Laptop for college

[overlord20]

Well Some netbooks I have notice have the full kb. HP has one I believe. Has a keyboard close to ful size. Also laptops with a num pad usually tend to be less portable because they are larger. IE usually 17" screen. I say bring your desktop and buy a netbook and then spend the extra money you save on the netbook and get a 300 card when the come out.

 

[Druid]

So netbooks have a 4 hour battery life mostly? Oh man, these things don't have optical drives in them? I'm not sure about that.

Gah, I wish newegg would list the battery life on their laptops.

Anyway, I'll consider the netbook, but I'm still leaning towards a regular laptop.

 

[aaronkupen]

Use a netbook before you decide to buy it. Some people I know fell into the hype, bought one, and hate its constraints. I don't see any reason why a 13-14 inch notebook wouldn't be a great solution. It will give you adequate performance, battery life, will fit easily in your backpack, and will still let you dabble in some mainstream games (T400 with discrete graphics for instance).

 

[Druid]

What constraints do they have besides not having an optical drive.

And yeah, ignore my earlier 4 hour comment. I saw one that said 9 hour battery life now. When you pay more for a netbook, r u just paying for more battery life mainly? They all seem to have 1.6 ghz cpu and 1 gb of ram.

 

[aaronkupen]

Well you are getting a very underpowered computer as well as a small screen and awkward keyboard; some people have strong opinions about that -- especially if you aren't going to be having a desktop in college (I think that's what I read).

 

[ricanflow]

What constraints do they have besides not having an optical drive.

And yeah, ignore my earlier 4 hour comment. I saw one that said 9 hour battery life now. When you pay more for a netbook, r u just paying for more battery life mainly? They all seem to have 1.6 ghz cpu and 1 gb of ram.

netbooks are not made to replace laptops...theyre made for extreme portability/low power usage. Typical uses would be just basic web surfing, instant messaging and just having the ability to be online anywhere for extended periods of time (hence the 9 hour battery life).

No optical drive doesnt matter, cause you can carry a usb powered one with you if you wish. Yeah the fastest cpu is the 1.6ghz Atom, because the small size doesnt allow stronger cpu's (heat wouldn't be dissipated correctly).

netbooks do come in many sizes...ranging from the tiny 9" screen to larger ones with full keyboards. No theyre not right for some people, just depends on whether you need what it can offer or not.

 

[Jayce]

I'm a big desktop fanatic. Every laptop I use whether it's a gaming laptop or a netbook I feel restricted in what I can do. Although I do believe there are such things as a "gaming laptop", I have yet to have had a need for a high powered laptop.

If it were ME... I'd get a decent desktop and a netbook. Even at that, those two combined would be around the same price of a decent gaming laptop.

It's your call. But that's what I would do. It's at least an option to consider.

 

[Nubbleet]

Yea, netbook would be easiest for college. I started on the 20 somethin and if I had a netbook, seems like it'd be pretty handy. Just use your desktop for gaming.

 

[Druid]

I'd be mainly using it for net surfing and note taking via microsoft word, but if I didn't bring my desktop, I would be using it for gaming as well.

 

[aaronkupen]

I'd be mainly using it for net surfing and note taking via microsoft word, but if I didn't bring my desktop, I would be using it for gaming as well.

Like I said, just get a small laptop (13-15 inches).