laptop for college?

[avgazn91]

I know this is fairly early to determine a laptop for this coming fall (09), but i atleast want an idea of the company to keep out for and even the model.

My interests are:
Fairly quick processor (looking for C2Ds above 2ghz)
4gigs of RAM
Vista Ultimate (not really a fan of others, but if other version are the only option, i'll take it)
High resolution (so everything looks pretty)
Price below 1500 (nicely below 1500, possibly in the 1000 range with a few hundred bucks up or down)
GOOD build quality.

Things i don't need:
High end videocard
serious computer power
serious sound card




I've been looking at the Gateway P-7811FX.
It is EXTREMELY attractive with it's amazing performance and price, but the 9800 GTS videocard is a little much and i'm not entirely sure about Gateway's build quality.
I'm looking for something to replace my everyday desktop (which is either going to be a Opteron 165 or a Q6600) during college. I'll still have a gaming PC to use so a gaming laptop isn't a necessity.

My dad's maximum is 1200 bucks that he would pay (i would pay what's over), but i'd like to keep the price under 1200 so i don't rob his pocket.

[Nagoshi]

If you want a fairly quick processor AND vista, you want a better video card, especially if you want higher res.

There's no "cheap" video cards for high end laptops like what you want. Fast CPU, 4Gb RAM, high resolution... all that together means a somehow nice GPU.

Gateway makes great laptops from what I can hear from Gateway laptop users on these forums. Im in no way doubting them at all. Im sure they're solid products. So yeah I would recommend that FX laptop you chose.

[avgazn91]

my sister has also been telling me about the Macbook.

it's a nice looking laptop, but i have no clue how to use a Mac OS.
is there a way to use Vista or some sort of WIndows without sacrificing power from using Boot Camp? Like, instead of turning on Leopard, i just turn on Vista Ultimate.

Is there a way to do that? because if there is, i'd just get the Mac

[depravedone]

Some Variant of one of the following would fit the bill nicely:

HP Pavilion DV5T
Dell XPS M1530
Lenovo Thinkpad T400

I personally have used different Thinkpads for the last 10 years and have never had a problem. Considering my laptops spend a fair amount of time in industrial, manufacturing and dusty construction environments, I think that says a lot about the build. My most recent ones have been a T30, T40 and now T61.

[MrObvious]

Dell Vostros are nice.

[PommieB]

Lenovo's, Asus and Dells are very good from my experience. I've owned two compaq's, nothing but trouble, a HP which was worse, ended up giving it away, a Dell Latitude D620 which overheated badly, I still have it , but don't use it much, two Asus laptops which were superb, which I sold to close friends and I am very close to buying Asus M70vmC1, nobodies getting this one.

[Nagoshi]

Boot Camp does not sacrifices power. I dont know what you are meaning there - it's in no way emulating Windows, it's a boot loader which works only on Mac rigs, which allows the user to boot either OSX or Windows at computer startup (by the hold of a key, but you can configure it to automatically launch Windows if you want)

And using OSx is fairly easy, it's kind of like Linux made for newbs with no terminal, with a touch of commercial (think Windows) But the MacBook will cost more than a concurrent PC counterpart. for the same parts and performance you can save a couple of hundred just by staying on the PC side. Especially since you are not going to use OSX that much.

Additional Comment:

Forgot. There's no such thing as "big resolution" on a MacBook, unless you go for a Pro with a 15.4"+ screen, or you hook up your own monitor (or that god**** large Mac Cinema display which has a native res of something like 25xx by 18xx wide

[Almost Tactf]

One more thing to consider is battery life and how often will you be away from a wall outlet you might want to think of picking up a spare if you will be on the move constantly.