Ok, so I'm in the process of going to college for computer programming, building websites, modding, all of that great stuff. I have a brain injury that keeps me inside alot, so I'm looking for a new high quality laptop. I just want an all-around good computer, not for games or working or anything specific, just a great computer. Try to give one high-priced one and one "best value for your money" one. It doesn't matter, just name them.
Let's hear it. What's your favorite brand, actual laptop, and why? Apple, HP, Alienware, Dell, Toshiba, Sony, Acer, IBM, Lenovo...all of em'.
My advice is not to get an expensive, high-quality laptop. Assuming that you might end up programming with languages that require Windows, I would steer clear of Apple (and I would love to have a MacBook). I would buy a good quality netbook like an
ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE. Netbooks like this one are very light and have a very long battery life (advertised as 11 hours but you would probably get at least 7 or 8 hours under normal use). I would add a Gb of memory and an external DVD player/CD writer.
I would also get a good quality desktop PC with a large screen (I have a 24-inch wide-screen format monitor at home and use dual 22 inch monitors at work). I have an Asus desktop with 8 Gb of RAM and Windows 7 Professional 64-bit - but a Dell or any other top brand would do just as well. (I would stay far, far away from anything having a Gateway label on it.) I have used Dells exclusively at work (Optiplexes) for the past 10 years and they give a very reasonable bang for the buck.
Laptops are not as reliable as desktops and they are much less user-configurable. For my money, I would go with a cheap netbook and a good desktop and you will probably still be out less money than you would spend on a high end laptop. If most of your work will be done at home, buy a good quality computer chair and do your programming work on a desktop. You will not regret it.
The drawbacks to a netbook are obviously the small screen, a relatively slow processor, and a 2 Gb limit on RAM. To me, the low cost, long battery life, light weight, and built-in wireless-N are worth the trade-offs. I also like the fact that I can hook up the ASUS netbook to a 24 inch monitor and drive it at a high resolution (1900x1280, I believe).
If you are determined to go for a high-end laptop, then I would look at the Lenovo ThinkPad, a Toshiba Satellite, or a Dell, in that order. (Lenovo acquired the ThinkPad line from IBM, which has exited the laptop business.)
The
ASUS Eee PC 1015PEM-PU17-BU 10.1-Inch Netbook has an even longer batter life than the netbook I mentioned above, plus it has an Intel Atom Dual Core N550Intel Atom Dual Core N550 processor. The price is still only $366 from Amazon.com.