Notebook Buyer's Guide: Back to School 2009 Discussion

Once again the summer season draws to a close and your school bus is getting ready to resume its daily route. It's back to school shopping season, and this year we're here to help you find the perfect notebook. Our guide helps you narrow down hundreds of laptops to just a few select notebooks that meet your needs.

Read the full content of this Article: Notebook Buyer's Guide: Back to School 2009

 

I think it's worth mentioning to anyone looking for a laptop/netbook for school to first find out if the school has a computer requirement and special school deals.

Otherwise, I think it is a pretty good guide.

 

Every time I see one of these type reviews, I begin to wonder about who is paying the bills. There are a number of Compaq, Acer, and Gateway units at less money with more features etc. (not to mention MSI Winds, THE most popular and highest rated by owner netbooks IN THE WORLD!!) which don't even get a mention? hmmmm EXCUUUUUUUZZZZZE MEEEEEEEE ........

I'll second the school deals, however with the shoot out between Best Buy and Wal Mart on who owns the 'back to school' market...I'd keep a close eye on those weekly sales...AND, I'd wait until the very last moment to close the deal. With the new DirectX11 books about to arrive...there's going to be some crash inventory clearing going on between now and September.

Seer

 

Good work.

I'm also guessing that if Windows 7 is made available to PC manufacturers next week, several new models are due to be launched in August? I can't imagine Microsoft requiring PC makers to wait for the boxed version of W7 to hit the stores, for Dell, HP and everyone else to start selling the new machines with a factory installed version of the OS.

Time will tell... I want a machine natively built for W7, so am patiently sitting on my chair and watching the show.

 

The Realistic Back to School Buyer's Guide

I totally disagree with this guide..All the featured laptops on this page are pretty good systems..But the reviewer should remember that it is a back to school guide, which essentially means the best bang for buck laptops with the least of future headaches (referance to hardware malfunctions & manufacturer support issues)..

this would be my recommendation:

Under $500:

HP Mini 110
Lenovo Ideapad S12
Dell Mini 12

$500-$1000

HP dv3t
Dell Inspiron 14

Over $1000

Dell Studio 14z
HP dv4
Sony Vaio SR
Apple Macbook Pro 13"

Now that is what I call back to school stuff. Laptops that are mostly less than 14 inches and will do decent graphics. Most of the above models have the option of both discrete and integrated graphics and come from manufactures with very good customer support, just in case any hardware issues arise.

Please dont take me wrong, I love larger laptops, such as the Dell Studio XPS 16 and the Sony Vaio FW, but these are specialty laptops for people with special needs..multimedia, photoshop, etc and therefore would not fit the bill of back to school stuff..

I urge NB review to be realistic..I could sit here and write a list of my favorite laptops..But will it serve the purpose of helping people to decide on what they need to get as school begins and without breaking the bank.

 

I agree with most of the choices on your list, but I think a few Lenovo models also deserve to be on each of those short lists....

For starters, the Lenovo IdeaPad S12 should take the place of the the Dell Inspiron Mini 12. It offers a full-size keyboard, faster 5400rpm SATA hard drives and a choice between platforms- VIA Nano or Intel Atom N270. The Dell's use of 4200rpm PATA hard drives and Atom Z520/Z530 processors put it at the back of the netbook pack, performance-wise. The Dell is also limited to just 1GB of integrated RAM, while the Lenovo can be upgraded (by the user) to 2GB. The Lenovo also has a slightly better-looking LED-backlit display, compared to the Dell's CCFL-backlit 12.1".

The Lenovo ThinkPad R400 also deserves a spot in the $500-$1000 category! The R400 is the Rodney Dangerfield of ThinkPads, living in the shadow of the T400. In reality, the R400 is the T400's almost-identical twin- right down to the ThinkPad Roll Cage behind the display and and the carbon-fiber reinforced plastic that covers the base!

 

Not a bad idea to add more under 14" laptops. It would also help to additionally categorize then by size/weight, battery life, relative performance, etc. That would really help potential buyers.

Personally, I have no problem dragging a very large 15" laptop to school everyday which cost $1500. Shouldn't notebookreview include some good gaming laptops like the G50Vt? Some of us have er... different priorities and needs. Would help for those who lan much or just want one system to do everything

Also, adding $1,000~$1,500, $1,500~$2,000 and $2,000+ categories may be a good idea. Some people have the money to splurge. This may also make it more relevant for those in private schools, high school or university

 

Very valid point...for more than a few students, gaming performance is the FIRST requirement for their systems!

