dorian10

I'm a Parent of income freshman. Do most students that have a laptop bring them to class for notes?

I'm looking to surprise my daughter w/ a laptop for Graduation, was thinking on going for 15.4”, but if students take them to class, should I get a smaller 14.1”?

Thinking Pc vs. Mac because she has never used a Mac, and is use to a PC.

Thanks
DC

CMU_2012

Make it special, give her a Mac!!!!!

toxic_waste

well, you might wanna find out what she thinks of macs before buying one...

in terms of portability, 14.1 or 13" is a lot better than 15.4. mostly has to do with weight, and the rest is due to footprint and thickness.

interestingly, 15.4" Macbook Pro is actually rather portable despite being so large because its very light and very thin, though you still can't get around its big footprint.

Don_Quixote

Yeah, whether you prefer Mac or PC is up to you. A 15.4" isn't unmanageably big, there will be plenty of other students on campus both sizes, most likely. Check weights on laptops though: like toxic-waste said, some 15.4" laptops are bigger than others, if you pick one that's 2 inches thick it could weigh up around 10 lbs, which is too much weight regardless of screen size. No more than 7 lbs would be my recommendation. Macbook Pro's are only about an inch thick, which isn't bad at all.

Coopjust

13" is kind of small, 14.1" is good but you may wish to bring an external monitor for your dorm. 15.4" is pretty manageable but kind of heavy to carry around with you everywhere, 17" usually have horrible battery life and are heavy- the downside of the larger screen and usually more powerful components.

iceburns288

I have a 12" laptop. It is REALLY small, but it's fine for class. I have a second monitor for my desk at home so I have more screen area.

A 13"-14" laptop would be a really solid choice if you also bought a 15" LCD (no more than $100-150) to go on her desk beside it.

prdonut2k7

Unless you specifically want a small LCD monitor, I see no point in going with a 15". There are many cheap 19" monitors (from good brands, not generic brand X) that are about $20 more. Plus, 15" is (in my opinion) relatively useless if your laptop monitor is already 14.

Don_Quixote

Yeah, I got a good 19" LCD for about $120, made by Hanns-G... Oddly enough it's outshining my Dell monitor, so far.

srunni

I've got a 17" laptop, and it's not big at all ;/

Chipmoney

I think it also depends on how big the person is, if they're smaller a 15" is going to feel larger and heavier then for a larger person.

lethargytm

ask if your child is going to carry it around or not and whether or not her school requires certain amount of performance.

toxic_waste

^ i think it'd be safe to assume she'd be carrying it around, at least at some point. and even if she didn't, it's not like a 15.4" is so much better for watching movies than 14.1.

an update to my prior post: if she likes carrying things in a backpack, throw the weight thing out the window, since it won't make a big difference. it's only really apparent in bags that sit on one shoulder. footprint becomes more important since it has to fit in the backpack. thickness shouldn't be an issue unless you buy a Dell Inspiron.....

chaz90

I'm not a big person, and I'm very happy with my 15.4 inch Sony. It's a FZ series with great components, and it weighs a little over 6 pounds.

iceburns288

"Unless you specifically want a small LCD monitor, I see no point in going with a 15". There are many cheap 19" monitors (from good brands, not generic brand X) that are about $20 more. Plus, 15" is (in my opinion) relatively useless if your laptop monitor is already 14."

From a cost perspective, I recommended the 15" as it seemed easier to swallow on top of the cost of a laptop. Currently, I run two 19s in addition to the laptop .