Tech heads (need some opinions)...

[Goten]

So I'm going to university in september sometime and as I'm off to study Computer Science, I want to take a really decent computer with me to use. I've got a few ideas to what I want, but I'm really stuck on choosing between a laptop or a PC. Theres a few pros and cons to both for me and at the moment I'm kind of leaning towards getting a Dell notebook (some kind of Inspiron 1720), but I'm kinda worried I won't get value for money in terms of processing power and such.

So assuming I have an average sized budget (money isn't a huge issue, but I don't want to be shelling out thousands of pounds for a machine), dont really want to build my own PC and want the best stuff available on the market/at my budget, can any of you help me out? Advice on both laptops and PC's would be greatly appreciated

[accord 4 me]

i think it will mostly depend on what you wanna do with the computer. is it just for browsing the net and papers..or are you expecting to play games on this for the next 4 years?

[Dmitry M. (Lazer)]

1. What is your Budget?
2. Here are some recommendations:

-If you go with a Notebook PC, don't waste money on an Inspiron, imo and from personal experience they aren't that great. Look into Dell Latitude Notebooks. Latitude's run at a much higher performance rate and aren't loaded up with junk to slow down your pc like an Inspiron is.

-If you decide to build your own pc or buy a desktop pc look for these brands in it.
Intel Core 2 Duo (CPU)
Nvidia (Videocard)
ASUS (Motherboard)
Memory doesn't really matter but if you need to know Corsair are the best of the best, but they can run on the expensive side.
Soundcard (Onboard w/ ASUS MB is fine)

As far as the details of the motherboard are very important especially for the future. Make sure the motherboard supports the following.
SATA (4 Slots if possible but 2 will do fine)
RAID (2 Slots)
PCI Express x16 (2 Slots recommended)
4 Memory Slots Supporting DDR2 Memory up to 4gb
And probably some more components i'm forgetting.

[cAtDaFeLiX]

After 3 years, my Inspiron is slower than hell. If you can, get the windows xp/vista cd and install the os yourself if that's possible. The use of a "restore" dell disc is bs and is still slow. Same goes for a desktop if your looking at doing that. Always get the xp/vista disc.

Lazer has it all there

[hawkster]

I use the Dell D620 Lattitude at work runnig XP and so far it is a very good laptop. Best one they have done for a while now.

[Goten]

Thanks for all your advice! To answer your questions: I'm going to be using the PC/Laptop for work on my courses, browsing the inet and playing games. I'm not really that bothered about getting top end graphics card because I'm not really a huge PC gamer, but I would prefer to be able to play most new games without any hassle.

As for my budget, I'm in the region of around £500 to £850 GBP (absolute maximum, I'm not even sure if I'll be able to afford that yet as its all reliant on how much I get for my birthday). I'm not sure how much that converts to in USD, but if any of you convert it, bare in mind that we are over charged for everything so what might cost you £600 will probably cost us £1000 :P

I found this Dell Latitude machine for about £850, what do you guys think of it?

Components
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7500 (2.2GHz/4MB/800MHz) with Intel GMA X3100
Genuine Windows® XP Professional, SP2 (NTFS) (+ Media) - English
15.4" WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050) Dell
Sharp Wide Aspect Ratio TFT display
UK/Irish - Dual Pointing Internal Keyboard
2.0GB, 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM Memory (2 x 1024MB)
120GB 5400rpm Hard Drive
8x DVD+/- RW Drive with Decoder Software
Accessories
Core 2 Duo - Intel 3945ABG Wireless Card
Internal Dell 360 Bluetooth™ Card

On a side note, are there any other particular brands anyone can suggest? Any that are better than Dell for notebooks?

[Dmitry M. (Lazer)]

Looks like an awesome notebook.

[Goten]

Yeah it does, will XP Professional affect its performance at all? I'm very used to Home, so I'm just wondering if there's gunna be any major differences.

[Mr. SunburnMan]

when I was in uni, I got a laptop with a bitchin' CPU and good ram for compiling purposes. It was great then, except for portability, which I ended up regretting. Even if you're in CS and you'll do CPU intensive stuff, if you do end up going for a laptop, favor portability. Cause if you don't you'll leave it at home.

[Dmitry M. (Lazer)]

Originally Posted by Goten

Yeah it does, will XP Professional affect its performance at all? I'm very used to Home, so I'm just wondering if there's gunna be any major differences.

No, not a big difference. Actually Professional Runs better, and you'll only notice a difference if you're a techy like me. For example i can't use Windows XP Home Edition, it doesn't have certain key features i need which Pro does.

Also with XP Pro you can automatically have the ability to type and view windows in many different languages which is not the case for home edition.