Laptop For college

[Lmagichd]

Basically im looking for a new laptop to use when i start college in a little over a month.

 

I plan on buying a laptop in the $500-$800 range

 

I will use this computer strictly academic purposes (wont game on it) and the daily surfing the net (netflix, youtube, reddit, ect...)

 

Do you guys have any recommendations for a laptop that is a good deal and can withstand the daily use of a college freshman

 

Bonus: would prefer if it would be on the lighter side as i will carry with me 99% of the time

[Toast.]

A Lenovo Y40 is what I recommend. Their labtops are rock solid and im currently saving for the 4k labtop they have currently at the moment.

 

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y40/?sb=:000001C9:00012367:

 

Its got a i7, a great cooler plus its got a graphics card for some decent gaming if you ever felt like doing any, I do understand you were not doing any but its still nice to have.

[GoodBytes]

In your case, the perfect system is out of your budget a bit, But I think it will perfectly fit your needs.

Surface Pro 3.

I am a student, and I can tell you this device (I have the Pro 2), is freaking amazing!

The keyboard is excellent for the size, the reason is that Microsoft managed to fit a near full size key keyboard on it, without re-inventing the keyboard, allowing easy to get used to.

It's super light, yet powerful, and you have the most important thing, that many forget about or don't see value from it: The digitize pen. This is no stupid stylus. The pen has pressure sensitivity, high precision, thin point, fast response time when writing or drawing, palm rejection, and detects the pen floating (hovering) above the display, acting like a normal mouse.

You can type your notes, and then flip the keyboard, or simply title the kickstand to a comfortable level and write with the pen what ever math formula or diagram, or graph the professor is doing on the board, and return to laptop. The display is a nice IPS display, so you have wide view angle, a and high resolution. Great battery life, of course.

On top of of all this, it packs some serious power for the size, and thinnest. Core i3 or i5 (or i7, but I don't recommend it), 8GB DDR3 1600MHz (fastest speed the CPU support), fast SSD, great battery life, and junk free. Like when I say the system is CLEAN, it's cleaner than your custom build desktop. You have Windows 8.1 and the drivers.. that is all. Not even driver configuration panel, or startup programs. Ok fine, it does have 1 thing that MIGHT be junk: Office 2013 downloader/activator/trial thing. If you have Office 2013 or 365 subscription then this is great as you don't have a disc drive, so entering the product key will download Office 2013 for you. If not, then its a few MB, and super fast to uninstall, with no left over.

The device is not perfect however,

Thing to keep in mind:

-> Due to the form factor, if you push the Core i5 model a lot, for some time, it will throttle down due to the lack of cooling. It wont' throttle you if you do what you said. It will if you play demanding PC game. If you really need that extra performance, and the form factor, then get the Surface Pro 2, as the heatsink and fans are larger (larger device), and you have 2 of them, to cool off the CPU. The Pro 3 has only 1 fan. The Pro 2 has a lower resolution screen (but same PPI), has Wacom pen (needs to be calibrated via a lengthy 80-point calibration for how you hold the pen, but you do that once, and not great on corners. Pen doesn't need a battery however, and supper 1024 pressure level. It's more for drawing, as this is what Wacom is focus on, but it writes fine once calibrated). Also the kick-stand on the Pro 2 has only 2 positions, and the power connector is somewhat hard to connect, if you don't want to scratch the device as you put it. But if you can find it, it will be cheaper. OR wait for when Intel will release Haswell, so that the Pro 4 comes out, where it should not be an issue anymore. I don't think it will be issue at all, to be honest, based on your usage. I would be really surprised if it is.

-> The Surface Pro 3, like it's predecessors is in magnesium body, and that means the metal is not magnesium color (as it's not nice looking, at all), and can't be dyed. It is painted, so it prone to scratches. If you are used to laptop with magnesium body, then you know the drill. If not, keep in mind that anything will scratch it. Although as the Pro 3 is in silver color small scratches won't show. The type of precaution you want to do, if you care in keeping the device nice looking, is to never put the system on it's back (metal side) on the desk, put it where you have the keyboard cover like so: http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/20140521-MICROSOFT-SURFACE-3-074edit.jpg, and avoid things on top. You may want to look for some carrying pouch with smooth fabric inside.

-> It has 1 USB port. If you use OneDrive, then you don't care. If not, I recommend to use, especially if you want to use a laptop mouse that isn't on bluetooth (as currently the Bluetooth mouses are overpriced, and not great), as you'll be sharing the that USB port. If you use OneDrive all your files will be in sync with your systems. This will also mean OneNote notes will be in sync with other devices, which is great. As you write your notes, your desktop computer will have them. By the way: OneNote, if you don't know it, RULES. And it's free: (http://www.onenote.com/download). No other software comes to this powerful note taking software. Tip of the hat for Microsoft on that one.

