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Geek Culture / Looking for a laptop for college for programming

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Destrugter 1
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Posted: 18th Mar 2009 00:53
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Ok, some of you know from my previous post, I am starting college soon for a degree in Computer Software Engineering, and my minor will probably be Computer Sciences, but anyway, the laptop can't be over $2000 (including the price of the 4 year warranty). It has to be pretty up-to-date, and be able to handle games.

I stumbled across this, which with the 4 year warranty comes around $1600.
http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-studio-xps-16?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04

But I read that Dell XPS laptops only last about 2 years, when they just burn out. So does anyone know of a good reliable laptop that can be used for school and gaming for 4 years, with a 4 year warranty that costs all under $2000 that would be better then the one in the link?
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soapyfish
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Posted: 18th Mar 2009 01:13 Edited at: 18th Mar 2009 01:19
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Have you looked at the Lenovo Thinkpads? I haven't had any experience with them myself but I believe they are quite reliable little machines and are reasonably priced.

Don't forget about looking for what student discounts you can get to save a bit of money.

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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 18th Mar 2009 01:28
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Quote: "But I read that Dell XPS laptops only last about 2 years"


True of any modern gamer notebook, sadly. HP, Apple, the lot. I always wondered how they solved the heat issues in the smaller, less ventilated case; turns out they didn't.

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Robin
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Posted: 18th Mar 2009 01:46
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I've had a dell xps 12.1" laptop for nearly 3 years now and it hasn't 'burnt out'. I guess it depends what you do with it - mine's on every day, from morning to night, but I generally keep it at my desk and well ventilated...

[center]
"If at first you don't succeed, remove all evidence you ever tried"
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soapyfish
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Posted: 18th Mar 2009 02:25
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As long as you have a warranty then you should be covered for any problems that may crop up over time anyway, right?

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Destrugter 1
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Posted: 18th Mar 2009 23:50
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Yes, but I wanted to see if anyone else had a better idea. Again, it needs to be reliable, and up for programming, but newer. I will not spend over $2000(USD) though. It may be cheap, but it's all I have.
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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 19th Mar 2009 00:59
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Programming is not an overly demanding task in many instances.

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AlexI
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Posted: 19th Mar 2009 02:13
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Unless you write code to loop though something and you forget the increment the thing you are going though That happens to me to much


http://www.fphosting.co.uk FREE WEB HOSTING, NO Adverts
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AndrewT
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Posted: 19th Mar 2009 02:20
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Quote: "Programming is not an overly demanding task in many instances."


Agreed! It bothers me that so many people think they need top-of-the-line PCs and notebooks because they're programmers or they're involved in game dev. I've been programming fine on a 3-year old $700 laptop without any problems for several years; I don't plan on upgrading until this one's shot.

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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 19th Mar 2009 03:02
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Quote: "Unless you write code to loop though something and you forget the increment the thing you are going though"


This won't affect any decent OS. I do it often and my little 630mHz Celeron portable still doesn't struggle because the Task Manager has a massive priority.

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Destrugter 1
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Posted: 19th Mar 2009 04:30
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Ok...Well I was also planning on doing a bit of gaming on it, like Diablo 3, and older games. No one has made any suggestions...the one I was looking at is nice, but if it's not needed then I would like to know which one fits my purposes.
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QuothTheRaven
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Posted: 19th Mar 2009 06:59
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Get a 15" Macbook pro:

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook_pro
The 15 inch is also $1800 on Amazon.com.

Also, the ability to "play games" is pretty vague. If you mean play things like first person shooters, you will have to go way above $2000 to achieve that.

DelvarWorld
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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 19th Mar 2009 13:13 Edited at: 19th Mar 2009 13:13
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I really wouldn't advise he got a Macbook Pro. Those things are nasty. Horrible to type on owing to sharp metal corners, (my hand still has a visible scratch from when I pulled a USB stick from the back of an iMac a week ago) nasty glossy display, expensive for the spec and Apple are having trouble with nVidia cards too. Probably more seeing as they value silence over reliability.

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Destrugter 1
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Posted: 19th Mar 2009 13:19
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I am not into Macs. Sorry, it has to be anything other than a Mac.
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David R
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Posted: 19th Mar 2009 14:09 Edited at: 19th Mar 2009 14:10
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Quote: "Agreed! It bothers me that so many people think they need top-of-the-line PCs and notebooks because they're programmers or they're involved in game dev. I've been programming fine on a 3-year old $700 laptop without any problems for several years; I don't plan on upgrading until this one's shot."


Try debugging a hefty app with multiple instances of MSVC to boot. That soon topples some cheap nasty laptops

Quote: "and Apple are having trouble with nVidia cards too."


?

My NV card is working perfectly thank you


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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 19th Mar 2009 14:17 Edited at: 19th Mar 2009 14:19
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Well I mean that they are not isolated from the problems other brands are having. Many people say "buy an Apple, it doesn't have the burn out problem" but that's just not the truth. My father's HP died after two years and a girl in my college group has a dead Macbook Pro that isn't covered by warranty.

If anything, you're paying for style that'll look terrible three years down the line. White shiny plastic will become the new beige. Then glossy displays will become the new white shiny plastic.

