The Best Student Computer

[archer6]

I have a thinkpad & I love its keyboard, but it has windows xp & is not reliable

This particular situation is due to a problem that is unresolved.

A problem that could crop up on any laptop. The fact that it's a ThinkPad has nothing to do with it. If it was a problem with ThinkPads you would not be seeing them used in nearly every Fortune 500 company nationwide. I live in a University town and the number of students using ThinkPads both new and used is the overwhelming majority.

Regarding price, that's largely old, very old information. There was a time when there was a price premium to own a ThinkPad, but that is a thing of the past.

The key is to be sure that you are comparing computers that are configured the same way. Same amount of memory, hard drive size, display size and resolution, connectivity options, optical drives etc.

I recently did just that... a price comparison, as I was purchasing a laptop for my son to take to college. My first thought was to get a "cheaper computer" as he's hard on things. Then when I did my comparison shopping I found that not only could I get a good deal on a laptop, but the best deal was on a new ThinkPad.

So before jumping to conclusions or believing others opinions, check it for yourself.

[tourist.Tam]

Hi and sorry to bump an old thread like this one, but student need is not what most of student wants.

If you look around your University, get to know all kind of student, you will find out that most of them are not concerned about efficiency. They are just another bunch of customers getting sold a pc replacement most of the time. So Dell is an obvious answer. But it could be any brand that is cheaper than Dell or easier to get. How are the machine I am talking about marketed? Not on reliability, or on the reputation of the brand. Yeah you always have the odd lucky user that tells you how good that Gateway or Acer was ... in the old days, but it goes the same for everything. If you don't believe me, just ask you grand-dad.

So for those pretty uninformed customers, the main thing will be to be able to run Longhorn, er ... Vista, to browse the web, to do some word processing, and send some email. Plus the inevitable thing that everybody (WARNING: big assumption here) does: watch films, and listening to some music. And the way the computer are advertised is pretty surprising: on how much memory it has, or if it is Vista compatible, of whether it has WIFI or not. You can see that those are definitly not reliable technical information. If on top of that you consider that half of the male population want to be able to game on those, you are looking at a configuration that a normal student cannot afford on an Thinkpad. I have checked for a good allrounder thinkpad: a T60P with upgrade. I can't start to think how much I would have had to pay for that.

This is just my own view of the UK/German/French market for laptop.

Sincerly.


Tam


PS: For info I am a student undertaking a Software Engineering degree, and I am a gamer. The laptop I own is my first one and I am happy as it is; It won't be running the latest game, but it can load up eclipse and let me code for a full day (6-7 hours of effective work).

[RageRover]

Being a student...I'd recommend a pre-owned or refurbished X-series if you will be taking your computer with you to class.
I have an HP, and it can do everything (thanks to the Dual Core CPU, 2gb Ram & 160gb of storage)....but its heavy. The HPs are cheaply made. But in general, they are also cheap to buy.

I'd say a good 25%+ of my class has an HP (or Compaq), but many of them have broke over the past year. They are all plastic. Things like hinges have broken. The DVD/RW on my roommate's HP stopped working.

I was tired of dragging my heavy computer around and I was also afraid it would break...as it was getting knocked around too much.

I bought a pre-owned X30 on eBay over a year ago for about $250 and I could not be happier! You can pick up an x31 now for a reasonable price, which I would do (usb2 & wireless).

I originally just intended to use the X30 for office, internet and the like...but it has become my main machine. I'm using it now to make this post.

I recently upgraded my machine with additional ram and a wireless card. I can never imagine NOT using a ThinkPad! I gave the HP to my gf, it never leaves her desk. Actually, my gf prefers my older, slower, somewhat outdated X30!

I recently picked up an UltraBase with a cd-rw/DVD off eBay. With XP, it’s a very snappy machine. It will run Vista if you really want it. Eventually, I’d love to upgrade to a 7200rpm HD.

The only thing I like about the HP is the widescreen...its nice to watch movies on.

My next machine will most probably be a widescreen ThinkPad. Unless the $200 7" Asus becomes a reality!

Just my $0.02

[ThinkPad R]

Should I mention poll bias? this is thinkpads.com after all.

[pianowizard]

Should I mention poll bias?

Of course. A general forum like the one on notebookreview.com would be less biased.