What are currently the 'best' laptops for a student looking to spend around $1500-$2000?

I'm inclined to go with a macbook and run windows on it 99% of the time, yes I know buying a mac and running it purely through windows is somewhat retarded but oh well. Running it this way, will everything run smoothly and be somewhat compatible aka winamp, torrents, media player even?

These threads should be considered spam, they used to frustrate me all the time.

dell

lenovo

I just bought a Dell XPS M1210 thing and I'm pretty happy with it. I got it a bit more tricked out so it was $2500 or so, but it's a good sized laptop for what I need it for.

Asus F3JP is a pretty good buy.

Asus F3JP +1

Great little beast. Currently runs WoW for me in SSC @ 55fps.

Asus F3JP is a pretty good buy.

That, or any asus. Very good value, solid and have a two year warranty.

Asus F3JR-AP028C C2D T7200 2G/120G/2G/15W /DVDRW/802.11ABG/Vista Home Premium $2022 - MSY

Find me something better value than that!


Sony / Fujitsu > Lenovo / HP / Compaq / Toshiba > Dell / Asus > Acer - would be how I would rate notebook brands generally, but thats just me.

last edited by mongie at 11:54:03 29/Aug/07

I just bought a Dell XPS M1210

Installed OSX yet?

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=41775

Dell

Asus or IBM Thinkpad (Lenovo)

You'd be crazy not to get a macbook.. $1900 will get you a fine laptop!
Running windows natively is fine, the only technical limitation is the Intel GMA950 graphics chipset, which hoses any chance of playing recent games.
But seriously just get vmware fusion and run XP virtualized, it's integrates really well with OSX, I barely reboot now as this handles 99% of what I want I need it to do.

The graphics card is kinda holding me back from getting a mac book. Was really surprised at how competitive the macbook is compared to the dell M1330.

another vote for the asus f3j series. Bought 2 for my private customers, kick ass machines. Factory software build is a bit OTT, just reformat upon delivery.

^^ yeah you basically have to drop another grand for the ability to play semi-recent games
apple are c***s

i would never get a dell.

so many mates have picked them up only for them to fail consistantly as soon as the warranty is up.

i picked up my gf a macbook and it is neat.

she had a hp lappy before so she was a windows xp user, but she picked up osx really fast and now she loves it. originally i had boot camp running on it while she learnt osx but we removed that a month or so ago.

does everything she wants and is nice and small.

re: graphics chip.

yeah, i would agree the videocard isn't all that hot for games but i don't think that is the point of a laptop with a 15" screen.

dell

I'm with ara, I'd never get a Dell myself either... People who think they're "the s***" are retarded.

u r

I'm extremely satisfied with my MacBook. Also OS X is a fantastic OS. But yeah i never play games so in that departement i think that it'd be bollocks.