I also think that business-oriented notebooks are often very good choices for students because off their greater durability and longer lifespan! The Dell Vostro 1220 (12.1") and Vostro 1320 (13.3") starting at $799 and $599, respectively. Or move up the price ladder to the Dell Latitude E6400/E6500 or Lenovo ThinkPad T400/T500 and you get a laptop that is very likely to last a full three or more years!

 

I agree with your pick on the Lenovo S12..Certainly is a better deal than the Dell Mini 12..However I am not exactly sure about the R400..Although it is/was a decent machine, I recon it is a bit on the heavier side and lacks an LED display..pretty much a standard feature on today's laptops

 

For the "The Realistic Back to School Buyer's Guide", add the Acer Timeline's.

 

QFT. Dunno about their durability but they sure are decent cheap laptops.

 

For the netbooks, I'm biased but my Gateway LT3100 is a top-notch system, it's AMD L110 1.2 GHz is plenty, faster than atoms on a single task, and it has double the RAM and a bigger 250GB hard drive, for only $399.

The Lenovo S12 smokes the Mini 12 in all ways but the thinness.

For their choice I think that they're for the most part alright. But there's nothing that shouts AMAZING to me except for the Studio XPS 16. (even though I'm typing this on my new Studio 17, which I was thrilled to see on there ). The Acer Timelines look great but I've hard terrible support from Acer. I think that some lower-end Asus should be on there.

Also, for most people, they should mention that all they'll need is a Pentium Dual Core or Athlon / Turion X2. It's a waste for most people to have the Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad. The C2D might be helpful for blu-ray, but it is overkill for word, outlook, itunes and IE.

 

Well, I think all the additional nominations are worthy and sometimes better contender, but please do understand a list of 20 systems for under $500 is not much better than no list at all. I do like to see more variety for sure, especially in the under $500-$600 budget category, where you have more 15" budget rigs. They are not a good fit for people have a powerful desktop, but there are students on budget or going to schools that do not require high power and $400 15" laptop with DVD/CD-RW is a good choice over a desktop+netbook.

Also, I think the site admins, remember this being notebookreview.com, is obliged to pick among what they have reviewed -- not because they get a free laptop to test from the companies that give them, but because it will be kind of funny for NBR to recommend a notebook that they have not reviewed and have only heard about from others. So, there are going to be a lot of omissions just because the site has not had a chance to actually review it -- case in point, not a whole lot Sony got reviewed recently, and it's not surprising that no Sony is on the list. Personally, I think Sony SR is a very good middle-to-high, around $1000, laptop for student.

 

Well, make it clear then which laptops were indeed reviewed by notebookreview and which were reviewed by other sites or by members of notebookreview. Its much better to present a more extensive if not with 100% certainty than a less extensive list.

 

Noise bugs me when I'm trying to do my homework.

Which notebook is the most silent?

 

While I don't know about other places, in Canada and the United States, I've had surprising success with Acer. I've never bought an Acer until my dad got one (he didn't really use it so I jacked his ). I travel out of the country for school and I think I shorted my network card while away. I called support up and was promptly given a RMA number. I shipped the notebook back and they installed a new NIC, no questions asked, in 3 business days. I find that the durability of their Gemstone model and the support to be above average.

 

Compared to the Inspiron 14, the R400 weighs just .14lbs more and it's thinner at 1.2" compared to the 14's thickest point at 1.5"! And I can guarantee you which one would survive an accidental drop from a desk and the occasional hard knock inside a backpack...

As for the recommendation of the Acer Timeline 3810T- I'm generally underwhelmed by the CULV-based notebooks...the vast majority use the Intel SU2700 or SU3500 single-core processors which are faster than the Atom, but most (all) run Windows Vista. That negates much of their performance advantage over Atom-based netbooks running XP.....

BUT, Acer has two configurations of the 3810T (the 6415 and 6775 for $799 and $899) which both haved the 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo SU9400 processor! Less than six months ago, the SU9400 was only found in ultraportables like the ThinkPad X301 and Samsung X360...both of which cost well over $1500! The 3810T with the SU9400 is a game-changer, in my opinion! The performance is exceptional given the price and size/weight!

I'm a pretty demanding power user, but I'm confident that one of those 3810T models would be more than sufficient for most tasks! I'm seriously considering buyinig one of these in the next few months!