Build Me (or suggest) a College Laptop!
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Normal Egg
Member Lvl: 6
Egg Points: 323
Posts: 887
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| Posted: Jun 28, 2008 10:51 a.m. - Subject: Build Me (or suggest) a College Laptop! |
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So I got the requirements for my laptop next year from the Virginia Tech website; I was initially planning to purchase a Macbook Pro, but the College of Business requires the PC format. I don’t really know much about what makes computers tick; I could never build one myself and don’t plan to.
But here are the minimum specs required:
Platform
PC (Vista Ready)
Operating System
Vista Business, Vista Ultimate or Windows XP Pro w/ Service Pack 2
Processor Speed
Core 2 Duo processor (or AMD comparable processor) 2 GHz (or higher)
Memory (RAM)
2 GB or higher
Hard Disk Drive
120 GB or bigger (5400 RPM minimum)
CD/DVD Drive
DVD+-RW
USB External Hard Drive / Back-up Drive
160 GB (minimum)
Removable Storage
USB Flash Memory - 1 GB or higher
NIC/Ethernet Card and Wireless Card
Your NIC needs to run on a 10Base-T network and have an RJ-45 connector. Wireless network cards should support the 802.11a/g standard.
Video RAM
128 MB or more shared
Cost isn’t too big of an issue; I expect it to be around $1500, give or take, but don’t go buckwild.
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Normal Egg
Member Lvl: 9
Egg Points: 29286
Posts: 2562
AIM YIM
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| Posted: Jun 28, 2008 11:03 a.m. - Subject: |
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Why the hell do you need video RAM? Is it a computer-oriented course?
And you can’t really build it per se, but you could buy an old laptop and replace some of the parts. You ’d have to be careful which one you get though, as most of them don’t let you swap out very many parts. You’d probably be better off just getting quotes from local retailers with that sheet, or ordering something online. I’ve never bought a laptop myself, so I wouldn’t really be able to help you out. Good luck, though.
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Power Egg
Member Lvl: 12
Egg Points: 3585
Posts: 1062
YIM
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| Posted: Jun 28, 2008 11:05 a.m. - Subject: |
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i got a gateway tablet for my 1st semester and it has been wesome.
meets all those requirements, make sure you get ofice 2007 for the OneNote program. i suggest one of these
http://www.gateway.com/systems/series/529597319.php
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Normal Egg
Member Lvl: 9
Egg Points: 2875
Posts: 964
AIM
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| Posted: Jun 28, 2008 11:07 a.m. - Subject: |
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you can customize a laptop to those standards on a site like http://www.tigerdirect.com
i don’t know if you can do it like that on newegg
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Power Egg
Member Lvl: 12
Egg Points: 3585
Posts: 1062
YIM
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| Posted: Jun 28, 2008 11:07 a.m. - Subject: |
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and yes, small screen is good. it saves batteries, and you makes it lighter because you will be lugging it around everywhere. with these prices, you can save up for a nice desktop and a big monitor to put in your room.
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Normal Egg
Member Lvl: 9
Egg Points: 29286
Posts: 2562
AIM YIM
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| Posted: Jun 28, 2008 11:09 a.m. - Subject: |
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If you’re planning on pirating Vista, I would try to set it up well in advance of your semester, as that can fuck up. Especially if you’re using public torrent trackers.
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Normal Egg
Member Lvl: 8
Egg Points: 188
Posts: 1185
AIM
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| Posted: Jun 28, 2008 11:34 a.m. - Subject: |
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You should probably just call watever company computer you want and tell them thats wat you want. I think most companys let you do that
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Master Egg
Member Lvl: 45
Egg Points: 421394
Posts: 5887
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| Posted: Jun 28, 2008 11:39 a.m. - Subject: |
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http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/109775/Widescreen-Notebook-Computer-With-Duo-Processor/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220331
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Normal Egg
Member Lvl: 9
Egg Points: 78968
Posts: 1257
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| Posted: Jun 28, 2008 2:10 p.m. - Subject: |
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Those specs really aren’t that hard to match. Most every laptop nowadays has what the college is asking for. At this moment I am looking at the Circuit City ad right next to me and $700 laptops are meeting these specs, however you said you were willing to go $1500, so I’m sure you could find a laptop that smokes those requirements easy and still have a good amount left over. You were pricing a Mac, PC’s are much cheaper. Sorry, I don’t really have any suggestions for specifics, but like I said, most laptops today will meet those requirements.
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