Opinions for a laptop & desktop ?

[veech]

I'm about to enter college this fall as a computer science major and I'm in need of a laptop. I'm a gamer and I want to buy a laptop that would suffice my gaming and education needs. Due to the fact that a desktop is more powerful than a laptop overall I decided that I should buy a laptop, that is portable and is capable of programming, and a desktop, to satisfy my gaming needs.

My budget is around $1500~$2000 for now depending on how much refund I will receiver after my tuition is paid. I don't want to spend too much on a laptop because I would want to build a gaming rig also.

What I'm looking for in a laptop:

Intel CPU

4GB or more of RAM

SSD for speed (hopefully)

Thanks in advance!

[whatthe_fuzz]

just to clarify, you are looking for a desktop AND laptop for $1.5-2K? or a laptop around $2k

[veech]

just to clarify, you are looking for a desktop AND laptop for $1.5-2K? or a laptop around $2k

I apologize for the confusion. I'm hoping to get both for around that price.

[whatthe_fuzz]

i would buy this laptop. its refurb but $200 cheaper. not a big deal but definitely worth the savings.

 

spend the other $1100 to custom build a desktop

[veech]

i would buy this laptop. its refurb but $200 cheaper. not a big deal but definitely worth the savings.

 

spend the other $1100 to custom build a desktop

It looks reasonable, but the battery life and the weight of the laptop worries me :/

[whatthe_fuzz]

It looks reasonable, but the battery life and the weight of the laptop worries me :/

 

my friend has this laptop and yes the battery is quite hungry. but thats the problem with gaming laptops. they arent made to be power efficient and light weight and still be a BEAST at gaming. if you want light and portable with a great battery life, buy a $500 ultrabook and build a sweet gaming desktop

[WoodenMarker]

Here you go: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1kP8L

Crossfire ready.

Do you need a copy of Windows? Peripherals?

 

Thinkpad Edge: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834312842

SSD: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7td120bw

HDD Caddy: http://www.amazon.com/SATA-caddy-12-7mm-Universal-DVD-ROM/dp/B0056EW4A4/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1374830115&sr=1-1&keywords=hdd+caddy

 

Wireless mouse: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Mouse-Designed--Scrolling/dp/B005DSPLDA/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1374830257&sr=1-1&keywords=m325

I've used these wireless mice for quite a while. Great battery life and are good quality. A bit loud on the clicks if that matters.

 

Replace the hdd in the laptop with the ssd. Put your original hdd in the hdd caddy and replace your dvd drive with that.

There you go: Speed and storage without paying a ludicrous amount of money with 2 hdd slots. 

[veech]

my friend has this laptop and yes the battery is quite hungry. but thats the problem with gaming laptops. they arent made to be power efficient and light weight and still be a BEAST at gaming. if you want light and portable with a great battery life, buy a $500 ultrabook and build a sweet gaming desktop

I don't want a gaming laptop since I will be getting a gaming rig. I think I'll go with a $500 laptop that can do some light online gaming and school work.

Here you go: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1kP8L

Crossfire ready.

Do you need a copy of Windows? Peripherals?

 

Thinkpad Edge: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834312842

SSD: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7td120bw

HDD Caddy: http://www.amazon.com/SATA-caddy-12-7mm-Universal-DVD-ROM/dp/B0056EW4A4/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1374830115&sr=1-1&keywords=hdd+caddy

 

Wireless mouse: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Mouse-Designed--Scrolling/dp/B005DSPLDA/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1374830257&sr=1-1&keywords=m325

I've used these wireless mice for quite a while. Great battery life and are good quality. A bit loud on the clicks if that matters.

 

Replace the hdd in the laptop with the ssd. Put your original hdd in the hdd caddy and replace your dvd drive with that.

There you go: Speed and storage without paying a ludicrous amount of money with 2 hdd slots.

Thanks for the gaming rig suggestions but I'm only worry about the laptop for now.

The Lenovo Thinkpad looks great and portable but do you think an ultrabook will be better off with performance and compatibility.

[whatthe_fuzz]

Here you go: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1kP8L

Crossfire ready.

Do you need a copy of Windows? Peripherals?

 

Thinkpad Edge: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834312842

SSD: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7td120bw

HDD Caddy: http://www.amazon.com/SATA-caddy-12-7mm-Universal-DVD-ROM/dp/B0056EW4A4/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1374830115&sr=1-1&keywords=hdd+caddy

 

Wireless mouse: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Mouse-Designed--Scrolling/dp/B005DSPLDA/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1374830257&sr=1-1&keywords=m325

I've used these wireless mice for quite a while. Great battery life and are good quality. A bit loud on the clicks if that matters.

 

Replace the hdd in the laptop with the ssd. Put your original hdd in the hdd caddy and replace your dvd drive with that.

There you go: Speed and storage without paying a ludicrous amount of money with 2 hdd slots. 

 

 

DANG THAT PRICE!!!! 

 

gosh thats a great build...

[WoodenMarker]

I don't want a gaming laptop since I will be getting a gaming rig. I think I'll go with a $500 laptop that can do some light online gaming and school work.

Thanks for the gaming rig suggestions but I'm only worry about the laptop for now.

The Lenovo Thinkpad looks great and portable but do you think an ultrabook will be better off with performance and compatibility.

An ultrabook would definitely be a bit better for portability but I'm not sure what you mean by compatibility.

Performance-wise, an ultrabook or any other laptop could do just as well for less but a Thinkpad is the staple of an awesome computer science student.

 

Thinkpads are also great quality-wise and are durable.

[/spoiler]

[veech]

An ultrabook would definitely be a bit better for portability but I'm not sure what you mean by compatibility.

Performance-wise, an ultrabook or any other laptop could do just as well for less but a Thinkpad is the staple of an awesome computer science student.

 

Thinkpads are also great quality-wise and are durable.

[/spoiler]

What are your opinions on the Lenovo IdeaPad U410 Ultrabook - 59372331 - Sapphire Blue? I like it because it has a 24GB SSD and a GT 710M, which will be able to give some more speed and do some light gaming.

[Glenwing]

Haswell integrated graphics (and most likely Ivy Bridge too) would be more powerful and more efficient in terms of battery.  Any NVIDIA mobile card less than GT x40 isn't really worth it.

[WoodenMarker]

What are your opinions on the Lenovo IdeaPad U410 Ultrabook - 59372331 - Sapphire Blue? I like it because it has a 24GB SSD and a GT 710M, which will be able to give some more speed and do some light gaming.

It doesn't have a dvd drive which wouldn't let you replace the dvd drive with an ssd and wouldn't be as fast.

Ideapads are less cool than Thinkpads <_<  

[veech]

It doesn't have a dvd drive which wouldn't let you replace the dvd drive with an ssd and wouldn't be as fast.

Ideapads are less cool than Thinkpads <_<

Okay. I will go with the Thinkpad Edge and replace the optical DVD drive with a SSD.

Thank you WoodenMarker! Now I can go to bed thinking about what I should have in my gaming rig.