$3500 to spend on laptop for college

[Aroc]

I'm not sure if this note is going to reach you too late or if you'll even listen to my advice - but here it is anyway. I'm going to echo the sentiments of EatMorGlue and gcchatel. Having been through college I believe they are right on target regarding your future and current computer requirements. So you aren't going to want to read this. But I would not buy an awesome system until at least the workload in your courseload warrants it. And quite simply most freshman and sophomore course work does not require the computer your University has spec'ed out. If you school is like my engineering school, those specs are based on what they feel would be a system that would last four full years, hence to specs are for a nearly top-of-the-line system.

I love a SOTA system as much as the next guy. But the dirty secret is your system will feel slower each semester you are there, mainly because new students are arriving with newer, better systems and current upperclassmen are upgrading. Anything you buy now is only going to be SOTA-feeling fore at best - one semester. Afterwhich it's old news. That's a heavy price to pay a computing power today that you won't need for coursework until semester 5 or even 7. So why not wait and save the money until you really need it? You'll end up with a far better system in the end, have a better overall computing experience, and probably spend about the same in the long run.

Unless you need the optical drive on-the-go or the SXGA+ or UXGA on-the-go, I'd get a X32 or X41 today. Forget the T42p or T43p. THEN either buy a second, FAST system your junior or senior year when you need it - keeping your current system for MS Office, email, web (which is why I recommended an ultralight X32 or X41) - or just flat out replace your freshman system entirely.

Now, if I were in your shoes would I have listened to this advice? Probably not. I identify with the need to want a SOTA system. I arrived in the fall of my freshman year not only with the fastest desktop system and biggest monitor I could afford, but also with a notebook computer. Yep two systems. Total overkill. Sure it was a blast that first semester, but I wish I would have waited. But I know me better than that. I would still have foolishly spent all of that money. My actual needs were a bit different than what I imagined. My first semester needs consisted of email, web, MS Word, MS Excel, Pascal and C compilers, Mathematica, and a couple other course-specific apps. Basically *any* computer would have met those needs, even advanced paced, honor classes I was taking. Then I could have upraded my junior (or even senior year) when I really needed it - which I did anyway. It's really "ghetto" to have to use the same machine all four (five?) years, even if it was once a SOTA one. But I could have saved a *bundle* at the onset had I have known this.

But what fun would that be?

But seriously, please give some thought to this. And enjoy that first year!!!

Aaron.