A good brand Notebook/laptop ?

Question

im going to be going to school college for web design, game design so i want a computer that will fit me. i dont have much money. i was thinking MacBook or Dell but i dont know what kind of dell to get, or if apple is better? i dont know

Answer 1

MacBook MacBook MacBook! I'm leaving for university in a month and I just got a brand new black MacBook. I LOVE IT :)

Answer 2

1. If you want OSX, buy an Apple, but only for OSX. Try that OS before you buy; I know I prefer Linux, and some may prefer Windows.

2. If you buy Dell, get a Lattitude. Their Inspirons tend to be cheaply built, not unlike many consumer-grade notebooks.

3. All vendors bow before Lenovo's Thinkpad line. Created by quality-oriented IBM, they're known for good build quality and top notch keyboards and pointers.

4. Whatever you buy, try it first. Some things look great in a picture, but have horrible screens or flex like waterlogged cardboard. Acers seem to often have disappointing build quality.

Answer 3

For your college notebook I would suggest getting a macbook, and on the Apple site, choose a bigger hard drive. Game design could take up space. For web design, a mac is almost crucial. My macbook has everything that I need for my webpage. You should get parallels or boot camp for your windows needs, be warned that that requires buying a license to either windows xp or windows vista. A copy of either of those could cost up in the hundred dollar range. For free, look into sun virtualbox. It takes more time to set up but is free. If you need office software, i suggest Neo Office or AbiWord. They are both free and can save in Microsoft formats if needed, and NeoOffice exports to PDF. Photo editing can be accomplished by a program called GIMP. Free, but a special package is needed. This is coming from a person who only got a mac this July and had only PC access since 1998. I only had a mac for a month and it is my main computer. I only use my Dimension 3000 for things that can't be done on macs.

With windows and mac, you will be practically unstoppable. I got a white one but I liked the blacks way better. I could only afford white. I might get a black hard shell though.  

Answer 4

I love my HP

Answer 5

If you are going into game design, forget mac.  There aren't enough of them to make it worth-while for game developers.

Answer 6

I just bought the brand new HP Dv6700 and its GREAT! i highly recommend hp for a high performence computer. Unlike sony or apple, hp is cheap, stylish, and fair priced. Here are some links. Good Luck!

http://www.shopping.hp.com/notebooks;HHO...

Answer 7

get a MacBook ^_^

http://apple.com/macbook/

Answer 8

go with HP (Hewlett Packard) or TOSHIBA

Answer 9

O my ignore them all apple killed there laptops with Intel chips

Dells have the highest replacement rate of any computer manufacture period.

ill go from the cheapest being on top best on bottom

Toshiba

Acer

ASUS

CyberPowerPC < Highly recommended

Falcon Northwest

Answer 10

Don't go mac unless you want to partition your hard drive; not only are they twice as expensive as other good computers, they will have lots of compatibility issues, especially if your going into web design.  Don't go Dell either, as they have been known to make bad laptops (almost every Dell laptop I have seen has broken in some way).  If you want a quality laptop for less $$$$$, go with HP, this is a great computer manufacturer.  Also try to avoid Toshiba; I tried this and figured out later they do not support their lower end computers very good and do not make their computers sturdy enough to withstand dorm life (my personal experience).

Answer 11

right now hp is doing very well.  mac books are good, but neither macs or dell right now are nearly good as what hps dishing out.  my bro bought a hp from costco, that thing is fast as h**l, with great graphics to.  

Answer 12

if you get a macbook then dont get upgrades beyond what you cant do yourself and install upgrades that you can to save $$$. dell is a fine brand, hp thinkpads are good, lenovo is good too. remember, if you need more RAM, you can buy some for fairly cheap and the install shouldnt be terrible and you can always get an external hard drive for more storage space and backups.

Answer 13

Get an apple. I had a dell and thought it was ok but then got an apple. The apple is wayyyyyyyy better

Answer 14

A Mac might have some good programs for the job but its the worst thing to buy for all programs that don't run on Mac's operating system and also a Mac is as powerful as dell's XPS standard gaming computer.  I would say if you standards are 4000$ and below get a VOODOO computer from HP, if from 3000$ and below go with Alienware, if for 2500$ and below go with a Full option DELL XPS, if below you won't get anything that will really help you but you can try to look on Tiger Direct. There is also my favorite manufacture is Cyber Power computers.

WARNING AND WORD OF ADVICE!!!!! :  Mac and VOODOO tend to overprice their computers!

Answer 15

Alrighty then, lol.

If you’re buying a laptop, there are a few things to consider.

1.     The processor. Most, if not every decent laptop in today's market has dual-core technology. This means that it has two processors working as one to compute information. Now, what's the difference between speeds? In all reality, for a common user (that is not a hard-core computer geek like some of us), the difference between 1.8GHz and 2.0GHz is negligible. The only areas you will be able to notice will be in gaming, and video encoding.

