Good Value Laptop for a Student

[lovelaptops]

I'm kind of with Knight's original thought, especially when you mentioned that school is going to keep you busy and you don't want to have to spend time acquiring and installing parts in a 5 yr. old computer, which you need to be working in order to do your work. Though you'll sacrifice a lot in the way of screen quality and resolution, The Lenovo "Ideapad" Y series is available new and refurbished via eBay and resellers such as TigerDirect and you can get a new or good-as-new Y4x0 (the "x" depending on year and cpu series) for around $550-$600. The Ideapad's are not as robust as the Thinkpad series, they don't have the "legendary" keyboard and they'll just have a garden variety mediocre 1366x768 14" screen, but they're still pretty well made and will serve you well. I personally think the GMA of the T60/61 series is inadequate for even streaming HD Videos and potentially for modeling software you may use in your classes. If you are intent about getting the T series, be aware that there were big problems with the nVidia d-GPUs in some of them; you'll have to ask here (Zaz is resident Thinkpad expert par excellence!) as to which were the offending cards. But again, the Intel integrated graphics from the 2010 (Arrandale) and 2011 (Sandy Bridge) will run circles around both integrated and discrete graphics from the T6X series. I almost bought one of these as a, er, 5th computer! - largely for the screen, but as many people who endorsed it said it could be a pack of troubles - all that can be remedied, but I need to be willing to put in the time.

I'm not thinking about a lot of models that you might find either the 2010 versions as refurbs (an excellent value, nearly always perform as new at a fraction of the original price), 2011 Sandy Bridge cpus now phasing out such that you should be able to find what you want, especially if you can stretch to $600 as you indicated you are prepared to do.

Ironically, you can get a much better machine at a lower price point in a 15" than below. 15.6" is the most popular screen size by a wide margin in the U.S. so the economies of scale drive down the screen costs and even chassis assemblies. If weight is the factor, you might want to establish your not-to-exceed weight and consider a 15 incher if it's 5.5 lbs which, by the way, is the weight of a Macbook Pro 13".

I'm running out of specific models and sources, but I urge caution in purchasing a computer to start University with that may bog you down with both barely adequate performance and potential part failures that have "earned" their right to fail at their age! Others can chime in with models and sources of $500-$600 Arrandale i5 and SB i3 laptops that would do the job for the OP - as much as we all want to keep the TP "classics" in circulation!

[molecularman]

I definitely appreciate all the info.

I transferred to a university last Fall and I didn't have a laptop these past two semesters. It wasn't that bad because I have an i7 sandy bridge desktop and have about a 15 minute walk to my colleges computer lab. I could see that a less expensive laptop, basically for just productivity, would be nice though.

I have the August 'deadline' just because I would like it for the start of a new semester and I was hoping prices would drop a good bit on previous gen systems by then.

Zaz mentioned the Thinkpad tablet PCs and I researched them more and I think that would be the type of system I could really use. I think a productive type tablet would work very well for creating/modifying notes and documents. I was initially going to wait for trinity laptops or price drops on sandy bridge ultrabooks but now I think a tablet PC would be the best choice.

I guess my budget is a little arbitrary. My goal is to just get a fairy cheap system for reading stuff and productivity. A better display and build quality (and now tablet functionality) would precedence over a cutting edge processor or super sleek design. 1366x768 seem to be everywhere now.

I guess what it comes down to is if the tablet function is necessarily and will buying an old system end up costing close to what a newer refurb system would after potential repairs.

I've never used an SSD but from what I've read it can make an older computer seem like new. I've been looking at the prices of 128GB SSDs on slickdeals. Slickdeals: Searching for "128GB ssd"

[pepper_john]

two cents:

ssd is fast but can also crash fast without any warning, so it is worthwhile to backup whenever possible.

X220t has an extral bay so that one can buy a HD first and add a SDD late.

[Kuroi-Tsubasa]

two cents:

ssd is fast but can also crash fast without any warning, so it is worthwhile to backup whenever possible.

X220t has an extral bay so that one can buy a HD first and add a SDD late.

I've had my Intel 320 for a year so far and not a single problem. I haven't even flashed the fireware yet, so I'm still "at risk" for the 8MB bug that was fixed by Intel awhile ago.