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David R
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Posted: 19th Mar 2009 14:53
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Quote: "White shiny plastic will become the new beige"


They're aluminum


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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 19th Mar 2009 15:01 Edited at: 19th Mar 2009 15:03
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Everything that attaches to them is white glossy plastic. The displays are nasty glossy glass which likes reflecting lights and your own face. And don't expect aluminium to look that good a few years down the line. White iMacs look absolutely terrible now, the transparent bits full of dirt and dust, the transparent acrylic turned white by wear and tear. Comparable PCs from the same time period in black (not beige, anything but beige!) aren't exactly stellar, but they don't look as awful. They still look like rugged, dependable, heavy duty machines.

Just think how different mobile phones look now than they did three years ago. We're sadly obsessed with gloss and chrome now. The fashions change.

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Alucard94
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Posted: 19th Mar 2009 18:17
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I have one of the newer Macbook Pro's and I love it...


Alucard94, the member of the future of the past.
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David R
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Posted: 19th Mar 2009 18:24
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Quote: "Everything that attaches to them is white glossy plastic. The displays are nasty glossy glass which likes reflecting lights and your own face"


The mighty mouse is, and that's pretty much it. And the glossy screens only really reflect a lot of it you're looking at a black screen. Otherwise they're perfectly tolerable (and unnoticeable) for most light situations.

Quote: "We're sadly obsessed with gloss and chrome now."


It's not chrome, it's aluminum. There's an extremely big difference between them


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QuothTheRaven
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Posted: 19th Mar 2009 18:40
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Quote: "I am not into Macs. Sorry, it has to be anything other than a Mac."

Why not? Most of my friends who are CS majors have Macs now. I play for my next computer to be Mac. You can dual boot to Windows so you get both operating systems.

DelvarWorld
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Uncle Sam
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Posted: 19th Mar 2009 19:20 Edited at: 19th Mar 2009 19:22
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I used a Mac before. I tried not to use it again.

Quote: "The mighty mouse"


I hope you are referring to the size and not the quality.

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David R
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Posted: 19th Mar 2009 19:29
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Quote: "I hope you are referring to the size and not the quality."


Indeed, the mouse is absolute crap. OK for a few weeks, but the scroll ball stops functions very quickly. I seriously question why they haven't altered/updated it - considering the remainder of the hardware is flawless, the 'mighty mouse' is a stain on the Mac range of machines


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Uncle Sam
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Posted: 19th Mar 2009 19:32
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Yep, piece of junk. Worst part is the mouse wheel; it is so small you practically have to use your pinky to spin it.

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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 19th Mar 2009 19:32
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I think the mouse sucks too. There's nothing wrong with the normal design. Why do they think that having one mechanical clicking button and a touch strip is better than three mechanical buttons?

Idiots.

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Destrugter 1
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Posted: 20th Mar 2009 00:10
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Ok...This is getting sort of out of hand. Let's just leave it at this.

I want a laptop for college for a degree majoring in Computer Software Engineering, that will be able to play Diablo 3 when it comes out, and any other game older then that. It has to have at least a 3 year warranty, and it has to be under $2000.

It can't be a Mac. Don't say "Macs are good," or anything about Macs. I just don't like them...I grew up on Dell, so I would like to stick to them if I have a choice.

Please stop fighting about it, I didn't make this thread for everyone to get into a big argument and hate each other. I made it because I am starting college soon, and I want the best laptop I can get for under $2000 that I can use for the next 4 years.

My friend knows of this laptop that he says is really good, and it's cheaper then the one I posted above, once he sends me link, I will post for approval.

Anyone have any other suggestione?
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David R
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Posted: 20th Mar 2009 00:45
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Quote: "
Please stop fighting about it, I didn't make this thread for everyone to get into a big argument and hate each other"


Who was fighting? We just universally agreed that the mighty mouse sucked


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AndrewT
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Posted: 20th Mar 2009 01:11 Edited at: 20th Mar 2009 03:12
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Quote: "We just universally agreed that the mighty mouse sucked"


What? He most certainly does not!



Then again, maybe we're talking about different mice here...

Back on topic...

Destrugter:

I haven't read through the whole thread, but if I were you I would check out:

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/
http://www.ibuypower.com/
http://www.powernotebooks.com/
http://www.xoticpc.com/

I haven't used any of them (yet) but I've heard good things about all of them, and PowerNotebooks has 10.0/10.0 6-mo rating and 9.97/10.0 lifetime rating on ResellerRatings.com.

EDIT::

You're not AlexI...

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ionstream
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Posted: 20th Mar 2009 01:26
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2000 dollars is plenty for an awesome gaming laptop. Even this guy will kick supreme butt:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220490

You won't even have to go that expensive if you're not going to be doing much gaming. I have an ASUS with lower specs (1.86ghz, 9500MGS, 3GB Ram) and it does very well for most games.

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Destrugter 1
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Posted: 20th Mar 2009 01:45
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Nice, that is awesome!

I'll be keeping an eye on that one, thanks a lot ionstream!

I've heard things about those sites too AndrewT, but I just don't know what to get on a laptop or computer. I'm horrible when it comes to hardware
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