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Laptop Advice (College Edition)

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CrowFairy:
My computer is an Asus almost identical to the one you're looking at. I really like it so far. The main thing for me is that the speakers are pretty buggy and don't go very loud. However, the sound is excellent when used with headphones. I've found that the speakers don't work sometimes after waking up from sleep mode. I just got an update that may fix that, though.

Video quality is pretty awesome. And it's fast.

However, my three-and-a-half-year-old Toshiba just died not long ago--motherboard failure. It was still running Vista. So you can see how my little Asus (I do mean little) might be a huge upgrade. But I love it still.

If you get a Toshiba, whatever you do, do not put it in hibernate, ever. I didn't find that out until about a year after I started using the function. :/ Apparently Toshiba representatives say not to do it, according to research I did when it started bugging out on me.

But seriously, I love my Asus right now. I like the hardware--the texture and feeling are nice, as well as how light it is. I love the keyboard style, trackpad, and mouse buttons. It's all very streamlined. (But if you use the arrow keys a lot, be careful because the up arrow is right next to the "end" button.)

LTK:

--- Quote from: Avec on 25 Jul 2011, 14:29 ---I've heard that before. Can you as a buyer request to get a computer free from most software?

--- End quote ---

I think you can, but the last time my dad asked for a blank hard drive, the shop wanted to charge him extra for removing/excluding the software from the computer, and of course he didn't want to pay for not buying an operating system. I don't know if that always happens, so you can always try.

Alternatively, you can dive into the deep and reformat the drive yourself (Darik's Boot & Nuke) and install a better Windows version than Home Premium if you have access to one. Most of the time the supplier does supply a Windows install disc in case you fail, but it will most likely have all the pre-installed programs come along with it.

If you do get a laptop with all sorts of crap already on it, the easiest course is to simply uninstall everything you know you don't need (and google everything you're not sure of), which should get rid of all but the most persistent performance hogs.

 Also useful for doing this is checking the list of Startup programs in the msconfig.exe utility. Actually, you can do that right now, every one of you: Start, search for msconfig, enter. In the General tab, select 'Selective Startup', then go to the Startup tab. That lists all of the programs that Windows starts up when finished booting. You can uncheck everything you know you won't need right away, but you do need to keep any antivirus programs, essential drivers, etc. It should make a bit of a difference in how quickly your computer is ready to use after booting up.

Lines:
Do not buy a Dell.

pwhodges:
Dell's business range (Latitude) is excellent; I supply them to my users (I'm typing this on an 8-year-old Latitude).  I have been unimpressed by their domestic (Inspiron) range, though.  The XPS I haven't seen, but I think a version of it is sold as a Latitude, so I'd guess it's a step above the Inspirons.  Of the others, I'd incline towards the Asus.

snalin:

--- Quote from: Linds on 25 Jul 2011, 21:19 ---Do not buy a Dell.

--- End quote ---

Do not buy a HP unless you're planning on re-installing the OS. As LTK says, so much crapware.

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