So long as you stick to reliable brands (Intel, Samsung, Crucial) and avoid the garbage ones (OCZ, anything with Sandforce), you'll be fine. I'd still backup often though, just because it's good practice, especially for a student.

[molecularman]

Do SSD monitoring utilities just give an approximation of the state of the SSD? Could they still at any time without knowing? I have a 32GB SanDisk MicroSDHC card I could use for backups though. Also google drive. I will basically only have text type files to backup.

I was reading this thread (Which is better, XGA or SXGA+?) and I think an SXGA+ display seems like a top feature for a system I would want.

Before I was looking at the Dell v131. I compiled a list of bench marks from cpubenchmark.net on various processors. I don't know if anybody used enough systems with these CPUs to offer real life experience. Maybe Zaz can help with that since he seems to have used a bunch of thinkpads.

here are the benchmarks: "The x220 tablet's i5 CPU has a benchmark score of 3,604. The v131 i5 CPu score is 3,361. The v131 celeron 847 CPU has a benchmark score of 949. The x61 tablet's Core 2 Duo L7500 CPU has a benchmark score of 913. The x60 tablet's Core Duo L2400 CPU has a benchmark score of 782."

The $500 budget was basically arbitrary set because I just waned a system that was more of a supplement than a main system I use for everything. That is why the display is such a big factor now. I'll basically just be reading and editing/creating documents most of the time.

I could spend $1000 since I have to take out loans anyway, but it seems hard to justify that on a supplemental system. I also just bought a pretty good desktop about 6 months ago. I would buy a newer more expensive tablet PC but they all seem to use average quality TN panels with 1366x768 resolution. Does anybody think an x220t with an IPS screen could be gotten for maybe $800 around August?

Zaz, I would be interested if hearing what tablet PC you would recommend in maybe the $800 range.

[Kuroi-Tsubasa]

Do SSD monitoring utilities just give an approximation of the state of the SSD? Could they still at any time without knowing? I have a 32GB SanDisk MicroSDHC card I could use for backups though. Also google drive. I will basically only have text type files to backup.

I was reading this thread (Which is better, XGA or SXGA+?) and I think an SXGA+ display seems like a top feature for a system I would want.

Before I was looking at the Dell v131. I compiled a list of bench marks from cpubenchmark.net on various processors. I don't know if anybody used enough systems with these CPUs to offer real life experience. Maybe Zaz can help with that since he seems to have used a bunch of thinkpads.

here are the benchmarks: "The x220 tablet's i5 CPU has a benchmark score of 3,604. The v131 i5 CPu score is 3,361. The v131 celeron 847 CPU has a benchmark score of 949. The x61 tablet's Core 2 Duo L7500 CPU has a benchmark score of 913. The x60 tablet's Core Duo L2400 CPU has a benchmark score of 782."

The $500 budget was basically arbitrary set because I just waned a system that was more of a supplement than a main system I use for everything. That is why the display is such a big factor now. I'll basically just be reading and editing/creating documents most of the time.

I could spend $1000 since I have to take out loans anyway, but it seems hard to justify that on a supplemental system. I also just bought a pretty good desktop about 6 months ago. I would buy a newer more expensive tablet PC but they all seem to use average quality TN panels with 1366x768 resolution. Does anybody think an x220t with an IPS screen could be gotten for maybe $800 around August?

Zaz, I would be interested if hearing what tablet PC you would recommend in maybe the $800 range.

SSD management tools do a fairly good job at letting you know the state of the drive, seeing as they all rely on SMART readings and whatnot. Intel's SSD Toolbox is telling me right now that I have 194 Unsafe Shutdowns, written 1.43TB of data, read 2.4TB of data, and had 2,506 Power Cycles and my drive is still going strong (Recommend Action for all my SMART Attributes is "Ready for use.").

the more pixels, the better. Not only do you get more room to work with, but high-res panels tend to be higher in quality as well (color, contrast, blackness, etc).

Benchmarks are meaningless for daily usage, and the way you describe how you'll use this laptop indicates that pretty much any processor above a Celeron/Sempron will all "feel" the same to you. You'll do just fine with a decent C2D or an i3, let alone an i5 or higher.

