You want 1 GB + for RAM, you'll feel the difference significantly.
Don't worry so much about the particular Ghz rating, those have even less correlation with processor performance than they used to. For instance, there are a number of processors in the 1.6 Ghz range out right now that are much faster than the 2 Ghz processors yore.
I would suggest checking out Dell and Lenovo's offerings. For instance, you bump up Lenovo's low end computer to a DVD burner and 80 GB hard drive for $50, making it $650 for everything you want (excepting processor speed, but its processor performance should be pretty good even so, and it doesn't have the 1GB of RAM I would suggest, but that's only an $80 price bump or so).
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I don't have one myself (yet), but you may want to think about getting a Tablet PC. From everything I've read about them, they're great for students. One downside is that they're more expensive than comparable laptops.
To echo fugu13's comment, you'll definitely want at least 1 GB of RAM.
Posts: 80 | Registered: Nov 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I'm seconding (I guess thirding) fugu's suggestion. Most of the Lenovo line is pretty good quality. You'll not want to spend less than 7-8 hundred on a dell laptop (And avoid the Inspiron line. Latitudes are a good bit better on the quality aspect).
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I have a Lenovo T60 -- standard-issue machine for RPI. Intel Dual Core, 2.0GHz, 1.0GB ram, 100GB hard drive, CD/DVD burner, fingerprint reader ( ). That link will take you to a website with more specs (obviously, you won't get a lot of the preinstalled software though).
Battery has a life of about four hours, and more importantly, it won't blow up on you.
It's a solid piece of hardware. I'd highly recommend it.
posted
I have an Acer TravelMate that I've been pretty satisfied with- (4402- good number of USB ports, a firewire port, DVD burner, card reader, memory-independent graphics card, and a price that was low enough I didn't feel stiffed to buy an extra 512 MB of memory to bring it up to 1 GB.) I'd give the one caveat that Acer hasn't the best reputation for tech support, and some of their drivers are proprietary (and they haven't done the best job of keeping them up-to-date on their web site.)
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
If all you are going to use is the Microsoft Office suite and email, get something cheap and used.
If you are going to be downloading, playing games, watching online video, and so forth take the advice from above.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005
| IP: Logged |
INVEST IN AN ANTI-VIRUS PROGRAM! I can't tell you how many people I knew in college that lost everything from viruses, mostly because roomates or friends would use their computer and get it infected.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005
| IP: Logged |
INVEST IN AN ANTI-VIRUS PROGRAM! I can't tell you how many people I knew in college that lost everything from viruses, mostly because roomates or friends would use their computer and get it infected.
Or, a lot of people seem to like this one, which has a free version:
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
.![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
). That link will take you to a website with more specs (obviously, you won't get a lot of the preinstalled software though).
