Getting a laptop for college, need advice

BuddhaRockstar

This past week one of my parent's co-workers offered to sell their daughter's laptop to me for college. Now let me note that I'm a Mac user, my family has always had Macs, so my experience with Windows and PC hardware is rather limited. Ideally, I would prefer a Macbook, but budget-wise that just isn't in the picture, so I just wanted to know if this laptop I've been offered is worth the price.

The laptop is a Sony Vaio PCG-FRV26, 2.8 GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB DDR RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive. The asking price is $300-400. I've been using it the past couple days and it's in fine condition. I just wanted to know if this would be a good option or if you could recommend me something better for under $500.

Thanks for your time, any advice is very much appreciated.

Catcher

I would say that's a good deal but not a good option. Those specs are quite aging now, and I'd save the cash on that one and invest in a better laptop that will last in the future, depending on your budget the ideal range for notebooks is between $1500 and $2000. As for you being a Mac users, I would definitely switch to a Windows-based laptop, everyone knows Windows is better, they don't need to make silly commercials saying why Windows is better.

kaliyama

You can check dell or whatever if they have better specs at that price. If not, and they have a warranty still, go for it. The ideal range for notebooks is definately not 1500 and 2000 for most users. Laptops are cranky, break, are easily stolen and if they have nice screens are really heavy.
Macbooks are way more reliable and stable than most laptops, but as you note they are pricey.

If you are doing grahic design, then you might want to buy a high-priced laptop. Otherwise, all you'll be doing with it is watching movies, surfing and typing. You definately don't need more than what that comp has for that.
I'm a PC gamer, not a console gamer. My approach has been this:
1) buy the cheapest laptop i can find for note-taking, classwork in the library, whatever.
2) drop $1000 or on newegg for a sweet gaming computer
3) pay $X, where X is whatever you can afford, on a nice LCD.

I find that to be a more efficient use of $$.

saltiness

If you're only doing word processing and internet stuff then that laptop is more than adequate. The hard drive is a little small but you can always buy an external for more space for less than $100.

BuddhaRockstar

Yeah I should have noted that I am in no way in need of a gaming machine, this would be purely music, movies, word processing, and internet use, with maybe a little photoshop on the side. I also don't mean to start any PC vs. Mac debates, I just prefer Mac because I know the OS like the back of my hand. Thanks for the advice so far.

Muriden

I would say that for a used machine that is a decent price.

But going from Mac -> Windows is probably going to be a less than joyous experience for you. If you are well versed in maintaining windows machines for shit such as spyware and virii then you wouldn't have to worry about it. Since most Mac users aren't you should probably learn a bit before using it. Since it's also used I'm assuming it's old and has no warranty, also no support for you to call when you need help. Yes you are going to college and could probably find someone to help you. Speaking from experience as one of those people, that shit gets real old, really fucking fast.

I can rant and rave about the differences but if you're use to OS X I'd say stick with OS X.

If you do end up buying this machine push the price down as far as you can. If you get them to knock down the price that is more money you can use to upgrade the RAM and possibly the hard drive. 40gigs is pretty small but not terrible for a laptop. 512mb of RAM is decent but you'll be much happier with a gig of RAM. One of the biggest concerns with laptops is the condition of the battery. After a period of time (especially time of misuse) batteries loose their charge. If this battery is lasting only an hour or so this thing is not much more useful than a desktop, so you should consider this too.

vonPoonBurGer

If $500 or less is your ideal budget, I'd say go with the PC. As nice as it might be to get a used iBook, they hold their value far too well, the only thing you're likely to get for $500 or less is a G3. The P4 Vaio is probably the better performer by a fair margin.

Muriden

Also, check with your school about vendor agreements. Sometimes colleges buy metric fucktons of desktops from a particular company and get rebates from them to allow students to purchase computers cheaper.

Also apple has an educational discount program to allow students to purchase machines at a discount.
http://store.apple.com/1-800-780-5009/WebObjects/EducationIndividual?type=higherEd

mrcheesypants

You might want to get ubuntu(linux distro) and put that on there (especially if you know how to navigate via the bash shell). This is ofcourse you're not using it for gaming.

Linux is not that hard to learn how to use. Sure sometimes installing stuff can be a PITA if something isnt right but otherwise it isn't that bad. There is also a crapload of free software you learn about when using a linux system. It is also the closer to mac than windows.

I'd Fuck Chuck Lidell Up

that's really not a bad computer.

I personally like AMD Better than Intel, but I play a lot of games on it.

Intel isn't bad for a wrokhorse computer, and I'd say it's a pretty good deal, though you may want to upgrade your ram (cheap and easy, if you need help doing it I can walk you though in like 1 post (sorry not sure how good with computers you are :-/ ) and some laptops (most?) come with an expansion slot that you can plug an extra HDD into so you don't have to worry about carrying around an external one and the cord.

also, I have Ubuntu but i'm not sure if I should dual boot this comp, cause it's aweful. I might just wait till I get a new one

mcdermott

If you're not looking to play games, and are already a Mac user, a used iBook/PowerBook could probably get you through college. I use a 12" PowerBook G4, and it does almost everything I need it to. A few random engineering applications I need (such as PSpice, for instance) require Windows, but Virtual PC does the trick...and MatLab runs native.

