SIGforum.com Main Page The Lounge Savvy computer owners, please help me choose a laptop for my college freshman.
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The 2nd guarantees the 1st |
First thing I'd do is find out if the school has any requirements for the type of pc. Some may want you to have an Apple and some may require a windows machine. "Even if the world were perfect it wouldn't be." ... Yogi Berra | |||
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Member |
Check your school's bookstore, but, cry once: buy the Apple fully hardware loaded. It will last her the four years, plus. ========================================== Just my 2¢ ____________________________ Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right ♫♫♫ | |||
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Refurb through the Apple Store online, with AppleCare. Discounted, yet support available. But, I'd still wait to see what the school of her major course of study will be working with. It may not matter, or needs to just be able to handle Office365, or may have specialist requirement. -- I always prefer reality when I can figure out what it is. JALLEN 10/18/18 https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...610094844#7610094844 | |||
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After sending my son to college two years ago to study International Finance, I can tell you without exception, you don't need to spend a bundle on a laptop for them to use. Personally, as fast as technology moves, I opted to buy my son a Refurb'd 'A' Condition Dell Latitude with a 3rd GEN i5 chip. Think I gave a bit less than $300 for it. Then I bought/installed a 250gb Samsung SSD ($100) in place of the mechanical drive. That thing is faster than most of the higher end laptops you'll find at big box stores, and ten times more durable given its a business class unit. My son is a junior now, and he's still using this laptop and its serving him well. You can spend the $1k+ for an Apple MacBook if the mood strikes, but personally, I think that's just throwing money away. ----------------------------- Guns are awesome because they shoot solid lead freedom. Every man should have several guns. And several dogs, because a man with a cat is a woman. Kurt Schlichter | |||
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What are her needs? What are the programs requirements? Can she troubleshoot her machine for basic stuff? Apple is a nice rec but outside your budget. You can get a PC with more oomph for less money. Size and weight are important considerations if she's going to lug the thing around all day. A chrome book might get the job done but is stripped down. Will she need to use Microsoft software or will googles suite of similar stuff suffice? You might consider a small lightweight laptop to carry around and a large monitor she can plug into in her room. | |||
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Many universities in our neck of the woods supply students with their computer. You still have to pay for it, but it is configured with all the crap and support you need for school. You may want to check with them before buying anything. Also, the closer you get to the start date Apple usually has a sale for going back to school. My daughter is in the STEM program and every kid gets a 13" MacBook Air. They lease it every year for $200 and at the end of 4 years, it is yours to keep. You will also want a CrashPlan membership to keep all the data backed up incase something fails, it gets stolen, etc. CrashPlan works 24x7x365 and I have had to use it once to restore some files to my system. My wife teaches in elementary education and I would not wish all the BS she has to deal with on a day to day basis on anyone. Very few parents think their kid can do anything wrong and if they are failing it is always the teachers fault even thought the kid hasn't turned in a single homework assignment. Have a backup plan and if she sticks with it stay away from city schools. ---------- “Nobody can ever take your integrity away from you. Only you can give up your integrity.” H. Norman Schwarzkopf | |||
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Not Today |
First of all I want to say thanks to all of you for the sage advice. I'm calling the university IT department tomorrow and ask them a few questions. As for the $500 budget, that has more to do with my daughters ability to misplace and or outright lose things than my ability to pay more. She really is a great young lady but my goodness....  I also need to extend a special thank you to Brailledriver for his most generous offer. Sigforum is full of the finest people I've never met. ________________________ Hi,I'm Buck Melonoma,Moley Russels' wart. | |||
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| Res ipsa loquitur |
The school will have a bookstore that typically sells computers. In many states, they don't charge tax either. In any event, I would look at the school and education discounts for her college before you buy. We bought an Apple for our daughter last year when we were in your shoes. It worked perfectly all year for her. __________________________ | |||
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| Go ahead punk, make my day |
Probably time to explain that this is the only $500 computer you are going to get from Daddy. Adulthood is upon her. | |||
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| Not Today |
Agreed. ________________________ Hi,I'm Buck Melonoma,Moley Russels' wart. | |||
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I was going to recommend Woot or eBay for a Dell Latitude. Look for an E5000 or E7000 series. Look for one with a Core i5 or i7 processor that is either 5th generation (Broadwell) or 6th generation (Kabylake). I'd recommend looking for one of the following models: E5450 E7450 E5470 E7470 Woot has some good deals on refurbished E5470's right now. | |||
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NRA Life Endowment member Tri-State Gun collectors Life Member | |||
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| Get my pies outta the oven!  |
Are you kidding me? When was the last time you looked at PC prices (no, not Macs), they are dirt cheap these days and you can most definitely get a good basic laptop for a college student for $500 right now. Someone mentioned a Chromebook, I'd look hard at one of these and you can get a nice one for well under $500 right now. I can tell you right now what the college's requirements are going to be: wifi access and most likely MS Office apps like Word, as long as the thing can get on the school's intranet and access the Internet, she should be all set. | |||
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Glorious SPAM! |
I actually think 500 will get you a more than capable laptop. The key, to me, is to wipe it clean to get all of the pre-packaged bloatware off of it. Re-install the OS and then add only the programs you need (Office, etc). Unless she is a graphic designer any decent laptop will be able to do word processing, email, and internet. Make sure the the hard drive is a decent size and she will be good to go. I have used the Dell outlet a few times, some good deals there. I used to travel alot and I beat the hell out of my laptops in some pretty crappy places. I easily got three years out of them. Many times when I got a new one it wasn't because it was necessary, I just wanted something a little newer as the technology moved on. | |||
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Absolutely. This is similar to the one I got my son (and after two years he's still using), and it already has a SSD installed. Pocket the extra $100 for later. Trust me, you'll be spending it and more down the road. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-L...a:g:ZRAAAOSwaB5XklEi Take a few minutes to update to Windows 10 and she's good to go for at least a few years. And check with the college she's going to as many have deals with Microsoft where their students can download and install MS Office for free (and 1GB of OneDrive cloud backup). Oh, and these have a magnesium roll cage inside to protect against, shall we say, 'accidents'. My son is also a bit hard on electronics.  ----------------------------- Guns are awesome because they shoot solid lead freedom. Every man should have several guns. And several dogs, because a man with a cat is a woman. Kurt Schlichter | |||
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His Royal Hiney |
Can she call the college? I think often they have programs for students along with full programs at a discount. "It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946. | |||
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| probably a good thing I don't have a cut |
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SIGforum.com Main Page The Lounge Savvy computer owners, please help me choose a laptop for my college freshman.
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