Opinion please - seeking a decent laptop

Andrew Carrick · August 01, 2011, 03:14:20 AM

My eldest son is going to University in September and we want to get him a good quality laptop. Any recommendations please?

Don't need anything too fancy, decent RAM and graphics is main thing. Reliability probably key.

Bloody Jack Kidd · August 01, 2011, 07:45:04 AM

MacBook Pro would be my first reaction unless a PC is mandated.

Andrew Carrick · August 01, 2011, 07:58:02 AM

He's no experience with Mac OS although he has an iPhone, but good point, the institution may have a requirement for Windows. Thanks.

Jim Jensen · August 01, 2011, 08:54:36 AM

I've been generally pleased with the performance of my Lenovo. Lenovo's maintenance software that they install drives me a little nuts at times, but can be by-passed. They are meant to "enhance" it, but I don't buy it.

Jeff Zylstra · August 01, 2011, 08:56:41 AM

I've had decent experience with Lenovo machines, and if you want something a little less expensive, Acer seems to be reliable and have a decent price/performance/reliability mix too.

I've seen a LOT of broken Compaq laptops, however. I've seen a lot of power supplies meltdown and also the screen displays go bad at a high rate. Stay away from them.

Since it's a college student, you might want to consider something that includes a damage warranty.

Jeff Golas · August 01, 2011, 10:30:02 AM

Quote from: Jeff Zylstra on August 01, 2011, 08:56:41 AMSince it's a college student, you might want to consider something that includes a damage warranty.

I recommended that to someone once who fought tooth and nail to not get it, but got it anyway.

In the end, the ONLY thing NOT replaced was the hard drive.

Screen Shatter - new screen
Case cracked - new case
Person tripped over headphone cord and damaged jack - New motherboard
CD-Rom stopped working - new cdrom
Power cord came apart - new power brick

Jim Jensen · August 01, 2011, 02:04:59 PM

My lenovo has what they call "HD Airbag" - stops the HD from spinning if it senses that the unit is falling.

KenH · August 01, 2011, 05:50:27 PM

Got Acer Aspire about 6-Mon ago. inexpensive, and responsive. I would avoid paying for the bundled office, etc, since M$ offers many special deals for students.

But before making the leap, check with the university. Many have special purchase arrangements, and some include University support. Really hard to beat local free and available support.

Andrew Carrick · August 02, 2011, 04:05:39 AM

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

Gene Foraker · August 02, 2011, 11:37:25 AM

My kids just graduated from college in the past few years. I bought them top of the line do everything Dells for High School graduation presents. Yes, I included the full warranty. The computers barely lasted the 4 years with a number of repairs. (No abuse or breakage.) Both kids said that to do it today, they would want a decent desktop AND a cheap netbook or cheap notebook to go portable. Most of the time they are computing in their room and desktops can do more and are more sturdy.