Hey TL, me and my friend are looking into new computers for college since we'll be heading to one this fall. We were wondering which is more suitable for college, a computer or a laptop. I know that laptops are a lot more portable but we also want a balance of portability and power. So anyone have any ideas on which is preferable? I know that gaming power comes at the cost of price (!!) and weight for laptops and that you could get a desktop for much cheaper with better graphics.

Anyways, we were looking around and found a bunch of models (from nvidia's website)

http://www.nvidia.com/object/balancedpc_buy.html

The prices look pretty good for us since were looking into the 600-1000 price tag range. But i'd like to hear some input before I purchase anything. As for AMD vs Intel for CPU's and Nvidia vs ATI, which is better?

Currently, I'm looking at the http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Gamer_Ultra_SLI_Basic_-_NVIDIA_Edition/ . Is it a good deal?

Thanks a ton.

Athos

United States2484 Posts

February 11 2009 00:23 GMT

My mom just bought a sick 17inch laptop by toshiba for only 650 dollars (don't feel like posting full specs... 2.1, 320 hard-drive, 4 gigs ram. I personally wouldn't get a 17inch, but it's meant to be as a desktop replacement and for that its really awesome.

I'm really considering buying a netbook to use in college as well as bringing my desktop along for storage/gaming. Netbooks are so small and light, not to mention that they get up to 8 hours battery life. Throw in the fact that you can get them for less than 300 dollars and by-gone-it you have a compelling product!

micronesia

United States24698 Posts

February 11 2009 00:36 GMT

In college I found the desktop a very good choice, and 99% of the potential appeal of laptops was useful to me. Another approach is a desktop and then to get a really cheap laptop later for minor portability. I'm lazy/ignorant and go with dell though.

Moff

United Kingdom166 Posts

February 11 2009 00:40 GMT

I have to decide this too and i thought like micronesia, for the same price a desktop will be a lot better than a laptop power wise, although you won't be able to take it around..butt, it depends what you need the laptop to do, for me my dorm isn't that far and all i'd ever use a laptop for is browsing/email/IM.

shavingcream66

United States1219 Posts

February 11 2009 00:57 GMT

can anyone look at the http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Gamer_Ultra_SLI_Basic_-_NVIDIA_Edition/ and tell me if its a good deal or not?

ShadowDrgn

United States2497 Posts

February 11 2009 01:12 GMT

On February 11 2009 09:36 micronesia wrote:
Another approach is a desktop and then to get a really cheap laptop later for minor portability.

That's the way to go. Get a $750 desktop and a cheapo used laptop for $200 off eBay. It's also nice to have the laptop as a backup in case your desktop fails.

Athos

United States2484 Posts

February 11 2009 01:55 GMT

On February 11 2009 09:57 shavingcream66 wrote:
can anyone look at the http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Gamer_Ultra_SLI_Basic_-_NVIDIA_Edition/ and tell me if its a good deal or not?

Build the desktop yourself. Honestly, the 9400 is a really outdated/shitty graphics card by now. You could build a more powerful computer than that for like only 300 dollars!

shavingcream66

United States1219 Posts

February 11 2009 02:56 GMT

Alright, I'm building my own computer now. I was a question about sound cards. How important are they? I mean there are some pretty expensive ones out there.

Jonoman92

United States9104 Posts

February 11 2009 04:19 GMT

I'm no expert by any means but for sound on-board stuff does just fine in terms of quality and reliability.

edit: I did build my own computer, the one I'm currently using, and the on-board sound built in with the mobo seems fine to me.

Jibba

United States22883 Posts

February 11 2009 05:40 GMT

#10

A good sound card is nice if you're listening to a lot of music, and you can do some recording things with it that on-board won't let you.

I'd recommend buying a netbook along with your PC. Portability is really damn nice in college, especially when you NEED to get away from your roomate.

ShadowDrgn

United States2497 Posts

February 11 2009 06:02 GMT

#11

Unless you want to hook up a 7.1 surround sound system to your computer, don't waste your money on a sound card. Ten years ago, on-board sound chips were garbage that would eat your clock cycles and crash Windows; these days, they're just fine.

Cambium

United States16368 Posts

February 11 2009 06:33 GMT

#12

What exactly is the difference b/w a netbook and a laptop other than that they are less powerful?

JeeJee

Canada5652 Posts

February 11 2009 06:38 GMT

#13

On February 11 2009 15:33 Cambium wrote:
What exactly is the difference b/w a netbook and a laptop other than that they are less powerful?

just size. a netbook is generally 7-10" while a notebook is 11-17"

mahnini

United States6862 Posts

February 11 2009 10:46 GMT

#14

On February 11 2009 15:33 Cambium wrote:
What exactly is the difference b/w a netbook and a laptop other than that they are less powerful?

the main goal of the netbook is portability. they vary from 8.9-12". as you mention they are less powerful which means they consume less actual power due to a less capable processor, this means you get more life out of less batteries which lowers weight and size. it's basically perfect for college if you just want something to take notes in class with. most of them get 3+ hours of battery and weigh 2lbs. the only thing is, you could probably buy a bigger and more powerful laptop for the price of most netbooks but if youre looking for bigger and more powerful a netbook isn't for you anyway.