I don't know much about Labtops. Help me decide?

[Sabinlerose]

http://www.thesource.ca/estore/Product.aspx?language=en-CA&catalog=Online&category=Notebooks_English&product=2516247
This is the labtop I have had my eye on.

It's got a number pad which is a must for me.
I'm a bit sketchy on the triple core processor. I read in a few place that on a laptop a triple core is going to essentially going to be pushing out less processing power unless you're using high end programs all at once.
4gigs of DDR3 seems adequate.
The harddrive size is probably what I care the least about. I wouldn't be using it for storing anything other then information and files I'm going to be working with. No anime or excessive amounts of music, and such.

Think it would be a good buy for a student using it mostly for school and travel?

[Sosseres]

What are you using it for at school?

[Sabinlerose]

Information storage...aka....lo ts of documents open at once.
Skype Chats with other students.
Lots of spreadsheets.
It's a pharmacy course. So lots of information and data.

I would probably be storing a few episode of anime at a time. Something to watch on the bus ride home.

[Freedom Kira]

I'm a bit sketchy on the triple core processor. I read in a few place that on a laptop a triple core is going to essentially going to be pushing out less processing power unless you're using high end programs all at once.
4gigs of DDR3 seems adequate.
The harddrive size is probably what I care the least about. I wouldn't be using it for storing anything other then information and files I'm going to be working with. No anime or excessive amounts of music, and such.

Think it would be a good buy for a student using it mostly for school and travel?

Uh, yeah. That's pretty simple (and somewhat obvious). All that's saying is that you'll be using less power unless you're using more power. Seriously.
You may want to go for a dual core instead though, as you don't need tri-core power for what you intend to do. A dual core would use less power, especially if you go for one of Intel's latest processor models.

4GB is probably more than you'll need. No problem.

If HDD space doesn't matter to you, 500GB is quite a bit.

In any case, since your main concern seems to be movement, make sure 15.6" suits your portability needs. You can always get a smaller laptop. Even a netbook would be fine if you don't intend to watch HD (720p+) content on the run, and if you don't mind the occasional lag time.

And for the record, it's laptop, not labtop. If in doubt, use "notebook."

[Duki3003]

Even a netbook should satisfy your need, although most netbooks sacrifice the numpad so they are out of the question for you.

But I agree with Freedom Kira, a 15.6" dual core with 4GB RAM should be more than enough to satisfy your needs and still be able to run even 720p videos.
Although for data storage primarily even a single core is more than enough...

[fohfoh]

AFAIK, anything 16"+ will have a num pad. You should be able to find more than just that.

But yeah, anything should work in general. On another note, 16"+ are shit for travel.... Consider a smaller laptop and then buy a USB numpad?

[Sabinlerose]

AFAIK, anything 16"+ will have a num pad. You should be able to find more than just that.

But yeah, anything should work in general. On another note, 16"+ are shit for travel.... Consider a smaller laptop and then buy a USB numpad?

Never heard of USB number pads.
Are they any good / Any to recommend?

===

Oh bloody hell.
I have no idea why I always type labtop instead of laptop.

Thanks for the help!
I will check out a few others with a different processor and maybe something smaller with a number pad.

[fohfoh]

My coworker bought a personal one and she says she loves it when pairing it off with her 13.3" when we do audits. We do accounting so a lot of inputting of numbers too. She paid 50 bucks (CAD) for a wireless num pad and says it was a hard sell price wise when she first bought it, but after a good 3 years of hardcore use, it's worth every penny.

No idea where she bought it though. I believe it was in Hong Kong.

There are ones with cords. Some have a short cord, so a mere purchase of a USB cord extender may be in order. However, the mobile feel of these aren't as awesome as the wifi one. Being able to move your num pad closer to a book or whatever you need to input rather than be "restricted" to the laptop is really nice.


Looks like there's a few on newegg. Quick glance shows price range of 10-25 bucks for a wired one. No wifi ones I currently see.


NCIX looks better for these...

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=19725L&vpn=AKP11CA&manufacture=TARGUS


Just keep in mind to have some back up battery power or whatever is needed for it.

