Nerd Help!

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Fingold
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Nerd Help!

Post by Fingold »

Y HALO THAR! Remember me?

Sorry I keep not being around much, school stuffs remains annoying and time consuming and so on. One aspect of it, is that I'll start writing (sadly, the lots of equations kind, not the arpeez kind) soon. And I'm thinking of getting a laptop to make the writing easier, no sync'ing files at home and office should take care of lots of frustration and stupid mistakes (my favorite kind!). Yes, I'm finally caving in and considering getting a laptop while still owning a perfectly capable desktop at home and able to use a shitty-but-functional PC in the office. I hate being a no good spoiled yuppie bourgeois. Sorry joos, you don't have a monopoly on self-loathing!

What I want is:
-Small, portable. I'm rather set on 13 inches (that's what she said!).
-Not a gaming pc, but one with preferably decent graphics. I still may want to log on to WoW and not cry like when on my parents' PC.
-I don't plan on being far from an electric plug for long times. On the other hand, I won't complain about a 7hr battery.
-That it doesn't look like ass. This includes both shoebox looking cheap pieces of shit, and redonkulous tacky flashy abominations. Like Cheney, I'm all class.

I come to you for help. You are all computer sages, not to mention that you probably either have used or even own one of the computers I'm looking at right now, or can think of something else that would suit my needs. So here are the candidates I'm looking at right now:

-Macbook Pro 13: Cheap (2.26) processor kind + 4GB DDR3 & 320GB HD (5400rpm). $1,279 (yay education discount!). This one also gets me a free iPod touch. Doesn't hurt! I won't bother with a link, as I assume everybody knows what I'm talking about (Nevermind!). Pros (for me): Good Hardware, quiet, reliable (I believe), long battery, tasty snow leopard. Also, it's sexy. Yes, I admit it. Cons (for me): you pay for the "brand," I'm not into that. Relatively low HD capacity. No longer being able to make fun of deluded Apple fanboys.

-Dell Studio XPS 13: 2.4GHz (P8600), 4GB DDR3, 500GB HD (7200rpm), Nvidia 9400M (Best Buy)/9500M (Dell.com), 6cell (~2.5hr) battery, Backlit keyboard, 4.9lb, 1yr (BB)/2yr (Dell) warranty. $899.99 (BB)/ $1,055.00 (Dell). Pros: Sexy Hardware. Pretty good video performance (so sayeth the reviews). Looks neat. Cons: Runs a bit hot (I've seen it gets better with a BIOS update, but still on the hot side). Not sure if it's worth the extra dough for the dedicated (9400 is integrated) vidcard. Substandard battery life.

-Sony VAIO SR: 2.1GHz (T6500), 4GB DDR2, 320GB HD (7200rpm), ATI 4570, Standard keyboard, ~6hr battery, 4.14lb. $1,149.49 (Yay student discout! @ Sony.com) Pros: Love the looks and mac-style keyboard. Good battery. It's a Sony (I lurves their electronics in general). Super light. Cons: Also expensive due to brand, like Macs. Not the best "hardware" (just looking at numbers here).

-HP dv3: 2.1GHz (T6500), 4GB DDR2, 500GB HD (5400rpm), Intel 4500MHD (Best Buy)/Nvidia G105M (HP.com), Standard (BB)/Backlit (HP) keyboard, 9cell ~7hr (BB)/6cell (HP) battery, 4.9lb(BB)/4.7lb(HP). $729.99 (BB)/$929.99 (HP). Pros: Cheap. Cons: Worst (to me) looking of the bunch, the trackpad feels a bit weird (not smooth).

-Samsung Q320: 2.53GHz (P8700), 4GB DDR2, 320GB (5400rpm), Nvidia 105M, Standard keyboard, 6cell (~4hr), 4.9lb. $929.99 (Best Buy) Pros: Not expensive. Cons: Kinda meh.

Any thoughts? Thanks a bunch in advance!

And I know I'm leaving out Lenovos, known for their quality and reliability. I don't know if I'm crazy, but I just can't get past my hate for their looks. It just screams cubicle while wearing shirt and tie to me :(. But if you have a particular one in mind you think I should not overlook, by all means!
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Aelflaed
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Re: Nerd Help!

Post by Aelflaed »

Only thing I have to suggest here is that you also check prices on newegg.com - that's where I got my laptop (a 17'' Acer). They've got great service, good reviews from real people that know what they're talking about, and frequently will have free shipping and rebate deals. When I bought mine, I saved nearly $150 on it by getting it through NewEgg.
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Itanya_blade
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Re: Nerd Help!

Post by Itanya_blade »

You can also check the Dell Outlet for laptops that got returned for one reason or another.

Wes got his laptop from them at a decent price that way.
Bricu
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Re: Nerd Help!

Post by Bricu »

With the MacBook, you can easily partition the drive to run windows, linux and snow leopard. to my knowledge, the HD is also easily upgradeable (Ive done it on macs before). I would even recommend going with the smallest drive and upgrading it yourself. T his does not vilolate any warranty with the machine.

I would highly recommend getting the extended warranty for any laptop. Every laptop I have ever owned has had some sort of problem just from being lugged around.

With the mac, that would add another $150 on it.
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Fingold
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Re: Nerd Help!

Post by Fingold »

So yeah...

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Sexeh!
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Fells
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Re: Nerd Help!

Post by Fells »

WHY IS IT TALKING TO YOU IN ANOTHER ANGUAGE
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Bricu
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Re: Nerd Help!

Post by Bricu »

Fells wrote:WHY IS IT TALKING TO YOU IN ANOTHER ANGUAGE
Macs are suave like that.
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Denne
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Re: Nerd Help!

Post by Denne »

Bricu wrote:
Fells wrote:WHY IS IT TALKING TO YOU IN ANOTHER ANGUAGE
Macs are suave like that.
In the way that IKEAs aren't.
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