Back To School Technology Buyer's Guide
by Zach Throckmorton on August 4, 2011 8:55 PM ESTNetbooks
Small, lightweight, inexpensive netbooks featuring exceptional battery life started becoming popular in 2007, largely due to ASUS' successful Eee PC line. In order to achieve great longevity while unplugged and low price tags, these netbooks sacrificed processing power. The CPU featured in most netbooks until the recent advent of AMD's Brazos products was Intel's Atom and its derivatives. The new AMD APUs typically offer CPU power on par with or exceeding comparable Atom chips, and far superior graphics performance. That said, even the lowliest single-core Atom is sufficient for basic web browsing and office productivity. I've found inexpensive netbooks make near-perfect 'daily drivers' for campus use. They weigh less than a hardcover textbook, are small enough to be typed on in cramped lecture halls, and they often don't need to be recharged at all during the day.
.jpg)
ASUS' Eee PC 1001P is a standard, mostly unremarkable single-core Intel Atom-based netbook that deserves your consideration for two reasons: it's cheap and its battery lasts a ridiculously long time. Tests here at AnandTech show the 1001P can stay unplugged for nearly 11 hours if idling and over 7.5 hours during heavy web browsing. You can expect it to last well over 8 hours if you're typing notes and occasionally browsing the web. At $260, it's one of the least expensive netbooks.
.jpg)
Since their original NC10, I've been a fan of Samsung's netbooks. I like their keyboards better than the competition's, and they're particularly well-built. The NF310 features a dual-core Atom CPU which can help with multi-tasking, offering a level of performance that's a step up from the single-core Atom netbooks. That said, trying to do anything more than web browsing and basic office productivity can quickly become aggravating. At the time of writing, its pricing on the web isn't particularly competitive, but I've seen it as low as $300, and at that price, it's an excellent product.
As alluded to above, AMD's Brazos APUs that came on the market at the beginning of 2011 changed the netbook landscape. The E-350 APU in particular offers substantially better all-around computing than any Intel Atom. Furthermore, most Intel Atom-based netbooks feature 10.1" screens while most AMD E-350-based netbooks feature 11.6" screens. More display real estate isn't just easier on your eyes—I've found my fingers fatigue slower using the 11.6" netbooks' keyboards. Finally, most E-350 netbooks come with Windows 7 Home Premium installed instead of the Windows 7 Starter Edition that comes installed on most Atom-based netbooks. Windows 7 Starter doesn't let you change your wallpaper, nor does it support multiple monitors. These might not be relevant to your netbook usage, but I'd much rather get more memory and a "real" OS.
Dustin reviewed HP's dm1z here on AnandTech, and as you can see from that review, the dm1z offers great battery life (over 8 hours idling, about 7 hours while browsing the web)—and it can game! Or at least produce playable frame rates on lowered settings on many popular titles like Left 4 Dead 2 and Starcraft 2. Starting at $400, the dm1z is definitely worth the extra hundred or so dollars compared to an Atom-based netbook if you are looking for more than bare minimum adequacy for the most basic tasks.
.jpg)
At almost $500, Lenovo's Thinkpad X120e is more expensive than many more powerful, full-sized laptops. It's more expensive than the dm1z, and in my personal testing, its battery life and performance are (unsurprisingly) very similar to those of the HP E-350-based netbook. However, I bought an X120e because the dm1z's screen is glossy while the X120e's is matte. Considering how much time I spend inside lecture halls and labs, I try to get outside as often as possible—and glossy screens are simply not as easy to see as matte screens in the sun. The keyboard on the X120e is also perhaps the bets "netbook" keyboard around.
If you're looking for something more capable than the above netbooks, or for a larger screen, we take a look at a number of full-sized laptops on the next page.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
94 Comments
View All Comments
Rick83 - Friday, August 5, 2011 - link
I would encourage a decent desktop, because a amount of working area and a full-size keyboard and mouse are not replaceable, and portability really is overvalued. I had exactly one laptop during my university days, it sucked and I never needed nor used it.Now, my 5 inch Tablet, that I use a lot, and my desktop, I wouldn't give that away for anything.
