Best laptop for a college student?

[Bob]

I'm a freshman in college with about a $750 dollar budget. I don't like macs and I hear a Dell probably wouldn't really last 4 years (or a low chance to) so it seems that I am aiming towards an HP.

I'm looking for laptop suggestions that suits me, a somewhat-frequent gamer, social media websites, music, streaming videos, and most importantly, to do homework (I'm a business student). I'm looking for a good performance and the best that amount could buy

[SingStar]

I have a dell laptop that's wayyy way old and still works well for how old it is, so idk why people would say it wouldn't last four years. But definitely hp or dell is the way to go.

[Moses]

Note that every laptop is good for you as long as its specs are high enough according to your standards set. As for how long it'll last, it depends on how you'll handle it. Take good care of any laptop and it will be there for you, in good condition, for a long time.

[joseph mahfood]

I would go with an Acer laptop.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6834215261
This is one of the the best laptop you are going to find for $750 it will probably be able to play games like skyrim at medium graphics. To add to that Acers customer support is above average, and thay last a long time.

[aggronrules]

Well this thing is $450 and it will max out any game including battlefield 3 at 40 fps, and it has 4 cores@1.5ghz but are 2.3 when plugged in. http://m.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...CatId=4938

Thats a good gaming laptop, the only con is the memory but it should be good for at least 25 games, and school work. It is good for rendering youtube videos as well. Its a steal for the money. Get it now!! Lol its amazingly good for the money i love it!

[nee]

$750 won't get you a "gamer grade" laptop, no matter how many people say otherwise. If it is then it will e called a gamer laptop and otherwise run like crap.

Quality of computers does not rely on brand, a high-end Acer, Dell and HP will run just as well as lower-end Alienware laptops. Unfortunately these higher-end computers will be much more expensive than $750. Sorry but you'll have to either raise the budget or sacrifice your gaming considerations.

BUT this depends very highly on what games you play, as the rest aren't really dependent on the strength of the laptop's graphics capability.

I'm not a proponent of Apple but no one can deny that their computers are quite durable. Overpriced yes, but sturdy. In all my years servicing computers, only one was an Apple macbook, and that was just upgrading RAM, which doesn't really count as trouble. In reality about 90% of the PCs I worked with are due to user incompetence and/or the fact that they were low-grade (re super cheap) computers- cheap because parts wear out much faster and the like. In fact if you spent $1400 today on a laptop, you will spend less than if you bought a $500 laptop because those usually end up breaking in the span of a few years and you have to buy another one, or go through endless hurdles to get them fixed.

[edit1754]

The Thinkpad T530 has great build quality, offers a much better than average quality + slightly higher than average resolution display, and is decent for moderate gaming when configured with the NVS 5400M.

**Lenovo Thinkpad T530** (with the 15.6" 1600x900 display) through the Barnes and Noble Gold discount
- Sign up and sign in here: http://shoplenovo.i2.com/SEUILibrary/con...snoblegold
- Barnes and Noble Gold discount T530 link: http://shoplenovo.i2.com/SEUILibrary/con...ction=init (you will need to create a free Barnes and Noble Gold account)
- Start with the cheapest base configuration.
- On the configuration page, upgrade the "Display type" to at least HD+ (1600x900). You should not buy the Lenovo Thinkpad T530 in any configuration that includes the default HD (1366x768) display. 1366x768 resolution in a 15.6" display makes things onscreen large, and 15.6" displays that have 1366x768 resolution tend to have very poor image quality due to low contrast. But the upgraded 15.6" 1600x900 and 15.6" 1920x1080 displays have great contrast, and also allow you to fit more onscreen. The availability of the upgraded displays upgrade is part of my reasoning for recommending this computer.
- Recommended: Get the free WiFi adapter upgrade to the "Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2200", because some have reported issues with the stock "Thinkpad 1x1 b/g/n" adapter.
- Note: The Core i5-3210M from the Core i3-2370M isn't a bad upgrade choice. It may also help with battery life since it's IvyBridge instead of SandyBridge.
- Upgrading to the NVS 5400M dedicated GPU will help with moderate gaming. It isn't the greatest GPU, but it's a good step up from integrated graphics.
- Does not come with a Webcam by default. If you want one, you need to select the upgrade.
- In the cart, click the green "Activate eCoupon" button to get your discount.

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Note: There was an Acer model recommended here with a Core i7 and a GT 540M. Despite the slower processor (for the price) in the Thinkpad T530, the T530 will still take the edge in game performance (when configured with the NVS 5400M) because the NVS 5400M is a faster GPU than the NVIDIA GT 540M. Game performance tends to depend significantly more on the GPU than it does on the processor, and you should not make it a top priority to get a particularly high-end processor. The Acer also comes with a significantly worse display than the Thinkpad offers.

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