin wrote:bigbadsheep wrote:I got an Acer for Christmas a year ago, my advice, DON'T GET ONE. My motherboard got fried and had to be replaced(luckily was still under warranty), and it's just so cheap and flimsy. I'm going to be looking into an HP or Toshiba for university. That's the common brands most of my friends carry and they say they serve their purpose very well. I've always heard bad things about Acer and the related components I'd never get one. What's everyone think about Dell laptops? I currently have a dell inspiron and I hate it.
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 230
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The cheapest Macbook from Apple is for $1,149.0 - $100 student discount = $1049.00 which i believe is a small price to pay if you love os x plus you can bootcamp your way to windows as well. Best of both worlds. Do keep in mind that the macbook has an ATI X300 video card which is pretty useless for most of the new games. So if you plan on gaming, get a macbook pro and if price is an issue, get a refurbished mbp from APPLE: http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/canadastore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=A8E69311&nclm=CertifiedMacIt should be about $1550.00.
Queen's Commerce 2012
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Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 342
Location: Guelph, ON
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I would buy a tablet pc for sure if you would like to take notes in class, because sometimes its much faster to draw diagrams on paper, and sometimes you'd rather type long notes than writing, so a tablet PC offers the best of the both worlds. I would recommend the Lenovo ThinkPad X61t, Dell Latitude XT, HP TX1000 series, Compaq 2710P, from the most expensive to the cheapest, depending on your budget.
facebook profileUW Math/WLU Business Double Degree 2013[/u]
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Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 342
Location: Guelph, ON
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aestas wrote:Would any of you recommend bringing a monitor from home and hooking it up to the macbook? I find the screen a bit too small, especially if i want to watch movies and stuff. im doing that currently with a Dell inspiron, and its great. I actually connect my speakers, 19' wide LCD, wireless kb/mouse and printer all to my laptop through a docking bay. This way it feels like a desktop when im at home, and when im on the go i just take the laptop and become mobile again.
facebook profileUW Math/WLU Business Double Degree 2013[/u]
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Rank: Frosh
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/12/2008
Posts: 34
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taishici wrote:aestas wrote:Would any of you recommend bringing a monitor from home and hooking it up to the macbook? I find the screen a bit too small, especially if i want to watch movies and stuff. im doing that currently with a Dell inspiron, and its great. I actually connect my speakers, 19' wide LCD, wireless kb/mouse and printer all to my laptop through a docking bay. This way it feels like a desktop when im at home, and when im on the go i just take the laptop and become mobile again. I find the whole idea of bringing a bigger monitor with you for watching tv and movies a great idea. If you do this, than you dont need to buy a 17 inch laptop, which makes it lighter and more portable.
University of Western Ontario Biological & Medical Sciences 2012
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