<p>Like many other freshmen Im thinkin bout where/when to by my laptop for Penn. How good is the Penn computer store? I heard there are pretty good discounts there…Does it have good prices and is it reliable? Or is there a much better place in Phili to buy the laptop. </p>
<p>Another thing, Im comming to the States for the first time when NSO starts. Should I buy my pc in Europe (where Acer is the best quality/price) or should I wait until I get to the States and buy it during the NSO (Dell seems to be the best quality/price in the States)</p>
<p>Is it really important to already have your pc at the beggining of NSO?</p>
<p>Dell is NOT the best quality computer to get here…yes it may be cheap…but they are not good and not reliable, especially for the average user who doesnt know much about computer upkeep. If you want a quality laptop, get an apple. They are the most reliable machines and have a MUCH smaller tendecy to go bad. If you are not comfortable with a Mac operating system and you want windows, then go for a Sony Vaio…thats probably the best quality windows based laptops. I’d actually say the same for both of them when it comes to desktops. JUST DONT GET A DELL!</p>
<p>If you dont want to spend more than 1200 on a laptop, and aren’t satisified with the smallest iBook which is 999 dollars, then I suggest get a Sony Vaio. They are great latptops, and you can get good refurbished ones on Ubid.com for a very good price, considering what is in them. My friend has a refurbished Vaio off Ubid and it is awesome. Its powerful and fast and it has a nice big 17 inch screen. A little on the heavy side though, but thats to be expected. I helped him pick it out last year when he went to college. Ubid is good.</p>
<p>Regardless of brand, don’t get a 17" beast unless you plan on not only doing hardcore digital design stuff, but plan on doing so in the field as opposed to waiting til you get back home. Otherwise it’s just huge, heavy, power-hungry, and completely unnecessary.</p>
<p>my boy plays counter strike a lot…so he wanted a large screen…its on the heavier side…but managable…but yea 15 inch is a good size…apples actually usually run on the heavier side…but thats a small sacrifice</p>
<p>The better idea for your boy is to have a smaller laptop for portable things, and then a big external display he can hook the laptop to when he’s at his desk.</p>
<p>…and seeing as he is in college, do you REALLY want to make his CS play as enjoyable as possible? Might want to encourage him to hit the books more. Or hang out with the other 10,000 undergrads around him. Or both.</p>
<p>first of all…haha…my friend hung out with plenty of the other undergrads…a little too much…in fact…wayyy too much…lets not talk about how well…er not well…he did his first semester…but its not cause of CS lol. Second of all, dell is a more poor choice then any other windows PC…there ARE good windows PCs…specifically Vaios, and also self built ones are great if you know how to do it and can keep it safe and clean. HPs, Compaqs, and Gateways are also not so great because they are notorious for having bad aftermarket upgradeability…if thats a word. Except Gateways actually are pretty good PCs…my friends had one for like 5 years and it still runs pretty damn well…but so does my self built…which is like 4 years old</p>