Need help with laptops

[Honda4life05]

Hey guys I'm looking for a laptop to use for college, I don't need anything speacial but I do like the idea of a larger screen size. I have absolutly no clue where to start or what to look for in a laptop. I know the software can be expensive so what would i need? i found this one with very good reviews, any good? http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+17.3%26%2334%3B+Pavilion+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+Pewter/5373846.p?id=1218637210212&skuId=5373846

[CJM]

Larger it is the more it weighs and the more it wastes battery life. I have a 17" widescreen HP (well till it stopped working a year ago) and I bought it with the intent of using it for school, it was too big and the battery lasted actually 45 mins not the 1.5hrs it claimed.

Id look for a 12" or 14". personally a netbook will be able to do most anything you want and it has good battery life and is decent sized.

[300ex_#387]

I have a 17' HP I bought 3 years ago. I haven't had a single problem with it and I use it everyday. Same battery since I bought it. Lasts about 1.5 hours. I also have a 15' HP for my work laptop and it really isn't that much of a weight difference. My work laptop is a little older though.

My mom just got a 17' Dell and I set it up for her. Those things come loaded with a bunch of nonsense you dont need.

Nothing wrong with either but I do like the HP's. Anything you get will have garbage you wont ever use. Sounds like you will only need something like windows 7 and microsoft office software.

[Honda4life05]

thanks for the help, any suggestions on the minimum storage space i should get? I also see a "4G" and some "6G's?"

[liex21]

If i could give you any advice it would be to not cheap out on a laptop for school and buy a external hard drive. I say this because I made the same mistake and then the night before I had a 15 page paper due my motherboard fries and I lost everything. I bit the bullet and bought myself a 15" macbook pro after and I have to say it was the best decision I made. I would take a look at something like this http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+15.6%22+Pavilion+Laptop+-+6GB+Memory+-+640GB+Hard+Drive+-+Midnight+Black/5608338.p?id=1218672045876&skuId=5608338&cmp=RMX&ky=1whxm51gbOgORrn6M8JOUlLjDtR0yY7Rx

it has good amount of memory and processing power I think the 15 inch would be better for school because I had a 17" dell before mine and it was a bit of a pain sometimes.

Like I said before though get a external hardrive or use some sort of online storage like google drive. It very well may save your but one day.

[Scottt89]

The 4g and 6g you see are referring to RAM. Do yourself a favor and don't get the cheapest specs. You want something that will still have a chipset that will run programs in the future. Don't buy anything less than 4gb Ram. I would suggest Windows 7 64bit. 32bit won't see more than 3GB of RAM so you would be wasting your money.

Screen size is up to you, but as stated the fancier the screen the more battery used to power it. I have always been a fan of Toshiba laptops, a lot of bang for the buck. I would stay away from Dell. Asus also makes a good laptop.

I am an I.T. guy for a living and we are a contract Dell company, so I am constantly sending things back. Just not impressed by them.

Remember, no matter what brand you buy, you get what you pay for with electronics. If you don't want something with cheap insides don't pinch pennies. Check out Newegg.com

[exrider12]

Best bet is a mac book pro. I just got one for school and I love it. Good battery life and loaded with features that the other computers dont have.

[Honda4life05]

As much as I'd love to get a macbook, as a broke college student its just not in the cards. I'm willing to spend around $500, my question is if I get a computer for that price, will I need any software packages for school that it doesn't come with?

[Scottt89]

You will probably need Microsoft Office. They usually have a student edition for a slight discount.