The great Laptop discussion forum

and it depends how you role. I bike a lot, so the weight difference is remarkable.

My laptop that died in December was pretty skinny, but the loaner I've had is such a pain in the arse. It's also a question of how well it fits in your bag.

Good call. I do plan to cycle to campus most days, so I guess that weight difference will be nice.

Is it the general consensus that the Lenovo Thinkpads are the most durable option for b-schoolers?

Hey AAu,

My wife's classmates who bought computers with Vista are having all sorts of problems in Duke's Nursing School. Apparently the IT folks are not transitioning very well from XP. Have you heard about any of these types of issues at Fuqua?

I'm tempted to do Vista w/ 4gb ram, but if there are deeper-rooted issues than just OS speed, I definitely don't want to mess with it. Any input?

good info!

The Duke IT guys ain't lovin' Vista. They just think it's a wretched product that's super-buggy. Eventually it will work better, but for now, they're hoping students avoid it. There are some things that just aren't compatible with Vista. I would guess that by next year they'll have it worked out, but I just went ahead and bought XP - easier. I'm not the person who should deal with those initial bugs, you know?

Just found out that Kellogg has this Laptop Purchase program that gives you very good service for a pretty decent computer (I think we can get it cheaper using the current sale plus employee discount, even with the warranty), but they ONLY offer the T61. That sort of turned me off a little, as I refuse to carry a T-series sized laptop around in school, especially during winter in Evanston. Just wanted to put this out there for people to be aware of.

That's it, Kryzak. You're obviously going to Haas now. That T61 deal just blew your Kellogg deal out of the water.

I'm in the same scenario, Kryzak. I'd like to purchase from the Duke bookstore but they only offer the T-series as well.

After everyone's feedback, I guess I'll have to order an X61 from the Lenovo website.

my experience with the duke bookstore is that they are a LOT more expensive...one of the staff there even told me that when i stopped in after my old one died.

Haha, even though you're saying this jokingly, the scary thing is, it *is* one of my decision factors between Haas and Kellogg... hahah Maybe that will be in my "rejection" letter to Kellogg. "Sorry I decided not to come to Kellogg because you force 80-90% of your students to use T61's instead of X61's."

If we organize, we can all make similar ridiculous claims as to why we didn't pick a particular school in our turn-down of places.

e.g. "I am turning you down because you didn't give an ASUS Eee (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASUS_Eee_PC) to all matriculating students and insist they use it for classes." (joking)

you know what, Kellogg actually says they do NOT support Apple laptops in school and that Kellogg is a "Windows XP/Vista" environment. Imagine how many Apple lovers that would turn off?

Duke and UNC are the same way. I haven't heard of any school that openly supports Apple. Given all the issues with Vista, it's a shame they don't support an operating system that actually functions.

On a relatively unrelated note, are there any retail stores that carry Lenovo PCs, or do you have to purchase online and eat the 2-3 week delay on the X61?

It'd be so much easier to buy a Macbook

My beloved Macbook is offended by such attitudes (Kellogg's, not yours Kry).

Stanford's not terrific about Mac support, but they grudgingly offer it. With Cupertino a few miles down the road, I don't think they can avoid it

haha, I knew an Apple user would be offended... maybe that's the dealbreaker for you terry, and you should put that in your rejection letter to Kellogg.

Haas also allows Macs, as long as they run "bootcamp".

Some points of interest/opinions about computers:

- SSD's (solid state drives) are becoming more readily available, cheaper, and larger (from a capacity standpoint). These drives are WAY more reliable (think iPod Nano vs. regular iPod), quicker, and consume less power. Hopefully by this summer, they'll be available for only a small markup over regular HDD's. And besides, who needs 300 gb's? The Lenovo X300 already ships with these standard.

- Vista certainly has its problems, but right now, it's the only MS OS that can handle RAM greater than 3 gb's. Something to consider: do you want a crappy OS now, or a quicker-to-obsolete computer later?

- If you're buying Lenovo, make sure you use the eCoupons website for an additional 5% off!

- 1.5 pounds makes a HUGE difference?! Look, unless you're running half-marathons with these things (which is why the hard drives are breaking, see note #1), save yourself the cash, take a couple trips to the weight room, and move on. My work-issued T61 is great, and I travel a ton.

- I'll talk Apple when they decide to pony up additional mouse buttons and ditch the touchpad. IBM/Lenovo UltraNav (the little red stick + the center scroll mouse button) > anything else.

Ah, but I love the touchpad and hate the little joystick

p.s. I'm really not looking to start a Mac vs PC war... just couldn't help it!