Laptop suggestions for school

[trem7]

Hey, I'm going to school for computer programming this fall and I'm in the market for a laptop which is required for my program.

 

The required specs are:

Specifics required for your program are listed with an asterisk (**)

• Intel i7 or equivalent processor
• Minimum 12 GB of RAM **
• 500 GB HD
• DVD R/W, (optional - Blu-Ray disc Reader)
• High-end graphics video card with 1GB of RAM
• Wireless 802.11 b/g
• USB 3.0
• Windows 7 or newer

For the best College experience we recommend:

• 10/100/1000 Ethernet
• Wireless 802.11ac
• 3 year warranty
• 2 hours of battery life

 

The two suggested on the school website are the Toshiba Satellite Pro R50-C-009 - I5 and the ASUS ROG GI502 - I7 with campus store prices of $1099.99 and $1999.99 CAD respectively.

 

I'm not very familiar with laptops, their pricing, and other things I should be looking for so any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

EDIT: 

To add to the above requirements, ideally (but not necessary) I'd like something with 2 x 2.5" drive slots, I have an SSD I'd like to use as an OS drive and a HDD as data.

Also, my budget is ~$2000CAD 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Do you want a quad core?

 

Id also look at the dell e5470 and 3510 and the thinkpad t460/t460p

 

[Julian5]

(Brings Macbook to school on first day)

teacher and peers; lol scrub peasent nub

[sambaranbanerjee8]

Buy a macbook pro 15. the best laptop for collage

[Pendragon]

17 minutes ago, sambaranbanerjee8 said:

Buy a macbook pro 15. the best laptop for collage

No it's not. You clearly haven't even read his required specs. @OP what's your budget. Computer programming doesn't require a quad core, and you'll be better off with a duo-core for extended battery life. 

 

Take a look at the X260 or a T460 or a T460s. Make sure to NOT get a i3 ULV processor. i5 ULV is fine. As a student you qualify for Lenovo's student discount so you can knock off a hundred CAD or so.

[Sumsar]

Get yourself a ThinkPad. The build quality is great, and they have pretty good hardware as well. I have an x100, which I use for school.

[trem7]

On 7/20/2016 at 2:17 PM, Pendragon said:

No it's not. You clearly haven't even read his required specs. @OP what's your budget. Computer programming doesn't require a quad core, and you'll be better off with a duo-core for extended battery life. 

 

Take a look at the X260 or a T460 or a T460s. Make sure to NOT get a i3 ULV processor. i5 ULV is fine. As a student you qualify for Lenovo's student discount so you can knock off a hundred CAD or so.

Thanks for the advice! I don't have a solid budget, I'm doing retraining from my previous occupation so I might be able to get some financial support when purchasing the laptop. I would say $2000 CAD would be the upper end of what I'd be able to pay myself.

 

As for the ram and hard drives, I'm not shy about upgrading that myself, It seems like it may be more cost effective to do those upgrades rather than add those to the cost from the manufacturer. Are there generally warranty issues with upgrading Lenovo's? 

[don_svetlio]

53 minutes ago, trem7 said:

Thanks for the advice! I don't have a solid budget, I'm doing retraining from my previous occupation so I might be able to get some financial support when purchasing the laptop. I would say $2000 CAD would be the upper end of what I'd be able to pay myself.

 

As for the ram and hard drives, I'm not shy about upgrading that myself, It seems like it may be more cost effective to do those upgrades rather than add those to the cost from the manufacturer. Are there generally warranty issues with upgrading Lenovo's? 

Lenovo's warranty service is fine. But be sure to check what you need in terms of CPU/GPU models as the i7 6700HQ is 2 times faster than the i7 6500U and if your course requires a quad-core then you need one. The GL502 is a great gaming laptop with solid battery life. If you play any sort of games - that is the one to go for.

[trem7]

On 8/5/2016 at 0:31 PM, don_svetlio said:

Lenovo's warranty service is fine. But be sure to check what you need in terms of CPU/GPU models as the i7 6700HQ is 2 times faster than the i7 6500U and if your course requires a quad-core then you need one. The GL502 is a great gaming laptop with solid battery life. If you play any sort of games - that is the one to go for.

How does the GL752VW-Q72SX-CB compare to the GL502VT-Q72S-CB? 

What I can tell from an online comparison chart is the main difference is a 960m vs 970m and the 752 has a 17" screen, if those are the only differences is it worth the $400 price difference for the 502?

I don't think it would be for me as I'd rather save the $400 and potentially use if for a new card for my home system (which is where I would do most of my gaming anyway) but if it really is worth it or there are any other major differences that justify the price I'd love to know!

 

Another somewhat important thing is I could get either of these two for $1599 and $1999 respectively with a 1-3 year interest free payment plan.

 

Thanks again guys, you're all awesome!

[don_svetlio]

6 minutes ago, trem7 said:

How does the GL752VW-Q72SX-CB compare to the GL502VT-Q72S-CB? 

What I can tell from an online comparison chart is the main difference is a 960m vs 970m and the 752 has a 17" screen, if those are the only differences is it worth the $400 price difference for the 502?

I don't think it would be for me as I'd rather save the $400 and potentially use if for a new card for my home system (which is where I would do most of my gaming anyway) but if it really is worth it or there are any other major differences that justify the price I'd love to know!

 

Another somewhat important thing is I could get either of these two for $1599 and $1999 respectively with a 1-3 year interest free payment plan.

 

Thanks again guys, you're all awesome!

970M is 70% faster than a 960M and it's also thinner, lighter and has better battery life. My vote is for the GL502

[Pendragon]

1 hour ago, trem7 said:

snip

Buy nothing. Pascal comes out today and for 2k CAD you get a 1060 maybe. 

[trem7]

On 8/15/2016 at 0:20 PM, Pendragon said:

Buy nothing. Pascal comes out today and for 2k CAD you get a 1060 maybe. 

Thanks for this, I'll hold off for now.

 

Found the MSI GS73VR Stealth Pro-025, that looks like it'll do what I need for a decent price.

[Pendragon]

2 hours ago, trem7 said:

Found the MSI GS73VR Stealth Pro-025, that looks like it'll do what I need for a decent price.

Seems decent enough. Not sure about the battery life on the GS73 though.

[trem7]

Thanks for everyone's help. I ended up going with the MSI GS63vr Stealth Pro. Happy with it so far.