x90

i'll be a pre-med student.

Things I would like:

- Durability (I want a laptop that will be good for four years)
- Good video/graphics card and at least 2 GB RAM that's good for gaming/multimedia. Moreso for multimedia than gaming, though.
- Compatibility (I have a few free Linux disks and I'd like to have a dual OS (red hat / windows, i guess, just to try it out)
- 100+ GB space


Yep, that's it, I don't have any other preferences. What else SHOULD I be looking for? Is this alright? I'm willing to spend anywhere from $500 - $1,500. I don't have a problem using a Mac if I can dual-boot w/ Windows... I heard they give a deal with ipod nanos or something-- would it be worth it to buy one? would it have the above mentioned features? if not, what should i get? thanks.

x90

any takers...?

srunni

Check out the Lenovo Thinkpads, they're very durable, and should have good enough hardware for moderate gaming.
And Linux runs very well on the Thinkpads. Try Ubuntu though, Red Hat isn't that great any more. You can get the new version of Ubuntu, which was released just a little over a week ago, from Ubuntu Home Page | Ubuntu. If you prefer KDE, that's available as well: Kubuntu - The KDE Desktop.

x90

cool.

i was checking out the thinkpads, which give the option of changing options:

for $1,170 i can get:

250 GB HD space
3 GB RAM
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T8300 (2.4GHz 800MHz 3MBL2)
15.4 inch screen
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M (128MB)

is this worth it? should i wait until july/august for the price to go down? thanks a lot.

srunni

That looks like a good deal, so if you want to buy it now, go ahead and buy it.

Prices are definitely going to drop between now and August, so unless you want it now, you should just wait. For example, I got my laptop for next year back in January, because I wanted to mess with it (install Linux, etc.), so I didn't wait. I can't say by how much the prices are going to drop, though, so it may not be worth waiting. However, if you really don't want/need it right now, there's no harm in waiting until August.

x90

ah, thanks a lot.

i don't really need it now at all, so i guess i'll buy it sometime in july/august before i leave for college.

Chipmoney

Look at the Asus M50Sv-A1

Newegg.com - ASUS M50 Series M50Sv-A1 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo T9300(2.50GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA+ 3GB Memory 250GB HDD DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 9500M GS - Laptops / Notebooks