My quickie laptop shopping guide (or wish list).
General things to keep in mind: for the most part (with the exception of RAM, hard drive, and a few other things) laptops are typically not upgradable. So buying the fastest processor and best graphics that you can within your budget will be to your advantage.
I like to be able to game on my laptop. Laptops are easier to take to LAN parties, and it also give me something non-school related to do between classes when I'm feeling maxed out. Most games want at LEAST a 2GHz processor. If you want to game, stay away from the low power consumption processors as they will make gaming painful or impossible. Also, try to get a graphics card that has at LEAST 1GB of dedicated memory - stay away from the "shared" crap. I prefer nVidia graphics as I have LESS issues with their drivers than other brands. Also these days there is no reason to get a laptop with less than 4GB of RAM.
When I write code, I prefer multiple screens. This isn't really feasible with a laptop without sacrificing portability. In lue of multiple screens, my second choice is a large screen. However, if you get too large it's extremely difficult to find backpacks, cases, etc. that the laptop will fit in. So I only buy 17.x" laptops. 18" is too hard to find housing for and < 17" is just too small for me. Also if you plan on running virtual machines/multiple operating systems I would consider 4GB of RAM to be a bare minimum and I would probably shoot for 6GB or more.
Which brand is better than the next guy is always changing. If you have a favorite brand already then stick with it. I've owned or dealt with in my computer repair business every major brand. They all have issues, period. I would not own another HP (I've owned several) until they make some sort of compensation for those of us that got screwed with those bad motherboards in the DV9000 series. As far as repair goes I like both Dell and HP as I can get easy access to the service manuals. I currently own a Gateway FX series as I needed a laptop in a pinch (i.e. that same day) and that was the best one the local best buy had in stock. I like it but I have yet to find a service manual for it. Oh and pretty much every tech support is in India so get used to it.
Other thoughts: I would only buy a laptop that could do 802.11n and 802.11g as those are the most common types of wifi I encounter on a daily basis. If hate having things plugged into the USB ports long-term. So things like wifi, bluetooth, etc. are good to have built-in.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head.
General things to keep in mind: for the most part (with the exception of RAM, hard drive, and a few other things) laptops are typically not upgradable. So buying the fastest processor and best graphics that you can within your budget will be to your advantage.
I like to be able to game on my laptop. Laptops are easier to take to LAN parties, and it also give me something non-school related to do between classes when I'm feeling maxed out. Most games want at LEAST a 2GHz processor. If you want to game, stay away from the low power consumption processors as they will make gaming painful or impossible. Also, try to get a graphics card that has at LEAST 1GB of dedicated memory - stay away from the "shared" crap. I prefer nVidia graphics as I have LESS issues with their drivers than other brands. Also these days there is no reason to get a laptop with less than 4GB of RAM.
When I write code, I prefer multiple screens. This isn't really feasible with a laptop without sacrificing portability. In lue of multiple screens, my second choice is a large screen. However, if you get too large it's extremely difficult to find backpacks, cases, etc. that the laptop will fit in. So I only buy 17.x" laptops. 18" is too hard to find housing for and < 17" is just too small for me. Also if you plan on running virtual machines/multiple operating systems I would consider 4GB of RAM to be a bare minimum and I would probably shoot for 6GB or more.
Which brand is better than the next guy is always changing. If you have a favorite brand already then stick with it. I've owned or dealt with in my computer repair business every major brand. They all have issues, period. I would not own another HP (I've owned several) until they make some sort of compensation for those of us that got screwed with those bad motherboards in the DV9000 series. As far as repair goes I like both Dell and HP as I can get easy access to the service manuals. I currently own a Gateway FX series as I needed a laptop in a pinch (i.e. that same day) and that was the best one the local best buy had in stock. I like it but I have yet to find a service manual for it. Oh and pretty much every tech support is in India so get used to it.
Other thoughts: I would only buy a laptop that could do 802.11n and 802.11g as those are the most common types of wifi I encounter on a daily basis. If hate having things plugged into the USB ports long-term. So things like wifi, bluetooth, etc. are good to have built-in.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head.