School Laptop?

[Elfdude]

I need a laptop to function for school, one that can run office, use the internet, connect wirelessly and most importantly be viable to take notes on. Unfortunately while I'm very familiar with the high end stuff I have no idea how to buy a low cost, convenience laptop. The lighter the better, the longer the battery life the better, any bonuses above and beyond what is desired while maintaining relatively low prices are always good.

Mac OS is far too buggy to use so I'd much prefer to stick with windows, being either poorly compatible or incompatible with a huge variety of systems at OHSU. I won't buy foxconn (mac) parts either. Any college students or techies have some good suggestions? I'm grad student in med school so biology/chemistry/physics programs would be great too but I'm a bit unknown to that too.

[karamazovmm]

try the thinkpad x230, put the lowest i5 in there, get a 9cell battery and get yourself around 10-12h of battery life. Use the B&N online store to purchase through, it gives you better discounts, also google coupons for that model, there is usually one available.

[Elfdude]

try the thinkpad x230, put the lowest i5 in there, get a 9cell battery and get yourself around 10-12h of battery life. Use the B&N online store to purchase through, it gives you better discounts, also google coupons for that model, there is usually one available.

Awesome didn't know about the B&N side of the store. I'm having difficulties finding any coupons in google or having difficulties actually applying them, any suggestions? If I can get another 5-10% from the B&N price I would be very happy.

[karamazovmm]

the coupons are usually harder to find them lets say a dv6t coupon, but they are there and they are constant, if you dont mind waiting there is always some better coupon around the corner, another thing that you can do is to call lenovo and haggle.

what are you configuring it with?

CPU - i5 base one does the trick
HDD - 500gb is the limit for 7mm height drives, its extremely easy to swap and install a SSD in there or a larger HDD (1 screw, open the cover the HDD pops out, put the other in, you are done), also you have msata slot, do kindly put there a mSATA ssd, like the crucial m4 256gb msata version
RAM - get the base one, buys yourself 2x 8gb sticks for around 70 bucks and call it a day, btw if you plan to game on it (quite possible might I add), get higher speed ram, like 1866mhz, it will make a difference in there
Wifi - you can either chose to get a webcam or a 3rd antenna for the intel 6300, the 3rd antenna will improve the range of the wifi
Battery - I recommend the 9cell battery, its 94wh and can lead you to 10-14h non stop
Screen - get the ips
Warranty - I advise for the NBD and ACD, how many years its up to you, those thinkpads last mind you. I would go for 3 years

So all this Nets to

CPU - i5 3210m
HDD - 500gb 7200rpm + msata crucial m4 (U$200)
RAM - 8gb of 1866mhz (U$80)
Wifi - intel 6205 with webcam
Battery - 9cell battery
Screen - Premium 2x2 with webcam screen
Warranty - 3 years NBD + ACD

Total: 1089 (lenovo store) + 200 (SSD) + 80 (RAM) = 1369

The warranty and the SSD were the most costly upgrades, the battery and ram come in close second. Still its a great buy and with NBD and ACD you are covered for everything, even if you run over the notebook with your car, you get a new one, without any cost.

One thing I failed to mention is that HP with its 2570p and dell has also a latitude model (cant for the life of me remember the name of it, I think it was e6330) also pack similar guts, with the main difference being the screen, which in the lenovo its IPS and the keyboard, which I still prefer the one in the lenovo, do call HP and dell and haggle, people can get 20% off from those systems

[Elfdude]

the coupons are usually harder to find them lets say a dv6t coupon, but they are there and they are constant, if you dont mind waiting there is always some better coupon around the corner, another thing that you can do is to call lenovo and haggle.

Yeah, I can definitely find the deals and several things I thought were coupons but either there's no obvious way to apply them or the only one it's recognizing right now is the back to school promotion.

what are you configuring it with?

Pretty much the base stats. I went for a tablet version because that gives me a huge amount more of versatility in my day to day school activities.

CPU - Base


HDD - The tablet version comes with a 7200rpm 360 gig, I'm fine with that.

you have msata slot, do kindly put there a mSATA ssd, like the crucial m4 256gb msata version

This seems to be greek to me. Are you saying I could add a solid state drive to the laptop with mSata? I have regular sata raptors laying about, would these be compatible or no?

RAM - get the base one, buys yourself 2x 8gb sticks for around 70 bucks and call it a day, btw if you plan to game on it (quite possible might I add), get higher speed ram, like 1866mhz, it will make a difference in there

Yeah I can buy ram for it right now 8gigs for about 50 bucks at newegg.com

Wifi - you can either chose to get a webcam or a 3rd antenna for the intel 6300, the 3rd antenna will improve the range of the wifi

I got the third antenna, webcam is trivial.

Battery - I recommend the 9cell battery, its 94wh and can lead you to 10-14h non stop

Well the tablet has slightly different options here, 6 cell and a 6 cell extended. Still 10 hours non-stop is more than I could possibly need. I'd be happy with about half that. My older laptap is done in about 2 hours.

