potterhead
I am going to be a psychology + political science double major, I'm going to be need a computer with: great processor, bank hard drive, my laptop right is dazed and its battery life blows..
I'm thinking a Sony Vaio but I dont know which one...any general recommendations?
thanks for the answers! i appreciate it.
Answer
You're WAAAAAAAAAAAAY overestimating the kind of specs you need to study the things you want to study.
During the course of grad school, I only used about 1GB of HD space to store my actual work. Here are your necessities: WiFi, MS Office, an optical drive (CD-RW or DVD-RW) and possibly SPSS (but your school would provide you with that software).
And unless you are a gamer, you don't need a top-of-the-line processor. Dual core is more than plenty. You can probably get by on 1GB RAM (again, unless you are a gamer). And if you have the option of running XP instead of Vista, GO FOR IT!!! Vista is a steaming pile of crap.
If you need "bank" HD space, then I suspect you intend to store a crap-ton of MP3s and video. These things aren't necessary, but I understand they're a big part of college life.
And to preserve your battery power, use the AC adapter as much as possible. If you must unplug, then run your battery completely dead before recharging. This will limit "battery memory."
The Vaio is an overpriced machine. Unless you need some kind of conflated status symbol, you would do just fine with a Dell personal laptop (the Inspiron would be perfect for you). They're pretty cheap.
You're WAAAAAAAAAAAAY overestimating the kind of specs you need to study the things you want to study.
During the course of grad school, I only used about 1GB of HD space to store my actual work. Here are your necessities: WiFi, MS Office, an optical drive (CD-RW or DVD-RW) and possibly SPSS (but your school would provide you with that software).
And unless you are a gamer, you don't need a top-of-the-line processor. Dual core is more than plenty. You can probably get by on 1GB RAM (again, unless you are a gamer). And if you have the option of running XP instead of Vista, GO FOR IT!!! Vista is a steaming pile of crap.
If you need "bank" HD space, then I suspect you intend to store a crap-ton of MP3s and video. These things aren't necessary, but I understand they're a big part of college life.
And to preserve your battery power, use the AC adapter as much as possible. If you must unplug, then run your battery completely dead before recharging. This will limit "battery memory."
The Vaio is an overpriced machine. Unless you need some kind of conflated status symbol, you would do just fine with a Dell personal laptop (the Inspiron would be perfect for you). They're pretty cheap.
For a college-bound student, is a desktop or a laptop better?
Josie
Please list reasons why and I would be glad if you could give me a model and/or company name you would highly recommend.
Answer
From a recent college grad, I say Laptop without a doubt. Choose your own make and model, and if you have questions about this ask your future school's tech center for advice as some have preferences. Dell is a hot maker, though personally I prefer Compaq.
I say Laptop because you can actually take it to class if it's your preference (and with some classes it makes things much easier). Also if you ever study abroad (just FYI: do it if you can, even if you're a little afraid to it's always worth it) then you can take your computer with you which makes things a thousand times easier. It also means that you can take your computer and work with you to various places around your college or university's campus and work in varying places which can come in useful when you're starving and have a 10 page paper due in a few hours, or if where you're living doesn't have air conditioning and a library or cafe does.
Good luck to you whichever you choose.
From a recent college grad, I say Laptop without a doubt. Choose your own make and model, and if you have questions about this ask your future school's tech center for advice as some have preferences. Dell is a hot maker, though personally I prefer Compaq.
I say Laptop because you can actually take it to class if it's your preference (and with some classes it makes things much easier). Also if you ever study abroad (just FYI: do it if you can, even if you're a little afraid to it's always worth it) then you can take your computer with you which makes things a thousand times easier. It also means that you can take your computer and work with you to various places around your college or university's campus and work in varying places which can come in useful when you're starving and have a 10 page paper due in a few hours, or if where you're living doesn't have air conditioning and a library or cafe does.
Good luck to you whichever you choose.
Powered by Yahoo! Answers
