Help me pick a laptop for junior in HS

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Nick R

I would never buy a consumer grade HP laptop, they are the worst of the junk out there. I still stand by the Acer I recommended earlier. I've had excellent luck over the years with acer and acer built laptops.


Ive had issues with acer in the past. Old sony was good, but a newer one that I had (high end too, >$2k) was a dog.

I really do think that the business class HP laptops are a good deal. The more I use this HP Elitebook, the more I like it.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah


I'd love to get one of these for my Daughter to replace her 15.6" Asus that is dying a slow death but it looks like the koolaid will win and I'll be out only $2000 MORE than this unit.

Take care, Bill


I cant really think of a laptop on the market that would cost $2579 to acquire.


You are correct. More than that even after you deduct the "discount" she gets for being a student.
Add the tax and its well over that.

The unit STARTS at $2199. You think I make this stuff up? Oh but she will get $100 worth of apps.....

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah


I'd love to get one of these for my Daughter to replace her 15.6" Asus that is dying a slow death but it looks like the koolaid will win and I'll be out only $2000 MORE than this unit.

Take care, Bill


I cant really think of a laptop on the market that would cost $2579 to acquire.


You are correct. More than that even after you deduct the "discount" she gets for being a student.
Add the tax and its well over that.

The unit STARTS at $2199. You think I make this stuff up? Oh but she will get $100 worth of apps.....


But your comparison is so apples to oranges that it isnt funny...

Are you seriously implying that the display on a 14" 1366 x 768 screen is the same as a 15.4" 2880 x 1800 display????!??!?!?

Or did you mean the 15.4" 1440 x 900 that is on the $1799 laptop... NOT $2k more expensive. So lets stick with the non-retina display.

Meanwhile that $1799 laptop has a 2.3GHz i7 versus a 2.5GHz i5, and that 2.3GHz i7 looks to benchmark roughly twice as fast as the i5 (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i7-3720qm-ivy-bridge-mobile-ultrabook,3185-2.html) so given the lack of upgradability and desire for this to be used potentially through college, which is more desirable? Also the i7 seems to be more energy efficient.

The mac looks to have two graphics cards, one an Nvidia with 512-1GB of dedicated memory. The intel graphics 4000 is always sucking RAM away. Sure, the $579 laptop is sporting 2GB more RAM, but it needs it if it is splitting off video memory... Plus Ive always found paying upfront for RAM to be an exceedingly poor value.

The lenovo has 250GB more storage, but about the least reliable part of a laptop IME is a spinning HDD. So the last thing id want to do is have the "security" of a ton of space on a laptop, and then loose all the files when the HDD goes bad. Id rather have a smaller, possibly more energy efficient HDD and keep stuff off on real full size, cooled and RAIDed HDDs. Frankly 750GB vs 500GB is a moot point to me, i dont see any perceived value in it.



So the argument is totally apples and oranges to try to compare a lower end $579 laptop to a high-end $1799 laptop.

At least compare on something that is a bit more similar. Something along the lines of this, which starts to look a lot more alike in terms of capabilities and capacities (and cost).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246432

 

[rjundi]

For a student a $2000+ laptop is a luxury not necessity. With the exception of a few majors.

It is akin to buying a $25,000 car for your 16 year old to learn on instead of a safe reliable $7k car.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
For a student a $2000+ laptop is a luxury not necessity. With the exception of a few majors.

It is akin to buying a $25,000 car for your 16 year old to learn on instead of a safe reliable $7k car.


Totally agree. The potential for a laptop to be lost/stolen/damaged is IMO worse in HS then in college.

But if we are comparing laptops and making claims about their cost, let's at least compare apples to apples.

I always figure at least try to buy the best screen, even if poorer hardware that you can for a given price point.

 

[javacontour]

Is this something you expect her to keep and use through college, or just something for the next couple of years?

Does she really need a laptop to carry around for homework, websurfing, etc, or can you get a desktop for her now and a laptop when you send her off to college?

I just sent a daughter to college, no laptop until she graduated from HS. Just used the desktop we keep in the loft.

Does she really NEED a laptop for what you suggest she will do with it?