So no device is perfect, and the above are what I believe are the downsides.

Check it out!. I used to have a laptop (Dell Latitude E6400 - 14 inch system), it was a nice system, but it was a pain in butt in class, at many times, as I could nor draw, or write a math formula or anything. I initially wanted the Dell Latitude XT, which was a convertible device where the pen technology was OK enough to not fight with it (was an issue at the time.. that was based in 2008). But at the time, it was 3000$ the base model, with Intel solution that could not handle Vista Aero (or Windows 7 Aero), ultra low voltage CPU (early ones form Intel, which really sucked), awful battery life, 5400RPM HDD as fastest option, and was bulky. For 3k, definitely not ok. I wasn't desperate enough to get it. So I waited... until the Surface Pro 2, which is the device I always wanted since the beginning, and it delivers on that front.

[Kevin Fletcher]

In your case, the perfect system is out of your budget a bit, But I think it will perfectly fit your needs.

Surface Pro 3.

I am a student, and I can tell you this device (I have the Pro 2), is freaking amazing!

The keyboard is excellent for the size, the reason is that Microsoft managed to fit a near full size key keyboard on it, without re-inventing the keyboard, allowing easy to get used to.

It's super light, yet powerful, and you have the most important thing, that many forget about or don't see value from it: The digitize pen. This is no stupid stylus. The pen has pressure sensitivity, high precision, thin point, fast response time when writing or drawing, palm rejection, and detects the pen floating (hovering) above the display, acting like a normal mouse.

You can type your notes, and then flip the keyboard, or simply title the kickstand to a comfortable level and write with the pen what ever math formula or diagram, or graph the professor is doing on the board, and return to laptop. The display is a nice IPS display, so you have wide view angle, a and high resolution. Great battery life, of course.

On top of of all this, it packs some serious power for the size, and thinnest. Core i3 or i5 (or i7, but I don't recommend it), 8GB DDR3 1600MHz (fastest speed the CPU support), fast SSD, great battery life, and junk free. Like when I say the system is CLEAN, it's cleaner than your custom build desktop. You have Windows 8.1 and the drivers.. that is all. Not even driver configuration panel, or startup programs. Ok fine, it does have 1 thing that MIGHT be junk: Office 2013 downloader/activator/trial thing. If you have Office 2013 or 365 subscription then this is great as you don't have a disc drive, so entering the product key will download Office 2013 for you. If not, then its a few MB, and super fast to uninstall, with no left over.

The device is not perfect however,

Thing to keep in mind:

-> Due to the form factor, if you push the Core i5 model a lot, for some time, it will throttle down due to the lack of cooling. It wont' throttle you if you do what you said. It will if you play demanding PC game. If you really need that extra performance, and the form factor, then get the Surface Pro 2, as the heatsink and fans are larger (larger device), and you have 2 of them, to cool off the CPU. The Pro 3 has only 1 fan. The Pro 2 has a lower resolution screen (but same PPI), has Wacom pen (needs to be calibrated via a lengthy 80-point calibration for how you hold the pen, but you do that once, and not great on corners. Pen doesn't need a battery however, and supper 1024 pressure level. It's more for drawing, as this is what Wacom is focus on, but it writes fine once calibrated). Also the kick-stand on the Pro 2 has only 2 positions, and the power connector is somewhat hard to connect, if you don't want to scratch the device as you put it. But if you can find it, it will be cheaper. OR wait for when Intel will release Haswell, so that the Pro 4 comes out, where it should not be an issue anymore. I don't think it will be issue at all, to be honest, based on your usage. I would be really surprised if it is.

-> The Surface Pro 3, like it's predecessors is in magnesium body, and that means the metal is not magnesium color (as it's not nice looking, at all), and can't be dyed. It is painted, so it prone to scratches. If you are used to laptop with magnesium body, then you know the drill. If not, keep in mind that anything will scratch it. Although as the Pro 3 is in silver color small scratches won't show. The type of precaution you want to do, if you care in keeping the device nice looking, is to never put the system on it's back (metal side) on the desk, put it where you have the keyboard cover like so: http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/20140521-MICROSOFT-SURFACE-3-074edit.jpg, and avoid things on top. You may want to look for some carrying pouch with smooth fabric inside.

-> It has 1 USB port. If you use OneDrive, then you don't care. If not, I recommend to use, especially if you want to use a laptop mouse that isn't on bluetooth (as currently the Bluetooth mouses are overpriced, and not great), as you'll be sharing the that USB port. If you use OneDrive all your files will be in sync with your systems. This will also mean OneNote notes will be in sync with other devices, which is great. As you write your notes, your desktop computer will have them. By the way: OneNote, if you don't know it, RULES. And it's free: (http://www.onenote.com/download). No other software comes to this powerful note taking software. Tip of the hat for Microsoft on that one.

