New Laptop for Grad. School

[C&C]

I currently have a spawn of the devil, Dell Studio 15, laptop. Getting this laptop my freshman year of college was a huge mistake, and this device has caused me more stress than I care to go through. For grad school, I'm making the permanent switch away from Dells, and I had my eyes on a Mac. However, it's not compatible with the games I play (immature I know, but I can't help myself), and I'm not sure if getting bootcamp and all that mess is worth it.

 

I don't plan on having free time in grad school (I've gathered that it doesn't exist), but after a really bad day, I like to unwind for a few minutes by gaming before getting back on track. That being said, what laptop brands out there are you all using? Do you recommend them? Lenovo and Asus are looking pretty good to me at the moment. I plan on going to school for history if that helps--lots of word processing and article reading I'm guessing.

 

Thanks in advance! 

 

[stillalivetui]

I purchased a Lenovo recently and I'm in love with it. They seem to always have lots of good deals on their website, so you could always snag a bargain deal with them like I did.

[33andathirdRPM]

Lenovo T or W series.

[ANDS!]

. . .specifically a T430s from the Lenovo Outlet (returns and refurbished models).

[C&C]

Thanks everyone! I'm going to go check them out now. 

[C&C]

The T431s series definitely looks like a sound machine. I can't help but prefer the Zenbook Prime to it though...mainly because it's a sexy looking machine. I'll give it to the T431 for packing a better punch on the inside, and not being overly pricey. I'm heading in to Best Buy later today to get a hands on feel of some of these brands to get a better idea of what I like. I'm actually pretty impressed with Vaio as well, but they seem to lag behind the Lenovo and Asus just a little.

[Usmivka]

A word of warning on Lenovo, their build quality has gone downhill rapidly over the last three years. The thinkpads are still ok (still the same ibm line they bought out), but I'd avoid anything else like the plague. Do not waste your money on the extended warrenty, the computers generally come back in worse shape than they leave--spend a minute googling to see what I mean. Carefully read the lenovo forums and elsewhere about any lenovo you are thinking about, many have serious design flaws that are not apparent until after a few months of use (for example overheating and cracking soldering or frying chipsets is a very common problem becuase of poor heat sink design common in Lenovo laptops).

 

Dell latitudes are still alright, but maybe not as good as a thinkpad. Macbooks tend to not wear as fast but are expensive and use out of date hardware that you get to pay a premium for.

 

An alternative is to accept that anything you buy now will be toast or obsolete in 3 years, and buy a $300 webbook or some such, then buy a nice internal or portable hard drive to install the operating system and all your programs on, plus some expanded ram on Amazon for ~$100. The hard drive will last a couple of computers if you are kind to it, and if you boot from it and add your own ram to the laptop the system will be quicker than most high end off the shelf laptops. Sometime university IST/CIS departments will help you with the hardware installs. Check with them regardless, they may be able to get you significant discounts on new computers or parts.

[33andathirdRPM]

FWIW I love my Lenovo W520. The only issue I've had is a broken key on the keyboard, but I literally use this computer all the time. New keyboard is already ordered and on the way for < $50.

[ANDS!]

I've never had a problem in over a decade of using IBM/Lenovo warranty service.  A 200 dollar warranty service versus having to outsource the problem (with no garauntee that it'll be fixed) - no thanks.

 

As for your machine being a hunk of junk in a few years - bah.  I think people toss this "obsolete" word around with a bit too much abandon.  "No longer best in class for [insert task]" might be the better phrase to use.  My Thinkpad R61 can still do the marginal stuff my T430s is currently doing.  It just does it a bit slower (depending on what you are using it for).

 

As for aesthetic issues, no one is ever going to call the Thinkpad series "bold. . ." in design (except for the Carbon).  These are business class laptops however - Lenovo makes a line for individuals who are "design concious. . ."  However, compared to Samsung or Apple - Lenovo isn't going to win any awards from the undegrad set.  

 

If you care about a solid, well built affordable machine - it's really hard to get wrong with the T series.

[frundelson2]

I'd recommend a Chromebook. Check out my review here: http://makingcentsofaphd.blogspot.com/2013/08/saving-money-on-laptop.html

[juilletmercredi]

I have free time in grad school - you have to make free time.

 

I have a Mac and I love it.  I was worried about compatibility issues to but it turned out to be a non-issue.  I purchased VMWare for $40 from the Apple store and my university allows us free access to Windows OS, so I have it if I need it, but I rarely use it.

 

For PCs, Lenovo and Asus are good.  Toshiba is also a good brand.

 

Don't get a Sony.  They're flimsily constructed and overpriced.

Edited August 12, 2013 by juilletmercredi

[sdt13]

 

I currently have a 13 inch macbook pro, but am considering upgrading to a 15 inch (would like retina, but not sure) or a 27 inch iMac. With the macbook pro I would also purchase a 23-24 inch monitor for the office, but with the iMac I would keep my 13 inch. Any suggestions as to which combination may be optimal?

