I've got a budget of around $1700 with which to buy a laptop for college.
I'd prefer a small (sub 15 inch) laptop, so I don't have to lug around a heavy machine all day.
My university actually REQUIRES my laptop to have a resolution of 1600x900 pixels or higher.
This laptop will be used in class, so a minimum battery life of 4 hours when doing basic tasks is a must.
I might play some games with the laptop, but I'm ok with turning down the quality. That said, my course REQUIRES my laptop to have a discrete graphics card with 256 Mb + RAM.
I'll be running 3D modeling software on this laptop, so I can see why a discrete graphics card is required. Other than that, I'll just be writing assignments and doing web browsing, and I might exploit that video card for light gaming.
Another REQUIREMENT: At least 320 GB of Hard Drive space - Sadly, this puts nearly all SSDs out of my reach.
I'd prefer to order my laptop directly from the manufacturer, but I'm ok with buying from a third party if the price is right.
Ideally, I'll keep the laptop for the duration of the course, so being able to upgrade the laptop with more Memory and a SSD (Once big ones become cheaper) would be a plus.
I'm ok with the laptop not having a built in optical drive at all - I'm sure I can just use an external drive if the need comes up.
Right now I'm looking at the Lenovo T420s and the Dell XPS 15z, but I'm open to suggestions. I've heard bad things about HP and Toshiba, but that's hardly conclusive.
I'm in Canada.
Full List of University Requirements:
Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)
Intel i3 processor (Or equivalent/superior)
Minimum resolution 1600 x 900
Minimum 320 GB Hard Drive
Direct X Compatible Video Card with 256+ Mb RAM
Microsoft Office Professional (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook)
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I'd prefer a small (sub 15 inch) laptop, so I don't have to lug around a heavy machine all day.
My university actually REQUIRES my laptop to have a resolution of 1600x900 pixels or higher.
This laptop will be used in class, so a minimum battery life of 4 hours when doing basic tasks is a must.
I might play some games with the laptop, but I'm ok with turning down the quality. That said, my course REQUIRES my laptop to have a discrete graphics card with 256 Mb + RAM.
I'll be running 3D modeling software on this laptop, so I can see why a discrete graphics card is required. Other than that, I'll just be writing assignments and doing web browsing, and I might exploit that video card for light gaming.
Another REQUIREMENT: At least 320 GB of Hard Drive space - Sadly, this puts nearly all SSDs out of my reach.
I'd prefer to order my laptop directly from the manufacturer, but I'm ok with buying from a third party if the price is right.
Ideally, I'll keep the laptop for the duration of the course, so being able to upgrade the laptop with more Memory and a SSD (Once big ones become cheaper) would be a plus.
I'm ok with the laptop not having a built in optical drive at all - I'm sure I can just use an external drive if the need comes up.
Right now I'm looking at the Lenovo T420s and the Dell XPS 15z, but I'm open to suggestions. I've heard bad things about HP and Toshiba, but that's hardly conclusive.
I'm in Canada.
Full List of University Requirements:
Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)
Intel i3 processor (Or equivalent/superior)
Minimum resolution 1600 x 900
Minimum 320 GB Hard Drive
Direct X Compatible Video Card with 256+ Mb RAM
Microsoft Office Professional (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook)
Lock Slot