So no device is perfect, and the above are what I believe are the downsides.

Check it out!. I used to have a laptop (Dell Latitude E6400 - 14 inch system), it was a nice system, but it was a pain in butt in class, at many times, as I could nor draw, or write a math formula or anything. I initially wanted the Dell Latitude XT, which was a convertible device where the pen technology was OK enough to not fight with it (was an issue at the time.. that was based in 2008). But at the time, it was 3000$ the base model, with Intel solution that could not handle Vista Aero (or Windows 7 Aero), ultra low voltage CPU (early ones form Intel, which really sucked), awful battery life, 5400RPM HDD as fastest option, and was bulky. For 3k, definitely not ok. I wasn't desperate enough to get it. So I waited... until the Surface Pro 2, which is the device I always wanted since the beginning, and it delivers on that front.

 

I've been thinking about getting a SP3 for school, mostly for the pen writing features and onenote integration. How comfortable would you say the pen is for writing a lot? I can't really use a keyboard for taking notes being a major that writes a lot of math and nonstandard characters, so I'd need to be able to write comfortably for most of the day on and off. How much do you use the pen on yours?

[GoodBytes]

I've been thinking about getting a SP3 for school, mostly for the pen writing features and onenote integration. How comfortable would you say the pen is for writing a lot? I can't really use a keyboard for taking notes being a major that writes a lot of math and nonstandard characters, so I'd need to be able to write comfortably for most of the day on and off. How much do you use the pen on yours?

 

So in the SP3, Microsoft changed the pen technology to N-trig from Wacom, as explained. I have the SP2 so it is Wacom pen. I haven;t had really a proper chance to write. The pen at the store (FutureShop), was busted, like someone jammed the pen on the table really hard on purpose to break it (was chiped off, and you can see the plastic turn white from the black plastic). The pen did work just fine, but the tip (nib) was damaged, so the feel of writing was ruined (the nib of the pen can be replaced easily by pulling on it. I was expecting someone to remove it, to be honest). So, I need to give it another spin another day. If you try it, be sure the nib of the pen is fine.

 

 

Talking about nibs. Something to note from N-Trig pen. N-Trig pens requires a battery to operate. You need a AAAA (yes, 4x A's, no typo) battery.  Depending on how much you write with it, it should last about 4 month or so. There is no battery indicator sadly. N-Trig claim more than 6 months, but from the forums with different devices that uses N-Trig, it seams 4month is the common rate for heavy (or so they claim) writers. Have an extra battery on you.

 

 

There is another battery that the pen take. a button cell battery, but that one is just for the Onenote button on top the pen. A button that starts OneNote when pressed. That battery, if it runs out, will not affect the pen. See it as a remote completely separated from the pen, but within the pen. Wacoms pen, work differently. The pen works like those smart cards. When the pen comes relatively close to the screen, the pen is powered by the display. So, the pen doesn't need any batteries. Sadly, the pen needs to be in plastic, while N-Trig can afford to be in a nice metal body, so the pen doesn't feel cheap. In addition, N-Trig pens, sadly, their nibs of their pens wear out much quicker than Wacom's of the SP2 one. I mention SP2 specifically, as the pro line of Wacom devices comes with multiple nibs, some last longer than others, due to the different feel they try to provide. The good news, is that apparently Microsoft will ship you replacement ones when you call to say your nibs is worn out, free of charge.

 

I recall Microsoft marketing, at the introduction of the SP3, said that the pen feel like writing on paper. On the Surface Pro 2, I can tell you it feels like writing on glass. If you have a screen protector, the feeling will change, that is for sure. I recommend a screen protector, by the way, especially that you'll be using it in school, and the pen a lot. I have one. I even replaced mine twice within 6 month, as the screen protector got scratched (I got it from a brand that have free life time replacement), granted a screen protector is a peace of plastic, while the Surface Pro has a glass surface. My problem is that it uses Gorilla glass. While there is a lot of hype surrounding Gorilla glass, the thing to note is that tempered glass scratches MUCH easier than normal glass. Tablets uses tempered glass for obvious reasons. So Gorilla glass concept bring back the strength of the glass, and surpasses a bit. But just bit. It's scratch resistant, not scratch proof. All you need is a dirty screen, and you use the pen, and then you have a scratch. I read a lot of people with Samsung Galaxy Note, Surface Pro 1 and 2, where they manage to scratch the screen. So best to take extra precaution, if you use the pen a lot. If you are mostly using touch, and the pen to point at small items on the screen, like a mouse, and write a little, I won't be concern, but for you and me, I would.