[TakeruK]

Are you planning to do most of your work in the office? Personally, I do 90% of my work in the office and I like using giant screen there and just keeping a small and lightweight laptop for traveling. However, I would be wary of buying such an expensive machine and putting it in the office instead of, e.g. my home. Unless you mean a home office, then that would be different! But having such a beautiful work machine at home would make me want to stay home all day which would probably be bad for my productivity! 

[Usmivka]

 

I've never had a problem in over a decade of using IBM/Lenovo warranty service.  A 200 dollar warranty service versus having to outsource the problem (with no garauntee that it'll be fixed) - no thanks.

 

As for your machine being a hunk of junk in a few years - bah.  I think people toss this "obsolete" word around with a bit too much abandon.  "No longer best in class for [insert task]" might be the better phrase to use.  My Thinkpad R61 can still do the marginal stuff my T430s is currently doing.  It just does it a bit slower (depending on what you are using it for).

 

As for aesthetic issues, no one is ever going to call the Thinkpad series "bold. . ." in design (except for the Carbon).  These are business class laptops however - Lenovo makes a line for individuals who are "design concious. . ."  However, compared to Samsung or Apple - Lenovo isn't going to win any awards from the undegrad set.  

 

If you care about a solid, well built affordable machine - it's really hard to get wrong with the T series.

 

And I've had nothing but trouble with Lenovo's warranty service. My current Lenovo has now come back three times with problems it did not start with, and the original issues were never fixed. The thing crashes every 10-30 minutes because of overheating, even with a wiped harddrive. I can redo the thermal paste and soldering myself, and at this point have had to, but previously did not becuase it would have voided the warranty. However, since they never took these basic steps the warranty wasn't worth much to begin with. Hardwear failure is a different story entirely than unfavorably comparing to more recent models--I'm pointing out that I have had consistant problems with the former using Lenovo lines other than the Thinkpad, which I actually recommended above--just not the warranty.

[sdt13]

Are you planning to do most of your work in the office? Personally, I do 90% of my work in the office and I like using giant screen there and just keeping a small and lightweight laptop for traveling. However, I would be wary of buying such an expensive machine and putting it in the office instead of, e.g. my home. Unless you mean a home office, then that would be different! But having such a beautiful work machine at home would make me want to stay home all day which would probably be bad for my productivity! 

 

I would in fact leave the iMac in my office, as that is where I anticipate spending most of my time. Why be wary exactly? I've never had officemates before so I'm used to treating my office almost like a second home so I wouldn't have hesitated, but maybe that's a very naive approach?

[TakeruK]

I would in fact leave the iMac in my office, as that is where I anticipate spending most of my time. Why be wary exactly? I've never had officemates before so I'm used to treating my office almost like a second home so I wouldn't have hesitated, but maybe that's a very naive approach?

 

I would be worried because of the risk of theft. It's pretty unlikely that anyone like an officemate or a colleague down the hall would steal your machine, but thieves often know that university campuses are great places to steal technology and electronics! Overall, I would say Victoria, BC is a pretty safe place but theft can still happen! I have seen several reports at my current and former schools where theft has happened and it always comes with a reminder to keep our office doors locked!

 

I guess it would depend on the setup of your building. Currently, my office is on the ground floor and the building doors automatically unlock every morning at 7am. My office door has its own lock, but students (including myself) often are lazy and we don't always close our door even if we are the last one to leave, especially if it's just to grab a coffee down the hall or go to the washroom (and then we might run into a friend or prof, and stop to chat etc.). Also, sometimes the doors to academic buildings aren't the most secure and people can break into them overnight. And, a lot of times key distribution is not tightly controlled -- it's really not certain who actually has the keys to your building, and even your office door. For example, my office key can open every office door on my floor, including the prof's offices. Again, it's unlikely anyone in your building would steal from you, but what if someone stole the key from them, or they misplaced a key etc.

 

Another reason I would worry is damage due to flooding, fire, earthquakes, etc. The University likely has insurance coverage for all these things (and theft too) but it probably only covers their own property, not yours. I know my renters insurance policy will cover any sort of damage/theft to my own belongings in my apartment/car, but I'm not certain it will cover things left in my office! 

 

I generally do treat my office like my second home (sometimes I even try to use my home key to open my office door), and I do leave a lot of my belongings at my desk. But these items are things like an external hard drive, coffee mugs, books, pens etc. Maybe the combined value (especially the books) would be several hundred dollars, but a $2000 (or is it more?) iMac would be too valuable for me to risk!

[mpheels]

Does anyone know how AMD processors compare with Intel? I've been looking at all the options, and when all else is equal, laptops with AMD processors are about half the price of those with Intel. I basically need something that will run STATA, word, excel, and a web browser at the same time.

