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Laptop Advice (College Edition)

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Avec:
The goal of this thread is implied in the title (I didn't want to mix this into the Uni thread).

Recently I received a scholarship from a hospital I've been volunteering at for the past couple of years. I've decided to directly fund my laptop in this way. The only issue it seems, is that I don't know exactly what to get. I've read through several crash courses that focused on specs and general buyers knowledge, but drew no real conclusion (you're probably not supposed to based on the generality of these articles). Through my own research I have narrowed down my interests as I already know my major or at least the general path I'll be following in the next four years. Macs just aren't functional for a chemical engineering major. That being said, I need a windows oriented machine.

A small checklist from what I've read (probably will be edited when I hear what you guys have to say)

- 13"-15" screen
- i5 processor
- Backlit chiclet keyboard (not necessary but preferred for nighttime work)
- Weight under six lbs
- 3+ GB Ram
- 300+ GB hard drive

I can peak a little over $1000 in my budget

These three models have stood out so far

1. Toshiba Portege R835-P56X

--- Quote ---http://us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/portege/R830/R835-P56X/
--- End quote ---
2. Samsung QX411-W01

--- Quote ---http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2388310,00.asp
--- End quote ---
3. Asus U46E-BAL5

--- Quote ---http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2388281,00.asp
--- End quote ---
4. Dell XPS 15z

--- Quote ---http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-15z/pd
--- End quote ---


I know there's a lot of talent here and definitely some wise words of advice that I'll need and will greatly appreciate. Thank you, I will update this accordingly.

Jimor:
I'm way behind on the specs evolution, so don't have anything helpful on that front. I do have my standard advice that if you're planning on carrying this around a lot at university, you budget up front for an external backup hard drive (if you don't already have one around). There are too many ways for a laptop to get lost/stolen/broken on campus and around town and you don't want to lose all your work. Just to illustrate, a friend traveling for an exchange program in Germany lost use of his laptop when a lady impatient for the group's taxi to move, drove around it on the sidewalk, running over all their luggage and crushing his computer.

imagist42:
My advice is pretty much this:

newegg newegg newegg

LTK:
I keep getting surprised how dramatically third-party software cripples laptops with Windows pre-installed. If you have the option, buy your laptop blank, or at least make sure that Windows is supplied on a disc. Students often get discounts on certain editions of Windows and Office. The inconvenience of having to install the OS and assorted programs is far outweighed by the performance gain compared to computers with all sorts of crapware installed.

Avec:
I've heard that before. Can you as a buyer request to get a computer free from most software?

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