Topic: Need a laptop...

[ScaryTooth]

And I'm not sure what to get. I'm looking at spending under $600. I've never owned a laptop, since I've never really had a need for one. But now that I'm in school, and taking a web-class along with my regular classes, I think it's about time I get one. I'm taking an English class this quarter that is web based, and there is going to be a fair amount of paper writing. So, I figure if I can carry a laptop with me, I can work on this stuff at work when I have some downtime, or if I'm out and about at a family thing or something. That way, when I actually get some "me time", it will actually be some "me time", and not, "have to write 2 papers and go to sleep time". Know what I mean?

So I was wondering if you guys have similar experiences? and would you recommend a certain laptop? I really just need to it write papers, check email, stuff like that. I'm not looking for a bad ass gaming rig or anything. Which I'm pretty sure you can't get with around $600 anyway. I was checking out some Asus laptops that looked decent.

[Quemaqua]

Is size an issue?  Because for me, I was in roughly the same boat as you.  I wanted something fairly cheap, but I also wanted something that was full size with a standalone keypad.  I have pretty big hands and it's just more comfortable if you're going to be doing a lot of typing to have a full keyboard.  What I ended up finding was the Toshiba Satellite L355D-S7901.  This isn't it, as you can tell from the non-full keyboard, but it's roughly similar to it overall.  I got mine a bit cheaper and at Best Buy.  Some reviews said it wasn't the best laptop in the price range, but I read literally more than probably 30 reviews of various models and brands and never found anyone that really recommended anything.  It was always "You could do better" without ever telling me what was better, hence I've come to believe all the review sites were full of shit.

Anyway, my experience with the thing has been great.  It runs quick enough, has lots of space, can do more or less anything non-gaming without issue, and while it's fairly bulky, the reason I wanted it was for the big screen and big keyboard in the first place, and it isn't very heavy aside from that, so portability isn't a problem if I throw it in my laptop bag.

I can't give you anything beyond that because everything else either seemed too expensive, too gimicky, or just didn't feel right due to size, etc.  So this ended up being perfect for me even though I think I only paid around $300 or $350 for it.  It's an AMD Turion X2 dual-core RM-72 at 2.10ghz, with 3GB SDRAM, a 250G HDD, 17" display, 802.11b/g wireless, and a DVD-RW.  It was a great deal for the price and has been rock solid for me so far.  The only downside I've yet noted is that for some weird reason it chugs just a tiny bit when trying to play any video in fullscreen, even like YouTube shit.  I can't figure that one out as there doesn't seem to be any logical reason, and I'm not sure if that's just a web thing or maybe Vista because I haven't downloaded a video to test yet.  I should do that.  But still, hardly a big deal.

[ScaryTooth]

Man, that's a good price. I don't really mind a smaller keyboard. I have relatively large hands as well, but I think it's something I could get used to. I need around a 15 incher. I have a nice Timbuk2 laptop bag that I got a while back that can hold a 15 inch or so laptop. Sweet, gonna look into some toshibas, I really wasn't even paying attention to them.

[Quemaqua]

They're pretty good if you're looking for something cheap.  I have zero complaints with this guy so far.  The system seems solid, doesn't run too hot, and hasn't given me any hiccups or anything.  It even survived a fall that bent the shit out of the power port.  Thankfully it will still accept a plug and still charges, heh.

Though I should mention that the battery life is absolute shit.  I think you can get better batteries, and other/newer models may be different, but this thing only lasts about an hour and a half or so, probably in part thanks to the huge screen.  So if you have to use it away from power, that could be a problem.  Power doesn't drain badly when it's asleep, though, so I've managed to use it for both of my 15 minute breaks and my hour lunch break at work and still get it home before it ran out of juice.

[ScaryTooth]

I think this is the one

So, classes started today, and I've decided that I absolutely need a laptop. I've been sitting at this desk for 4 hours doing English assignments. I need to be able to move around a bit even at home.

[Quemaqua]

Hope it works out well for you!

[PyroMenace]

I think I wouldnt mind picking up a netbook for school, the dell ones I saw looked nice.

[gpw11]

I was toying with the idea of a netbook over the summer just because it'd be easier than lugging my laptop between work and school.  Eventually I decided against it, just because I didn't need one, but there are some really good ones out now.  Apparently there's an EEE tablet on the way as well.

[ren]

I've had some friends with bad experiences with Toshiba Satellites but internet opinion on them seems pretty split. Let me know how it goes.

It seems generally laptop longevity is tied to the user as much as the manufacturer. I have a shitty almost three year old Dell and it still looks brand new and runs perfectly.

[Quemaqua]

It's a crapshoot no matter how you look at it.  I've had 3 laptops, and all three died horribly through no fault of my own, and they were all of different makes and at different tiers and price points.  So far this one has been the most stable of the bunch.

[Ghandi]

My Dell Inspiron ran great for awhile - I had to replace the battery and cd drive, but that was after 4 years. Recently, though, it has run into some problems. If you unplug it, it will automatically die. There's some sort of connection problem. And I closed it a few months ago with some headphones on the keyboard without realizing it and it completely fucked up the screen, so now I have it connected to my HDTV.