Make sure they don't have "one slot" of solder-in RAM.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris17404:
Hey guys... I just saw that Lenovo is coming out with the new P53s and P43s laptops targeted directly at STEM college students. The specs look great. They're supposed to be out in June/July. Anyone hear an anything about a release date? I'm currently considering one of these or a ThinkPad X1 Yoga since my son would really like the 2-in-1 tablet functionality.

https://www.laptopmag.com/arti...53s-p43s-price-specs

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/l...p/P53S/p/22WS2WPP53S

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/l...p/P43s/p/22WS2WPP43S

I purchased a Yoga before I stepped up and bought my Surface. No comparison. This could have changed in the last four years but I am so satisfied with the Surface(s) I don't look anywhere else. If you go for a Surface and have the $$$, buy the dock station, two monitors, and a keyboard. Sooooo nice for me to get back from a business trip, plug the Surface into the dock station (same as magnetic power hookup), now you have a kick ass desktop. Glad to see your son is going the STEM route. A very good choice. I wish him the best. Be proud dad!

quote:

Originally posted by Bytes:
I purchased a Yoga before I stepped up and bought my Surface. No comparison. This could have changed in the last four years but I am so satisfied with the Surface(s) I don't look anywhere else. If you go for a Surface and have the $$$, buy the dock station, two monitors, and a keyboard. Sooooo nice for me to get back from a business trip, plug the Surface into the dock station (same as magnetic power hookup), now you have a kick ass desktop. Glad to see your son is going the STEM route. A very good choice. I wish him the best. Be proud dad!

Thanks for the feedback on the Surface. In all my research they don't get listed overly highly by the reviews, but perhaps that's because they tend to be a bit more expensive. We certainly were impressed with it when we saw it an BestBuy. I liked the fact the tablet could be undocked rather than just folded over. I may look a bit more into them.

Chris

I think the tech responses have been spot on but I would strongly suggest you buy it through the school to get the free support.

My son had his crash right before a major paper was due and even though everything was backed up on the school’s mainframe he had no way to access it immediately. They just gave his a new one so he could access his work and turned it in with less than an hour to spare...

quote:

Originally posted by Chris17404:

quote:

Originally posted by Bytes:
I purchased a Yoga before I stepped up and bought my Surface. No comparison. This could have changed in the last four years but I am so satisfied with the Surface(s) I don't look anywhere else. If you go for a Surface and have the $$$, buy the dock station, two monitors, and a keyboard. Sooooo nice for me to get back from a business trip, plug the Surface into the dock station (same as magnetic power hookup), now you have a kick ass desktop. Glad to see your son is going the STEM route. A very good choice. I wish him the best. Be proud dad!

Thanks for the feedback on the Surface. In all my research they don't get listed overly highly by the reviews, but perhaps that's because they tend to be a bit more expensive. We certainly were impressed with it when we saw it an BestBuy. I liked the fact the tablet could be undocked rather than just folded over. I may look a bit more into them.

Chris

Surface units are very nice, but make sure you understand that any extended amount of typing is going to suck. All of the 2 and 1's have keyboards that are usable, but not preferable when it comes to large amounts of typing. I'll always opt for a ultrabook over a 2 and 1 when I have a lot of typing to do. That, and the Surface is simply too expensive for my pocket book.

Solid state drive, for sure.

Does he need lots of graphical power? That is a major factor in what to get.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
I think the tech responses have been spot on but I would strongly suggest you buy it through the school to get the free support.

This.

Find out what your school IT department does for supported machines vs. other machines before you make the call.

In my case, our two college kids (UNC and GWU) went with college-supported models, and what happened when those got broken during the warranty period? Instant swapouts by the IT dept, with their IT folks handling the warranty returns, and let them know when their original device had come back from the factory.

Think back to your own academic careers....how often did you get stuff done so far in advance that a broken PC/typewriter/(quill&inkwell?) wouldn't have screwed you up? That was pretty rare in my experience. Just-in-time was my motto.

No, IMO forget chasing the latest and greatest and trying to overthink this. Chasing deals and/or specs risks being penny wise and pound foolish. Limit the choices to the specific models/brands supported by the school - get the most appropriate one of those for your student.

That way, when they are back on vacation telling stories of overcoming college hurdles, one of the stories you won't hear is how the PC you chose for them made them miss a deadline.

I lean towards whatever machine businesses like. I think computer companies will screw over an individual user but they don't mess with corporate clients.

Another vote for Lenovo (my choice) and Dell.

V.