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togafoot
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Laptop (and bag) for Bschool... 10 Jan 2008, 00:23
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I bought a Toshiba dynabook at the start of last year.
- 1.2kg and 7 hour battery. 12.1 inch screen

It's got the Japanese version of vista though.

Do schools have any specfic requirements when it comes to laptops?
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Laptop (and bag) for Bschool... 10 Jan 2008, 03:33
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Most of them do have certain specs on the website, but it only matters if you go to school's computer services for assistance. They can refuse to help if your laptop is fossil. (Although most probably they will help anyway.)

In terms of software, I expect schools to require you to have office package (MS Office/MacOffice), all the rest they don't care. At least this is how it works at Haas.
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Laptop (and bag) for Bschool... 10 Jan 2008, 05:54
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braindancer
Most of them do have certain specs on the website, but it only matters if you go to school's computer services for assistance. They can refuse to help if your laptop is fossil. (Although most probably they will help anyway.)

In terms of software, I expect schools to require you to have office package (MS Office/MacOffice), all the rest they don't care. At least this is how it works at Haas.
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They will probably refuse to help me then, because my OS is in Japanese :-D
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Laptop (and bag) for Bschool... 10 Jan 2008, 06:11
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Kellogg has a specific laptop they want you to buy since it comes preloaded with all the software you will need. They dont have this years version up yet but they have what was available last year and it is a very good deal. Far better than what you could buy on your own for the price. I think most students having the same computer also makes it easier for their tech department to help students.

I know Tuck requires you to buy a laptop through them, there are several versions...basically size and power differences but everything else is the same.

My advice before anyone runs out and buys a laptop is wait until you are admitted and know where you are matriculating. Most likely the school will have a good deal for you and may even require a specific model be purchased. Besides even if your school doesnt do these, generally companies offer discounts to students...we had my mother, who is a teacher, buy my wifes laptop since it saved like 20% and we got free stuff like an ipod and printer with it.
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Laptop (and bag) for Bschool... 10 Jan 2008, 07:49
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So are you guys using a desktop at home or is it possible to use a laptop?
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Laptop (and bag) for Bschool... 10 Jan 2008, 07:55
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Looking at the Laptop situation:

Has anyone used the previously mentioned Dell XPS m1330.

It has gotten phenomenal reviews and seems to be one of the best liked laptops on notebookreview.com.

I really like the looks of the thing and the price seems to be reasonable.

Seems like since Mr. Dell has retaken his company, things have improved?
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Laptop (and bag) for Bschool... 10 Jan 2008, 09:49
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Seriously people still applying, wait until you decide where you are going to school and figure out what they want for a laptop. I know that some use odd software packages and what not. Besides you will get a much better deal.
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Laptop (and bag) for Bschool... 10 Jan 2008, 10:11
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You should definitely figure out where you are going to school and check out school requirements before making a decision. One good thing about having the same laptop as everyone else is that you're covered if you forget your power cord or something like that. Also, they say that they won't necessarily support your computer if you don't get the one offered through the school, but the reality here is that the help desk really goes out of their way to help everyone. The final thing is that computers will definitely be better and cheaper 6-7 months from now than they are today.
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Laptop (and bag) for Bschool... 10 Jan 2008, 11:11
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just got my lenovo t61 today... still in the box, so i havent tried it out yet

used a bunch of fatwallet savings on it, so it ended up ~$1500

Core 2 Duo, 7300
14" sxvga
2 GB RAM
nVidia NVS 140M
DVDR
Bluetooth
Win XP
100 GB HDD, 7200 RPM
9 cell battery
upgraded wifi

+ advanced mini port

+ 2 year all hazard warranty

it may be cheaper in 6 months but probably not by much. it ended up being cheaper than if i purchased it using the lenovo employee purchase program (my friend is an ibm employee).
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Laptop (and bag) for Bschool... 10 Jan 2008, 11:33
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dabots
it ended up being cheaper than if i purchased it using the lenovo employee purchase program (my friend is an ibm employee).
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IBM's discount is terrible. My wife worked for them for a few years and their employee offers were pathetic. The only time they were good was for outdated models they wanted to get rid of.
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Laptop (and bag) for Bschool... 10 Jan 2008, 11:48
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im pretty happy how cheap software will be... microsoft office 2007 enterprise - $19.99 through my company. pays working for a giant multinational.
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Laptop (and bag) for Bschool... 10 Jan 2008, 12:52
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riverripper
IBM's discount is terrible. My wife worked for them for a few years and their employee offers were pathetic. The only time they were good was for outdated models they wanted to get rid of.
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Actually, not true. I've been using my friend's IBM discount to check Lenovo prices, and so far it's been $200 cheaper than the best any student store (undergrad and UCLA Anderson) can offer for the same things. I don't know about dabot's fatwallet deals, but those sound pretty good.

