new laptop?

[Anonymous]

Hello everybody !
I will start studying architecture (courses start in october) quite soon and therefore I wanted to buy a new laptop. I got several offers from different stores. Most of the advertised laptops (all of them do provide at least 1GB RAM and Turion64 or Centrino processor) do have an ATI X300 graphics card, a few of them come with an ATI X1400. OF course those models with the X1400 are a lot more expensive then the models with the X300. Would a laptop with a X300 be sufficient enough for the next three year until finishing bachelor degree or should I spent the extra money and go for the X1400?

Thanks in advance,
Daniel.

PS: Please excuse wrong spelling and grammar, I'm from Germany.

[Anonymous]

I have to say that anything less than a CoreDuo is going to be a complete dog in two to three years. I just did a training with four people on HP 2GHz Pentium M Centrino laptops. They were quite sluggish compared to my 2.16GHz CoreDuo machine.

If you can afford it I recommend at least a 2GHz CoreDuo with 2GB RAM and a 256MB video card.

Since the Dell's and HP's are just as expensive you can also consider Apple's MacBook Pro (though you have to factor in the full retail cost of XP if you need to run Windows). Another advantage to the Mac is that the operating system (OS X that is) is still being optimized for performance - so the machine will actually get faster over time.

[Anonymous]

A MacBook would be nice, but aren't they about 1999 $? Unfortunetly my price limit is maxed out at 1500 $.

[jbArch]

A MacBook would be nice, but aren't they about 1999 $? Unfortunetly my price limit is maxed out at 1500 $.

Check the certified/refurbished models at Apple's online store. They currently have 1.83 GHz models as low as $1549 USD. I've bought all of my macs this way, with no problems to speak of.

I would think you could get a better deal as a student since apple offers educational discounts.

Cheers,
JB

[TomWaltz]

I'm with Matthew. The MacBook Pro is the best machine I've ever owned. It's performance is on-par with a dual 2GHz G5 desktop machine and runs Windows smoother than the Dell and Gateway machines I've owned.

There are some annoying sides of running Windows on it (like adjusting the screen brightness and battery management), but I really love it.

[__archiben]

TomWaltz wrote:
I'm with Matthew. The MacBook Pro is the best machine I've ever owned.

agreed!

It's performance is on-par with a dual 2GHz G5 desktop machine

mate - you have a quad there as well don't you? any chance you could put the quad against the duals and see if you get strange results like this? cheers!

There are some annoying sides of running Windows on it (like adjusting the screen brightness and battery management), but I really love it.

but that's just driver issues, right? once 'boot camp' goes final in leopard hardware issues like that ought to be resolved . . .

~/archiben

[Anonymous]

ok, i will check if a macbook fits my budget. thanks to everybody.

[Jefferson]

just curious, how do you guys get by without a dedicated numeric key pad? A USB plug-in? It's what stopped me from swithching when the 17" models hit the market.

[Anonymous]

Jefferson wrote:
just curious, how do you guys get by without a dedicated numeric key pad? A USB plug-in? It's what stopped me from swithching when the 17" models hit the market.

The only time I miss the keypad is when I'm working in Excel. Of course I can always pull out my Apple cordless extended keyboard when I need the added speed.

What I really miss is the right option key. Anyone know a handy way to remap the enter key? (Without having to buy some overblown key macro software.)

EDIT: I just found DoubleCommand. Does the trick quick, easy and free