Screen - get the ips

I don't see any variable option for this, I'm assuming the screen IPS is standard then, there is the option for an outdoor version, is that what you mean? I selected the outdoor version because use outside in good weather is likely.

Warranty - I advise for the NBD and ACD, how many years its up to you, those thinkpads last mind you. I would go for 3 years

What is NBD and ACD?

I've never bothered with warranties but it might be prudent with the laptop. I am purchasing a case for it for sure to help keep it good.

So all this Nets to

CPU - i5 3210m
HDD - 500gb 7200rpm + msata crucial m4 (U$200)
RAM - 8gb of 1866mhz (U$80)
Wifi - intel 6205 with webcam
Battery - 9cell battery
Screen - Premium 2x2 with webcam screen
Warranty - 3 years NBD + ACD

Total: 1089 (lenovo store) + 200 (SSD) + 80 (RAM) = 1369

Yeah my total is about $921, I have a couple extra SSD raptor hard drives from my computer laying around (180gig and a 360 gig) are these compatible?

The warranty and the SSD were the most costly upgrades, the battery and ram come in close second. Still its a great buy and with NBD and ACD you are covered for everything, even if you run over the notebook with your car, you get a new one, without any cost.

Eh, I hesitate at warranties like that, I need to see how they differ. I'm very much a clutter free, very clean person so opportunities to damage my computers are rare. However I am worried about DOA, screen errors, and manufacturer defects. I've not dealt with a single company yet with no issues due to manufacturer at some point in my life.

One thing I failed to mention is that HP with its 2570p and dell has also a latitude model (cant for the life of me remember the name of it, I think it was e6330) also pack similar guts, with the main difference being the screen, which in the lenovo its IPS and the keyboard, which I still prefer the one in the lenovo, do call HP and dell and haggle, people can get 20% off from those systems

I'm not sure about dell, they use a huge variety of parts manufacturers and primarily foxconn. I don't mind the other taiwanese companies as much, but I'd like to avoid parts from foxconn if at all possible. I don't know much about lenovo, i've never encountered them before tbh.

[Crazyeyesreaper]

its impossible to avoid foxconn every electronic device you have almost certainly has something made by Foxconn in it lol

[Elfdude]

its impossible to avoid foxconn every electronic device you have almost certainly has something made by Foxconn in it lol

I'm aware that they're the largest electronics manufacturer in the world. What I don't like is when critical or expensive equipment fails due to their poor manufacturing standards. I've had six foxconn motherboards, several video cards, several dells, several apples, etc etc. I've never had the failure rate with any of my other electronics. Every motherboard resulted in a blown capacitor at about 2-3 year time period and two of them blew almost immediately upon making a new computer one time destroying all of the other non foxconn parts it was using. I've assembled hundreds of computers to date and avoid foxconn whenever possible.

Lenovo to my knowledge does not use foxconn parts, they are vertically integrated for the most part using in-house manufacturing technology for the most part. However I'm mostly concerned about apple and dell foxconn parts because the two companies regularly demand lower prices and concessions from foxconn which in turn drives down their quality and it doesn't seem quite as apparent as with for example their market parts. Still I've had much better luck with literally every other company I've used.

Thx hedge, I'll check it out. I've had a couple of acers and I get mixed results from them. I'm worried how survivable it would be out and about as they've always felt relatively flimsy to me.

[karamazovmm]

its impossible to avoid foxconn every electronic device you have almost certainly has something made by Foxconn in it lol

I dont think lenovo uses foxconn, they are indeed vertically integrated, lenovo was the one that produced the thinkpads for ibm in the first place. Now the problem here resides on if they use foxconn produced mobos or not.

Do you actually intend to do more than word process and browse? If not anything more than dual core +4gb ram seems a waste of money and battery life.

If you do want to do more then perhaps one of these would fit the bill having the advantage of discreet graphics and a small ssd for the os.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834215392

that notebook is problematic due to the low quality of the chassis, there is an obvious difference in terms of build quality of enterprise class and low end consumer class. Not to mention that when it comes to a warranty that gives you headaches to a warranty that a guy comes to your house, there is no argument.

Yeah, I can definitely find the deals and several things I thought were coupons but either there's no obvious way to apply them or the only one it's recognizing right now is the back to school promotion.

I cant help you there, you should be aware that Im not from the US, though I know some tricks and tips from the friends that live there or close by.

Pretty much the base stats. I went for a tablet version because that gives me a huge amount more of versatility in my day to day school activities.

Specs bla bla

Lets break this down, the thing here is that you want the x230t, the tablet already comes with the ips display as standard. So yes get the outdoor one, its fairly brighter, both screens are matte.

The deal with ram is that, unless you are going to game on it, you dont ''need'' the fastest thing in town. In case you are wondering why, its because current gens of igpu are limited by the speed of the ram used. So its a major bottleneck, if gaming is not your concern or if some 5-8 fps more in games doesnt matter to you, dont bother changing the ram and do please populate the other dimm, there is a very much noticeable difference if the ram aint in dual channel, for gaming that is.

and here we go cheap ram, the one that is also used by lenovo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820239313

msata is a different format, it closely resembles mpcie slots, what that allows you is to have a ssd in there, off course you need the right one for the task.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...d=1&name=mSATA

those are the best ones out there, you could try to find the msata samsung 830, but those are a lot harder to find and to buy. The performance of the crucial msata drives is basically the same as their 2.5'' brothers, incredible power in such a tiny package.