IMO, there was a wired Lenovo one as well that looked super comfy to use. It was 55 bucks though. However that style of keyboard/keypad is a personal fave and I don't see it on any other product. The above is about 35 minus shipping. I'd personally budget about 50 bucks for one. I've had VERY good experiences with lenovo products before, so I wouldn't personally put it past me to pay the 55 if i needed one super badly for constant inputting. (I don't at the moment, since I have access to a wired one already) Targus isn't too bad though. They're pretty decent.

TBH, wireless is far more comfy to maneuver than USB ones. Same idea as a corded vs wireless mouse. On rare occasions, the wire is really annoying.

Yet another note, consider buying more than 1 wifi one? Then you have back up AND, if you find that your works super great, you can probably sell it to another student for profit. A sorry sap who didn't buy a comp with a num pad.

Search term: USB numeric keypad

[HiddenJumper]

With the usage that your laptop is going to be used for, 15.6" is a bit big in my opinion. You can easily get away with the 13.3" or less. Mobility, it seems, to be a bigger concern than the size of the laptop. Netbooks are good as mentioned before, but if you have large hands like mine, netbooks can be a pain to get used to. You can save money across the board if you lower the specs in all categories.

[Freedom Kira]

I disagree. I have hands bigger than most people I know, and yet I'm fine on a netbook. The keys aren't significantly smaller.

Typing on the iPad/iPod/smartphone/whatever - now that's a pain.

[fohfoh]

I disagree. I have hands bigger than most people I know, and yet I'm fine on a netbook. The keys aren't significantly smaller.

Typing on the iPad/iPod/smartphone/whatever - now that's a pain.

I personally refuse to go lower than a 13 inch. I have a full sized keyboard on my 13" and it's something I like. I've tried smaller sized keyboards and I can't get used to them. The WORST offenders for keyboards in general personally were HP and Asus. Small sized shift keys with random locations for backslash etc modded key areas... damn annoying.

[Freedom Kira]

I have an ASUS myself but the keyboard is the usual. Long, thin Enter key, backslash above it? Same with my HP 6830s laptop.

[Sabinlerose]

If money wasn't an issue I would take you up on that suggestion Fohfoh.
A wired one won't be a problem. Pretty much used to all my devices being wired in, and the cords don't look so stiff that I wouldn't be able to maneuver it around.

I didn't even think of the typing issues of a netbook. That might be a problem, since I have authored many a grammaticality and mentally unsound facebook status from my parents tiny little 9 inch thing.

I'm going to have to go to the store and check out their display models for keyboard + me compatibility.

[Xiong Chiamiov]

I'm going to have to go to the store and check out their display models for keyboard + me compatibility.

While you're there, take a look at keyboard layouts.  With less space, things get moved around, and sometimes manufacturers' choices can be quite irritating.

For instance, this MacBook I'm on has Fn where the left Control should be; I remapped Caps Lock to Control, so it's fine for me, but YMMV.  I've used some notebooks that had the \ and | key moved elsewhere, which wouldn't be an issue for most people, but is dreadful for someone who spends a lot of time in an Unixy shell.  Esc, tilde, and the F-keys are other commonly-moved keys.

[fohfoh]

I'd suggest the targus one. I wouldn't really shoot for the super, super cheap one.

[NaRu]

I would get a laptop with Intel i3 CPU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115985

[fohfoh]

Perfect. Save 50, buy the wireless num pad.

[Freedom Kira]

I found this in Newegg's 72-hour sale section. It's even cheaper on Newegg.ca. It's basically a kit containing a ton of stuff, including apparently a USB wired numpad, for $40 (.com) or $35 (.ca) including shipping.

[kitamesume]

check this if it suits you http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=ASUS+Eee+PC+1215N&x=0&y=0

if you got 1,000$ to spare, check out alienware M11x
http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-m11x/pd?refid=alienware-m11x&cs=19&s=dhs&~ck=mn
[600$ core2duo] http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=dkcwmn1&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&model_id=alienware-m11x
[1100$ i7] http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=dkcwng1&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&model_id=alienware-m11x-r2
customize it your needs oh and dont forget to bump the battery to the bigger ones for longer battery life.
yea i know alienwares are overpriced but they're one heck of a laptop ^^

[Proin Drakenzol]

Never buy Alienware, ever.

Friends don't let friends drive drunk buy Dells.