 

While it seams that the Surface Pro 3, N-Trig pen has a lot of downsides over Wacoms (pen nibs doesn't last long, it needs a battery that you probably will need to order online for the best prices, only 256level of pressure sensitivity compared to 1024), it does have up sides. First of all, for writing, 256 levels, with the N-Trig model (high-end) used in the Surface Pro 3, it does a superb job. writing will look like real pen on paper, complete with the fade out of when you finish a word in recursive writhing. N-Trig pen is design for writing not drawing like Wacom. So the N-Trig pen allows to get fairly accurate no mater how you hold the pen. Maybe some quick calibration, but should be fine. While Wacom, you need to do a length calibration process, which Microsoft doesn't provide. Microsoft only give you a basic 16-point calibration which doesn't help.. for some it makes it worse. You can find on the web a 273-point calibration for all tablets in general. I have developed one specifically for the Surface Pro 2, which is only 80-point calibration, and does a better job: http://www.surfaceforums.net/threads/surface-tweak-tool-for-surface-pro-2-release.8219/ The good news, is that you only need to do it once on the Surface Pro 2. But the SP3 will give you a great out of the box experience It is possible that you won't need to do any calibration what's so ever. So that is a huge up side. in addition, N-Trig works great on corners, while Wacom, not so much. That is why on Wacom own professional grade tablets, they have extra large borders around the drawing area, it is an extension of the digitizer to fix the problem with the corners. Already the surface Pro 2 borders are large, but not large enough. NB-Trig allowed thinner borders. Moreover, the pen technology in the SP3 allowed to have the device thinner. Have a spin at a store that has one on demo.  The reason why you need to calibrate the Wacom pen in reality, is that when writhing you need extremely high precision, and Wacom's pen is being fully tracked. As we all hold the pen differently, the pen needs to be calibrated to how you hold it. If you use the pen as a mouse most of the time, or you draw, then out of the box its really fine to be honest.

 

Pen tracking. The pen tracking is excellent. It is not perfect to be honest, but it is the best experience with the current technology we have. The definition of the pen being tracked when writing on both SP2 and SP3 is excellent. You won't have pixelation or anything like that. It will look proper. One thing to be prepared for, is with either technology, the tracking of the pen, occurs at the extra area closest to the screen of the pen nib. So, unlike a normal pen, it will look shifted to the right by a few pixels. You can get used to it. Or you can correct it by calibrating the pen by shifting the pen to the right (for right handed), by a few pixels, on every point to hit. In term of speed. Wacom is the best, you can draw a spiral fairly fast and it will look great. Too fast, then you'll see edges on your spiral, or circle. For N-Trig, it's sadly not that fast. Writhing will be fine, "normal speed" drawing will be fine, but if you draw fast, expect your circle to have many edges. But, again, in real world situation, of you normally writhing, that is, even if you write fast, it will not be a problem. Again, it comes down to N-Trig is designed for writing and Wacom designed for drawing.

 

One thing to note, N-Trig pen has a power saving feature (has no options to change. It affects all N-Trig powered devices), when you hover the pen on top of the screen, the pen cursor on the screen has a delay. But when you actually press down on the screen with the pen to write or draw, then the tracking is fine.

 

Great review from a review site that knows tablets, with people that draw and write notes. Most reviews of the Surface Pro line of products are bias, or never mentions the pen, beside the complaint of "where to put it? They should make it smaller, like the 3DS/DS pen, and slide it in in a silo!". Of course, you can see that this kind of complaints are from those that never used the pen. If you use the pen a lot, it will be in your pocket or bag at all time, and you won't be scared to leave it behind, as you use it all the time. And you know that a thin pen is a crappy pen. It's just not comfortable. Anyway, great review site. Of course, not great on benchmarking performance, and so on. Each review sites have their strengths. This one is on pen experience, and tablets and convertible devices.

 

 

So for me, I put My Surface Pro 2 flat on the table (keyboard cover flip on the back to avoid scratching the back of the device. Also, it gives resistance, like if it pads, so it doesn't slide all over place as you write, or move your hand a bit. Oh, don't be afraid, when you flip the keyboard on the back, the keyboard keys and touchpad are disabled. When writing, it feel like withing normally on a note book of similar thickness... just without the dam spirals blocking your hand when you have them on the side of when you write. And, I love the fact of having continuous notes. One thing I hate, is when doing math, and your doing an in-class example, and you need to turn the page mid way. When reading the notes over, it's annoying a bit. Here you can have it all continuous in this infinity long page, if desired. Of course, if you are familiar with OneNote, you would know you can make sub topics, and topics in your notes.