2.     The memory. If the OS (Operating System) is a "32-bit" then it can only read approximately 3 GB of RAM. Only the "64-bit" processors can understand 4+ GB of RAM. RAM is what the computer uses to store temporary information, like open programs (internet, word processing, music players, etc...). A general rule of thumb is that the more RAM, the faster the computer will load programs/files to a point (as with everything). An industry standard nowadays is around 3 GB. The faster the "clock speed" of the ram (the higher the PC xxxx), the higher quality the RAM.

3.     Hard Drive space is what you store the more permanent information on - word files, music, videos, programs, etc....If you have an extensive music library (5000+ songs (legal songs)), then you should be looking at a computer with at least 250GB (1 GB = 1 Billion Bytes). If you don't really need all that space, then a laptop with 160+ GB of Hard Drive space would suffice.

4.     Graphics Processor!!! If you will not be watching many DVD's or playing any games, then you can settle for an integrated video processor such as the INTEL X3100. If you want the security of being able to play the occasional 3D game, then I would recommend a dedicated graphics card with dedicated memory (256MB or 512MB). You can check whether or not the card is integrated by going to "http://www.notebookcheck.net"

5.     Most laptops now feature DVD/CD Burners. Some offer a built in feature known as "Lableflash or Lightscribe." This will allow you to "etch" images on special CD/DVD's. It makes the finished CD/DVD look more professional.

6.     Price Comparison. Expect to spend $550+ for a decent laptop nowadays. You can sometimes (or during really good sales) find ones cheaper around $450.

       The first laptop I would recommend is the Toshiba M305D-S4829 from Circuit City this week. I just purchased it last Wednesday, and am typing on it right now. It has a ton of power, like seriously. I was playing BF2142 last night with no problems. It costs $699, but It'll be running strong for a few years before anything begins to become too demanding for it. The sound quality on this laptop is phenomenal. It has Harman/Kardon speakers that are Bose quality. It has 4GB of RAM, an ATI Radeon 3100 processor, which is nearly equal to most mid-range dedicated graphics processors. It support 802.11b/g/n networks. It has a standard webcam (not to mention facial recognition software for extra secured log-ons) and all the other features you need lol. The style on this laptop is phenomenal.

       If that is slightly out of your price range though, I would say go to Best Buy and pick up the HP DV5-1002NR. It costs $679, but it is nearly as good as the above laptop with only a few exceptions (it is actually better in some areas as well, lol). The touchpad on it has a glossy feel which is fine for cooler weather, but if its humid out or your fingers are the least bit sweaty, it becomes quite difficult to move the pointer. It has a slightly better video processor - the ATI Radeon 3200 (the main difference is that it has a HDMI output). It has a slightly larger screen at 15.4" WS. Its half a pound heavier, which isn't really a big deal to me at all. It also runs the 32-bit OS of Vista which will only support 3 GB of RAM, which is fine for nearly everything. I hope this helps you in your quest!

       The next two are right about tied for abilities if the above prices are a bit out of your budget. I would recommend testing each one, and then deciding which one you prefer better.

       The first one is the Toshiba L305D-S5868 from BestBuy this week at $549. It features the ATI Radeon 3100 which is capable of handling many 3D games, and in fact - it is the same video processor as the laptop that I am using. It features a built-in webcam, as well as standard DVD/CD re-write ability. It has a 250GB hard drive running at 5400RPM. One feature that it could improve upon is its stock RAM. From the store, it only comes with 2GB. This can be easily upgraded to 3GB from any computer retailer (including www.newegg.com). It also comes with a user-friendly touchpad as well as a nice blue form factor. Although it doesn’t necessarily have all of the extra-goodies, this laptop is perfect for the common pc user, and comes at a great price!

       The second one is the Toshiba L305D-S5881 from Circuit City. This laptop is nearly identical to the last laptop with a few exceptions. It has 3GB of RAM instead of the two in the previous model. Along with this, it has a slightly different blue form factor. The price is adjusted for the extra gigabyte of RAM - $579.99. Remember to compare the two before your purchase to ensure that the one you buy is more fitting for your likings.

If you have any questions - feel free to email/message me! Enjoy!

© Marshall 2008

Answer 16

I would suggest a Dell xps system (made for gaming). You may want to pay a little more and pimp out the system. If you need something less expensive I would get a Dell Inspiron. I have one and love it, but it is mostly for basic functions (ie- word, web browsing, etc.) On the other hand, Apples are better for multimedia (ie- video editing). It is all what you need from the system. I would just recommend building each system online and going with the cheapest one you can get for the money. Good luck.