Since you're trying to keep the budget low, I'm guessing you're not looking for an investment for the future. A G3/G4 Mac laptop would probably be more than enough to do what you need/want to do...and you'd probably enjoy it more than a newer Windows PC.

LoneIgadzra

My take is that the price is definitely right. I'm originally a Mac user, but my primary desktop has been a PC (for gaming) for some time. That computer will do the job with little to no upgrades. For all the money it cost me, the benefit I noticed going from 512 MB to 1 GB was tiny on my PC. Halo exited faster. That was it.

On the other hand, you'll definitely be a lot happier with an Apple laptop, even an older model G4. The quality of most PC laptops comes nowhere close to Apple's in terms of design, durability and lengevity, and XP really does have nothing on OS X except software compatibility. But you're probably already finding that out. For my own personal use, I would never consider buying a PC laptop no matter much "bang for the buck" I could get. Apple's cost a barrel, but there's just no substitute for the user experience, and with less bullshit to deal with it'll be easier to get work done.

Linux has been recommended in this thread, but I wouldn't recommend it. It can be a royal pain to set up, it's really impossible to accomplish anything meaningful without the command line, and Open Source software frequently takes the infuriating approach of trying to offer as many options as possible which usually backfires specularly, making it too stressful to use. KDE is particularly guilty of this. It's okay, but for your purposes there's nothing it can do that XP or OS X can't do a lot better and faster with less hassle.

mcdermott

Also, you can generally get a one-time COA increase for the purchase of a computer. This may or may not allow you to get more financial aid. Talk to your financial aid office. It might allow you to buy a little more computer than you'd otherwise be able to.

And seriously, you'll probably be happier with a used G4 than any Windows XP computer, especially since you're already a Mac user. It's worth the couple hundred extra (I've seen G4 iBooks for as low as $400-$500.

And get something small. If you're buying a laptop, you might as well get something you can actually carry around campus. I love my 12" Powerbook for just this reason. You couldn't give a 15" or 17" laptop.

Well, you probably could. But I'd still lug this to the library instead. It's nice too, because after adding an external keyboard/mouse and raising the laptop itself so the monitor is at eye level, it's perfectly comfortable to use on the desk as well.

kingmetal

Catcher wrote:

As for you being a Mac users, I would definitely switch to a Windows-based laptop, everyone knows Windows is better, they don't need to make silly commercials saying why Windows is better.

this is highly debate-able and should probably be ignored. there are many, many advantages to OS X and I am a PC user exclusively.

besides, everyone knows that the Commodore 64 is better, they don't need to make silly commercials saying why the Commodore 64 is better.

Ruckus

I've used Acer, Compaq, Dell, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, LG, Sony, and Toshiba laptops, and out of all of those, Sony was the worst.

It didn't even break reliably, so we couldn't justify replacing it, things would just work one day then not the next, and then work again later that week.

I mean, at least with Dell, when it breaks, it's broke, and you can get a part ordered.

I currently use a Compaq at home, Acers and HP around the office, and my sister has a Gateway that she's midway through her second year of University with.

Warranty wise I've found Dell, HP/Compaq, and Acer to be about even, never had a chance with the Sony, and I know Gateway's warranties are somewhat limited.

SkyGheNe

I have an acer that I got for 600 bucks last week brand new at circuit city and this is what it has...

80 gig hd
1 gig of ram
2.0 processor amd turion MKII

It rides like a dream and is amazing.

Migliori

Have a look on eBay and craigslist for an iBook. By the sounds of it you would be much happier with one. Also they aren't going to be losing their resale (in my opinion) any time soon if you change your mind or want something better.

vonPoonBurGer

Migliori wrote:

they aren't going to be losing their resale (in my opinion) any time soon

Yeah, see that's actually a problem when you're a buyer on a limited budget. I seriously doubt the OP's going to be able to find a used iBook in the budget range, precisely because they tend to hold their value so well. If he finds one, more power to him, but it strikes me as unlikely. As such, I think the bird in hand has a lot going for it.

eaquino

If you're into Mac's and you don't mind going with a refurb, you can get a 12" or 15" refurbed powerbook from the apple store online for $349.

vonPoonBurGer

eaquino wrote:

If you're into Mac's and you don't mind going with a refurb, you can get a 12" or 15" refurbed powerbook from the apple store online for $349.

Those aren't notebooks. Those are warranties on notebooks. Read the actual description carefully (emphasis mine):

apple.com wrote:

AppleCare Protection Plan for MacBook Pro/PowerBook (w/ or w/o Display)
Price: $349.00

For some reason they still list the 12" and 15" PowerBook categories, and the extended warranties they want to sell in those categories, even though they don't actually have an 12" or 15" refurb'ed PowerBooks to sell at the current time. I would so buy a 12" PowerBook for $349, but it's just too good to be true. Used 12" PowerBooks on Ebay are going for almost twice that, and I can't imagine Apple selling refurbished units for less than the Ebay rate.