Like I posted in another thread, I'm just not starting on my Bachelor's in IT and am looking for a recommendation on a laptop. It would basically have to do it all for me. Home/school work, light programming, studying, maybe a "little" gaming? I'd like to keep it under $1,000 if possible.
Just slap in an SSD and you're good to go I think, GPU is a bit weak though only a 950M
Different Model, but open box with the same hardware for less
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152877R&cm_re=MSI_Gaming_Laptop-_-34-152-877R-_-Product
Or HP/AMD just released this thing, not sure when the actual release date is coming out
http://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/Laptops/hp-elitebook-745-g3-notebook-pc-%28energy-star%29-p-t3l35ut-aba--1?jumpid=ba_r329_hhocse&aoid=44661&003=6663635&010=T3L35UT%23ABA&ci_sku=T3L35UT%23ABA&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw
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Agree with above^ MSI is probably going to last you a long time, just remember to clean the inside occasionally. SSD is going to give you a lot more battery life. But, usage definitely weighs on your battery. Don't expect it to last long if you play a game for example.
Just don't buy any Best Buy nonsense, those consumer grade stuffs don't typically last longer than a few years.
Especially Dell Inspirion anything. "I have one from 6 years ago that I still use!"
As a doormat?
You should also give a look at System76. They have good systems.
Edit: https://system76.com/laptops/lemur
https://system76.com/laptops/gazelle
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The only issue I see with going with a system 76 build is he might run into compatibility issues when working in a group or a team on a project and there could be applications that a teach will ask him to use that are only windows based which might be a problem. That being said when I went to College a transferred my laptop over to Linux the only documentation that the school's IT department had on Linux was an out dated SOP of Fadora to get my network set up so they set me up inside the schools system so I would never have to sign in to use the internet on campus which was awesome.
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@ school I used linux and they had some stupid filter thing that watched what apps you had running like bit torrent and stuff and it would tattle on you if you had it installed.
Sad thing is their stupid spy app never worked on my linux box :P and they tried so hard.
Or any Clevo reseller, for that matter. I see a lot of people hyping about System76, but they aren't really different from other resellers, such as Xotic PC and Eurocom. If you wanted a Clevo, I'd get it from another reseller, configured without and operating system, and install one yourself.
Very important point. Sometimes, it even makes connecting to the uni network a pain, in the first place.
@dutch253 I'll recommend picking up a second hand XPS 13. I got a second hand XPS 12 a month ago, and it's been brilliant. The only reason I recommend the XPS 13 is because of the better screen. You can get a really good deal on the Haswell models.
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Whats a good source for those? Thanks for all the recommendations everyone, I really appreciate it.
Check out the Asus X550ZE-DB10. A friend of mine just got one and it's awesome. I know some people swear by Intel and Nvidia hardware, but all he ever does on this laptop is gaming (couldn't convince him to get a desktop) and it does its job perfectly. From what he's told me, the battery lasts a good amount of time too. http://www.amazon.com/X550ZE-DB10-15-6-Inch-Graphics-Windows-Upgrade/dp/B00YR6BJLC
That actually looks pretty cool. I didn't know they were still making laptops with amd hardware in it. lol.
Yeah more recent AMD laptop processors are actually pretty good. I think everyone just has bad memories of the old 1.7GHz Athlon 64s that were the cheap option if you couldn't afford a decent Core 2 Duo laptop (or didn't know any better; my grandmother actually still has a Vista-era Compaq Presario with one and it's slow as molasses with a clean installation of Windows 7).