SdotK

if you consider budget i'd probably go with a HP Pavillion laptop, i have a few friends that have them and have heard no complaints. macbooks and vaios are pricey and vaios suck.. i speak from experience

Striff

Don't get a mac. This is coming from someone who works at the Apple Store.

Depending on your major your probably going to need Windows. Sure you can run boot camp or parallels, but it is a pain in the ass.

I use an Asus eee PC netbook and absolutely love it. The thing is tiny and gets the job done and it pretty fast.

Not to mention it is less than $400.

sikanlee

boot camp is free...

If looks don't matter, then go with a PC, because I have a Mac, and I used boot camp for awhile until I realized that it's taking up space and I don't ever use windows.

Windows 7 will have many similar features to OS X so you'll benefit by getting a PC, which is much cheaper. Getting 1 mac = 2 average PCs.

If you're going in to media, etc, I still think it's a good idea to get a mbp.

MiqueMaus

Why would a MBP be better for media? For the difference in price between it and an XPS that has the exact some components, I can buy the entire Adobe CS4 Creative Suite. I'm pretty sure Photoshop CS4, Lightroom 2, and Premeier Pro CS4 are better options than iPhoto and iMovie.

I understand people who used to use G4's because they were using different (arguably better) components, but when you're paying for the same parts from the same company... OS X is friendlier to the average consumer than Vista, but the premium that you have to pay to have it at the highest price point (the MBP) makes me wonder what else people hoping for when they buy the MBP.

SYNCHROTRON

SO...
Thank you guys and gals for offering me such intelligent and wise advices, the final verdict is that I am now looking at HP pavilion notebooks and Lenovo idea pad.

Good news is that TVs, Computers, Cameras, GPS, Home Audio, Desktops, Laptops, Consumer Electronics, and More at CircuitCity.com has reopened and they have some good deals on laptops, however I am still researching to get the best deal around so I guess Lenovo/HP will be the way to go.

Thanks people,
SYNCHROTRON

SYNCHROTRON

^^^^WOOOOOOOOOOOOOw I didn't post such a long list of electronics, I think it has to do something with that particular hyperlink.

KoalaS1n

If you want the best deal just look in slickdeals. Look in the front page and the forums as well. If you don't need the computer now and are patient, you can find a great deal.

MiqueMaus

I would be careful buying from CircuitCity. They're owned by Systemax now and based on the way they run TigerDirect, their customer service still probably sucks and their prices aren't too hot.

If you really want an HP, wait for coupons to come up on slickdeals/fatwallet bringing down the cost on the official HP site where you can customize.

Slorg

Notebookreview.com might be a helpful website for you.

I would avoid Circuit City.

Biopsychosocial

my favorite non-pricewatcher site is zipzoomfly with vanns as a close second

but yeah, always be on the lookout on fatwallet, slickdeals, dealnews, techbargains, passwird, woot, yugster, and if you're a paid member, somethingawful.

comfycouch22

I dont know the forum rules on posting links... but try newegg dot com. They have great customer service. Ive built 3 computers from parts purchased through them never had any problems with shipping and always good deals.

sikanlee

@MiqueMaus: you comparing Adobe Creative Suite to iPhoto and iMovie is like comparing Final Cut Studio to Windows Movie Maker. Do you see what I'm talking about?

teabagger

@MiqueMaus, you buy a MBP for the beautiful LED screen that it comes with. That's why it's so good for media applications. The screen is usually what people look for when buying a laptop when color reproduction is crucial. Most of the PC laptops you see are cheap because they come with crummy low resolution displays.

Now with that said, a PC laptop with the same specs and same screen is still going to be cheaper than a mac.

I just tried to justify the cost of a Mac but couldn't do it... sigh

MiqueMaus

I think you're missing the point.

MBP is $2800. Dell XPS with the same hardware is ~$1100. Even considering the price you pay to use OSX, there's still around a thousand dollars unaccounted for. Many Mac users justify the gap by pointing out how it comes with a terrific group of things like iPhoto and iMovie. My point is that for the difference in price, you could buy the Entire CS4 suite.

So please point out why you should get a Mac if you're "going into media."

As for the LED screen on the MBP, you can get it with any XPS/Studio. You admit that yourself. Comparing the MBP to cheap PCs seems a bit disingenuous, no?

If you can afford to pay more for the same thing with an apple stamped on it, by all means. For the average college student, there are a long list of things that the money would be better spent on.

Someone just admit they bought a Mac for no other reason other than it's hip to do so and the Mac v. PC debates will explode into a million pieces.

sikanlee

You keep on comparing things that are not of the same quality, I know that PCs are cheaper, but 2800 gets you a 17" macbook pro w/2.66Ghz CPU, 4GBs of DDR3 ram, and an 8 hour battery. 1100 does not get you a XPS with a 1920x1200 resolution screen and the same specs... The XPS M1730 with comparable specs is $2200. There is a price difference, but it's not as exaggerating as you made it. You should check before you post.

What I was referring to for media was the Final Cut Studio package, which contains some awesome software. It's only for OS X, and obviously you might argue that you can install OS X on PCs.

Dell XPS M1730 Laptop

MacBook Pro - Apple Store (U.S.)

edit: I don't know if you get education discounts for dell or not, I know for mbp, you get 200$ off for education discount.