You cant use raptor disks in notebooks, yes they are 2.5'' you still need the heatspreader and you need the power that aint provided to them by the sata cable. and the raptor aint ssds, they are actually extremely slow by ssd standards.

What is NBD and ACD?

I've never bothered with warranties but it might be prudent with the laptop. I am purchasing a case for it for sure to help keep it good.

NBD = Next business day - meaning you give a call, they see the problem, they send the tech or the parts to you next business day and the service is done.

ACD = Accidental Damage Protection - one thing that is fairly great when it comes to notebooks and college environments, Im wondering how many times my notebooks have drank vodka and whisky, thankfully with lenovo I had NBD and ACD. What it does is to get you the service you need without charging you for abuse. I have a friend she lives in canada, one of her coworkers ran over his 8760w (workstation class notebook from hp, fairly expensive), he got a new one without questions asked in the same week, it only took the time for them to produce and to ship the thing. I had a similar experience in brazil, both notebooks where in my desk in less than a week. I think you get the drift, its worth it, accidents happen.

The warranty for thinkpads in the US is done by IBM, the call center is IBM in the US, the tech is IBM.

Sincerely get it, its expensive, but its extremely worth and satisfying.

I'm not sure about dell, they use a huge variety of parts manufacturers and primarily foxconn. I don't mind the other taiwanese companies as much, but I'd like to avoid parts from foxconn if at all possible. I don't know much about lenovo, i've never encountered them before tbh.

Dell and HP are also extremely renowned for their enterprise class, I dislike the keyboard choices, but I do like the what they offer in terms of quality and service.

another omission from me, you can check the outlets for those manufacturers and check for the notebooks, they are extremely more affordable there, and you can add warranty to them as well, I think in the dell outlet they have a the standard 3 year warranty from dell in it as well.

[The Hedge Knight]

Do you actually intend to do more than word process and browse? If not anything more than dual core +4gb ram seems a waste of money and battery life.

If you do want to do more then perhaps one of these would fit the bill having the advantage of discreet graphics and a small ssd for the os.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834215392

[Crazyeyesreaper]

well considering Foxconn makes the sockets on most motherboards just about every brand has foxconn part even on the motherboard in many cases but its all a joke really when it comes to manufacturering example ASUS isnt say better than ECS considering ECS makes ASUS gpus and mobos now lol, so keep these things in mind even if made by someone else theirs a likely chance apart of it was made by foxconn they can make good stuff its all about whos ordering what part honestly i wont blame foxconn for it when say APPLE demands lower prices and has the highest profit margins of any company period lol not so much foxconns fault as it is the companies demanding ever lower prices for their manufacturered parts yet keep prices artificially high example Iphone 5 = $199 to manufacturer cost to buy with no contract $600 lol

as for motherboards failing every 2-3 years you realize thats actually considered NORMAL these days, companies want that to happen so you have to buy new again. Forced obsolesence cant be asked to spell check that im lazy. Anyway i agree avoiding them as much as possible does no harm in fact youll get better quality but even in the best case usually something is made by them sadly.

[Elfdude]

Awesome, thanks. Yeah understanding the mobile parts are confusing to me >_< I have these 3 options or the standard thinkpad 1 bgn. I'm not clear on the difference and their descriptions suck

Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2200 (2x2 BGN) 0$
200 mb/s
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 AGN $20
300 mb/s
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN $40
450 mb/s

I do like more stable connections but the speed of them doesn't need to be much better than 100MB/s honestly. I was thinking of going with the free intel one over their stock one, seems better but I'm not sure. Unless the others might be worth it. Beyond that I think I'll definitely go for the warranty. Don't necessarily care about next business day but meh. Not like I can disclude it

[Elfdude]

browser error double post DELETE MEH

[karamazovmm]

ge the 6300 that is the only in there that packs a 3x3 mimo array, meaning its 150mbs per antenna for a total of 450mbs, but basically it offers more range and for routers that have 3 antennas it gives you better performance

[Elfdude]

ge the 6300 that is the only in there that packs a 3x3 mimo array, meaning its 150mbs per antenna for a total of 450mbs, but basically it offers more range and for routers that have 3 antennas it gives you better performance

Aye, did some research on it, seems like it's going to give me the best services. Although I'm concerned that if it won't sync to 2.4 ghz signals it might not recognize the potentially large variety of wifi devices at school. Does it do both? The mid range says it does both but I can't find the specifics on the high end one except that it does do 5ghz.

[karamazovmm]

the 6300 does both. and 5ghz bands are always better and never used for those more public spaces, not all cards support dual band connections, though a lot of larger and higher quality routers do transmit in both frequencies.