Also, you get to build your own computer right on the Lenovo website, so it's actually the same website you use if you don't have the discount. I was able to piece together a much better computer than what the Anderson student store was selling currently, for $200 cheaper.

That's why I'm just waiting to see where I get in and where I will go, but Lenovo is probably something I'll go for, and most schools support that. The only issue I have is how bad the service has gotten lately, based on all the CNET reviews. Hopefully the school helpdesk will be able to fix things.
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Laptop (and bag) for Bschool... 10 Jan 2008, 13:36
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fatwallet had this going when i bought it:

13% off coupon
10% fatcash back
$100 back using paypal

in addition go the regular lenovo sale that was going on
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Laptop (and bag) for Bschool... 10 Jan 2008, 16:17
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I have no intention of buying another laptop.

I already have 3 of them and 1 desktop.
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Laptop (and bag) for Bschool... 10 Jan 2008, 17:08
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dabots
fatwallet had this going when i bought it:

13% off coupon
10% fatcash back
$100 back using paypal

in addition go the regular lenovo sale that was going on
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WOW! Yeah, i don't think any employee discount can beat that!

I will still keep my desktop (which I'm upgrading this month myself) and then use a laptop for school stuff only. This way I don't need an uber-powerful laptop to do things like video encoding and editing.
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Laptop (and bag) for Bschool... 10 Jan 2008, 18:45
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I lucked into a great deal on a T61- not as loaded as Dabots' but still pretty sweet.

t7250 core 2 duo
14 inch
200GB HD(yes...it was a mistake, they took off $60 instead of adding $300)
dvd burner
1gb ram (but upgraded to 2gb for like $30 more afterwards. I always buy minimal ram from the manufacturers- the mark up is insane)
No fancy graphics card
6 cell battery
Free color photo printer (that i have no use for)

After all the employee discounts and taxes ~$750. I believe employee discounts are the best deals out there for Lenovo's.

I love it though- really sweet. I also got my brother who is a student to hook me up with MS Office ultimate for $60.

All in all T61 is amazing. The only different thing I would have done is gone with the 4 cell battery. The 6 and 7 cell juts out in the back, which is a little bit of a bore.
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Laptop (and bag) for Bschool... 10 Jan 2008, 20:01
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how long does the 4 cell run versus the 6 cell? I kind of want it to last a little bit, but I guess with the supposedly "tiny" AC adapter, it doesn't really matter anymore, right?

I'm wondering if I should get an X61 or the tablet X61... very tempted, but the software for that (especially on Vista) is not good enough I heard.
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Laptop (and bag) for Bschool... 10 Jan 2008, 20:59
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My 6 cell runs quite a bit- about 3-4 hours but its only 4 months old. By the time school starts, the battery might die down to about 2 hours. Again, I am not an expert :)


The one thing I dont like about the x61 (and i could be wrong about it- tend to get my alphabets and hence the laptops mixed up:)) is that the optical drive is separate. So it could be a pain...but it looks amazing :) and is like the size of a notebook
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Laptop (and bag) for Bschool... 10 Jan 2008, 22:29
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My 6 cell runs quite a bit- about 3-4 hours but its only 4 months old. By the time school starts, the battery might die down to about 2 hours. Again, I am not an expert :)


The one thing I dont like about the x61 (and i could be wrong about it- tend to get my alphabets and hence the laptops mixed up:)) is that the optical drive is separate. So it could be a pain...but it looks amazing :) and is like the size of a notebook
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Yep, optical is separate....might get the x61 if my laptop warranty doesn't pan out....stupid computers.
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Laptop (and bag) for Bschool... 10 Jan 2008, 23:37
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yeah, for some reason lenovo hasn't gotten the optical drive into the ultraportables (x61) yet. Fujitsu and others have done it already, though none have as amazing of a keyboard as the Lenovo series (even for the ultraportables).

Anyone have experience with the tablet version? Just thought it would be useful to draw charts and graphs with a pen...
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