So...my nephew is off to college, and I've been charged with finding him a laptop. I'm getting a bit long in the tooth, and I'm not as "on top" of this subject as I used to be. My old standby gotapex.com seems to have come under attack and their site is down, so what do you young-uns use these days for 1) laptop reviews and 2) deal sites? I'd be happy to listen to any suggestions you may have as well. Even if it's just to go **** off.
Are those friday deals in store or online (I'm going to order it from up here in Canada and just ship it to him in Texas).
I bought my niece a Mac 2yrs ago for college. She loves it. If they've never owned their own machine (and don't have PC software yet), then Mac's are the way to go in college, imo. The parents can get an Apple card for the purchase and 0% interest for a year, btw.
If you go with a PC, call the campus bookstore first, and see if they have a educational deal for you.
Review sites = Engadget.com Frys is instore deal only for Friday deals. Amazon and Newegg are the online sites I trust for laptop purchases (maybe even bestbuy.com)
I checked Texas Tech's website, and it doesn't look like they offer much in the way of help beyond software and a few deals at dell.....it doesn't appear like the dell deals are any better than what I see elsewhere. As for a Mac....I'm loving my first one right now.....but I don't think that's in the budget for him.
I like newegg, and I've bought a LOT of components there over the years, but it always seemed like I got better deals using coupons straight through Dell, Toshiba, or HP (yuck). I just can't find any great coupons right now......
Just a heads up. I check www.slickdeals.net daily. They always bring up amazing deals for anything and everything. Sometimes you'll find clearance sales on computers and computer parts.
I dunno what your price range is but I suggest an entry level macbook pro or the PC equivalent (Intel Ultrabook laptops that every manufacturer makes).
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Fry's sub-400ish laptops are great for 2nd laptops or light users but for a college freshman that's going to use it every day AND for productivity/video watching/gaming I'd go with something with a little more oomph. Something you have to factor in is build quality relative to usage. I took my laptop to class/library every day. My laptop took a beating; thank god it was a IBM Thinkpad with a magnesium alloy frame. Budget laptops are made from cheap plastics that are almost guaranteed to break if you travel with them daily. And this is just opinion but metal frames (ala Apple's aluminum unibody) hold up much better from both a strength and heal up/cool down thermal stress stand point. My Macbook Pro is by far favorite computer, even over my $2500 fully equipped IBM Thinkpad T42. Seems like only yesterday I was asking Xerobull advice on what laptop to pick out for college.