[Shamrock_Frog]

I have a 15" Asus and love it. I bought it in August of 2009 a week before classes started because my last laptop crashed and burned.

 

Well it's August 2013 and the thing still runs like a dream. The only problem with it is that my cat didn't like all the time I spend on it and she stuck her nails in the keyboard and ripped out four keys. I'm just too lazy to replace them because it's from the number pad.

 

If you plan on carrying it with you everywhere you go, I would recommend something a  little smaller than a 15". It gets cumbersome.

[hopeful426]

For what its worth, I have a macbook air and I love it. Its easy to cary in my backpack and note take with. I have a large screen at home that I use for most work because I find the air is a little small for intricate tasks. Going mac is expensive, but finding good technology is essential when you are a student! 

[overworkedta]

I have an ASUS.  I paid all of $400.00 for it two years ago.  It is still in GREAT shape.  I bring it everywhere and use it as my work computer.  I run another monitor off of it for stats programming at work and at home.  I have had zero issues but always back up things and keep most things on a flash drive or the the cloud as I am working.  I do sometimes leave it in my locked office (maybe once every couple of weeks if I have to) that I share with two people and don't worry about them taking it or worry all that much since it is fairly replaceable for the cost.  That said, we did have a break in in the building twice last year, so I would be wary to leave an expensive machine.  My roommate has a mac but she NEVER leaves it.

 

The first computer I had on the go in grad school was a 2 year old netbook from ACER and it was plenty useful for what I needed it for.  I ran stats programming off of VMWare on it with no problems.  However, the battery got a bit fried and I just decided it was time to upgrade when it was almost 4.  It was a great PC for the price though ($200.00).

 

I have a Dell at home but it is a piece of crap studio XPS 1640.  Stupid computer.  It's 4 years old and has been through numerous motherboards, hard drives, and keyboards.  It is the replacement for the replacement for the original model and boy oh boy do I hate it.  That's why it stays here.  It also weighs a ton and my ASUS is super light.

 

Macs look very, very different with the programs that I use.  The interface confuses the heck out of me so I just... can't.  Also, for the price, I feel like I would need to baby the machine quite a bit.  I would be nervous about something happening to my computer all of the time.  Another thing to consider, if you want to use two monitors, you need to get an adapter and bring it with you everywhere (same as a projector).  That can be annoying (it is for my roommate because she teaches off of hers).  I think they are quality machines but since I replace my computer every few years and have more than one machine, the compatibility of windows is hard to beat.  I hate windows and would run Linux if I could run all my programs on it but i don't have many options right now.

[juilletmercredi]

I think if I could go back (and had mad money), I would get a 13" MacBook Air and a Mac mini.  I'd attach the Mac mini to my keyboard and 24" monitor at home, and I'd use the MacBook Air when I traveled or to take with me to classes and stuff.  Then I'd use iCloud and Google Drive/Dropbox to share all of my important files and information between the two computers.

 

I have an external monitor and keyboard now, and I have a MacBook Pro, but it gets annoying disconnecting it every time I want to take it somewhere and reconnecting it when I come back.  Plus it's far heavier than the MacBook Air.

[CageFree]

I would try to get something with a 4th generation Intel processor (like an i7) and as much ram as you can get. If you are looking for a gaming laptop too, make sure it has a dedicated video card with at least 2 gb memory (like an NVidia G-Force), and an HD resolution screen (1080, not 768).

 

I have never had issues with Dell. My XPS M1530 is still running well after 6 years, it's just that I'm doing a lot of heavy photo editing (research) and with 4 GB of RAM and a duo core processor, it was getting taxed pretty heavily. My previous dell had also lasted 6 years. 

 

I now have a Lenovo U530.

[papergrader83]

(1) Get a Mac. Just buy Microsoft Office for Mac for compatibility. Pricey, sure, but quality and no viruses or antivirus slowdowns.

 

(2) Chromebook. If you're confident you'll have WiFi everywhere, this is the coolest thing (and most affordable thing) available.

[MassAppeal]

Since I already have a powerful PC, I'm on the market for a small portable to use primarily as a Mendeley/EndNote machine for reading, marking up, and organizing scientific journal articles. Sounds like a tablet for just those functions, but I'd also like to use it for TeamView-ing into my main PC, instrument PCs, and writing up chapters for the thesis. So that kind of rules out tablets.

 

The Surface Pro 2 looks amazing for those two functions but.. dat price tag.. hnng...

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

(1) Get a Mac. Just buy Microsoft Office for Mac for compatibility. Pricey, sure, but quality and no viruses or antivirus slowdowns.

 

(2) Chromebook. If you're confident you'll have WiFi everywhere, this is the coolest thing (and most affordable thing) available.

People still get viruses on PCs? "No viruses" was the Mac slogan back in the 90s. Not so much anymore.