However, if you want to talk to someone with a crap-ton of Thinkpads, go seek out Lead_org

[mariol90]

The $500 budget was basically arbitrary set because I just waned a system that was more of a supplement than a main system I use for everything. That is why the display is such a big factor now. I'll basically just be reading and editing/creating documents most of the time.

I could spend $1000 since I have to take out loans anyway, but it seems hard to justify that on a supplemental system. I also just bought a pretty good desktop about 6 months ago. I would buy a newer more expensive tablet PC but they all seem to use average quality TN panels with 1366x768 resolution. Does anybody think an x220t with an IPS screen could be gotten for maybe $800 around August?

Zaz, I would be interested if hearing what tablet PC you would recommend in maybe the $800 range.

I would go for an X220t since you should be able to get one with a good discount (the X230t will be out by then) directly from lenovo. with this you'll get an up-to-date computer that has a full warranty.
the X61t works well for web browsing and taking notes. i use onenote and besides some bugs here and there with onenote, it's been smooth.

concerning price, i'd spend a little more - $800 is good - and be satisfied with what you buy. one of my friends did this (he spent something like $2700 on his X61t with a ton of accessories when we started school in fall 2008), and i didn't. i had a tx2500z which was around $800, and it died after 15 months. so if i had to do that over again, i would have went with the thinkpad, which started at $900 at the time.

[ZaZ]

Zaz, I would be interested if hearing what tablet PC you would recommend in maybe the $800 range.

In a plain simple sentence, what's your goal? You seem to be all over the place, which is not uncommon, but makes it hard to help. You should probably figure that out first. If you want a less expensive tablet with SXGA+, the ones from ajkula66, who I would not hesitate to buy from, seems like a good fit. Your processing needs don't seem to be that higher so an older system could work well. $800 is probably too low for a new system unless you get lucky.

[molecularman]

In a plain simple sentence, what's your goal? You seem to be all over the place, which is not uncommon, but makes it hard to help. You should probably figure that out first. If you want a less expensive tablet with SXGA+, the ones from ajkula66, who I would not hesitate to buy from, seems like a good fit. Your processing needs don't seem to be that higher so an older system could work well. $800 is probably too low for a new system unless you get lucky.

Yea, I was thinking things may have seems a little unorganized or contradictory. I have an acer iconia a500 and it's pretty good for reading stuff but it lacks a physical keyboard and lacks the software windows has available.

My goals are to be able to read a lot and create/edit documents with a keyboard and pen. An android tablet has a nice form factor and good battery life but it lacks very good productivity software and a physical keyboard. A Thinkpad tablet has better software and the Wacom digitizer but is more cumbersome and has less battery life. So I'm trying to find the device that can meet all that in the middle.

My thoughts were to get something cheap and wait for Windows to be available for ARM devices. I think the downside of that could be problems with 1st gen devices and maybe windows 8 doesn't catch on and the selection is limited.

I think the problem is I'm trying to find a lot of different functions in one device and I'm at a period where the market is changing a lot. Something like the Asus prime running Windows or the Intel cove point tablet would probably be the best device for what I want to do but it might be awhile before devices like that are released.

[Kuroi-Tsubasa]

Check out the Acer Aspire S3-951-6646 13.3-Inch Ultrabook which meets all of your criteria except the $500 price level. I have not seen one Ultrabook at that price. By definition, ultrabooks are pricier. With that said for $800, you can pick up the Acer.

Don't get a tablet pc for taking notes. I sat next to a guy in my math class who attempted to take notes on his tablet pc. Everyday I felt like crying because of his struggle to write clearly and keep up with the fast pace.

For reading ebooks, personally I like a laptop with long battery life so I can choose where to sit down and read. If you have a ****ty battery, then you always have to sit by an outlet. For a little bit longer batter life, go with the zenbook.

Why would you even recommend an Ultrabook if it's way out of his price range? That's silly, especially since an alternate idea would be to buy an inexpensive, regular laptop at his budget.

The guy you were sitting next to probably either had a bad computer, was bad at note taking, or both. I took notes using my Bamboo Pen and touch (yes, a separate graphics tablet that I had to plug into my laptop) for taking notes via OneNote for awhile. Only reason I stopped was because of the bulk and awkwardness of setting it up in class.