Really, in the end it's a matter of analyzing needs and wants.
A laptop usually just serves to distract you during lectures, a desktop is a trusty machine you can return to, and get serious work done, without being limited to those ridiculous 15" screens.
Currently have a work laptop - and guess what: I'm hating every minute of it, because the screen is crap, I have to put it on a cardboard box to get the screen to the proper ergonomic height, I can only plug in one external screen without a docking station, it's slow, soooo slow, because there's no SSD in it (and we're forced to run XP, which has horrible caching settings), it's loud when used hard, gets hot, and I have to kensington-lock it to the table. A proper silent tower and a set of screens is something that I return home to, full of anticipation.
So, don't get a laptop, because you think it's what's best. For the same money, you can get so much more usability out of a desktop, it's insane. And the screens, for gods sake, the screens.
Taft12 - Friday, August 5, 2011 - link
Someone needs to show you and your luddite buddy Chinoman the VGA port on you laptop that lets you use the big display that stays parked in your room (a USB port for the full-sized keyboard and mouse too!)AssBall - Friday, August 5, 2011 - link
That's funny, I remember having 2 CRTs, 2 full and one micro atx cases, and a 32 inch CRT TV with a stereo, playstation, n64 hooked up to it all fit fine in our 8x12 room (no we didn't throw out the beds lol).kepler - Friday, August 5, 2011 - link
Get a Windows laptop, half the price and it will work with anything you need it. 80% of Mac users end up having to install Windows to use SAS and other software anyway, let alone gaming consoles.Lots of Universities have 802.1x and have port security enabled for ethernet, which Apple doesn't allow connection sharing with, and consoles (which are undeniably popular) don't support.
Not to mention Apple has crap 802.1x profile managment in 10.6, and actually made it worse in 10.7.
Don't get things based on what you think other students will have, that is the absolutely retarded idea.
Just for some insight:
http://woody.typepad.com/files/windows_pc_vs_apple...
prdola0 - Friday, August 5, 2011 - link
It's obviously an Apple troll or a paid PR person. I live in Europe and have recently finished Bsc. and desktops are quite common. Also, I don't recall ever seeing a Mac of any kind - at least not where I lived (there were mostly electronics and computer sciences people).Zoomer - Friday, August 5, 2011 - link
Macs are rather popular in the computer science dept, but in engineering not so much. Many engineering apps don't run well on macs, and virtual machines may not work either as hardware interfacing is sometimes required.I had a friend go thinkpad + linux after his macbook pro's battery failed the second time.
steven75 - Friday, August 5, 2011 - link
Funny that you submit a troll picture as "insight."Ratman6161 - Friday, August 5, 2011 - link
Points:1. If your usage is primarily web based research, email, and typing term papers, the entire Mac Vs. PC Vs Linux flame ware is completely irrelevant. It does not matter what computer you buy, they will all do those tasks just fine.
2. It is about finding something that fits your needs and not what "75% of your classmates are using" The majority of your classmates will fit into point #1. But if you are an engineering or science type that needs to do modeling and simulation, mathematical analysis, etc you are going to want to find out what software your professors expect you to be using for those tasks and get a computer that will run that software. Likewise for any other more specialized area. What 75% of your classmates are using makes no difference if you are not performing the same work they do.
3. 75% of your classmates talked their parents into buying whatever tech they have. If you have to get a job and buy it yourself, the cost will suddenly become a much more important factor for you.
4. The people spending mom and dad's money rather than their own general got what they got because it was cool and the cost/benefit relationship was irrelevant to them.
SoCalBoomer - Friday, August 5, 2011 - link
I agree with you, techhhhhy, however I would not recommend anything less than 14 or 15" - just because working on a long paper on a tiny screen is maddening.Portability is good, but usability is still more important and a good size keyboard and monitor are extremely important since a student's life will be spent writing on this thing.
I also don't necessarily recommend a Macbook. If you're a Mac person, then definitely; but if you're a Windows person, then get a Windows machine. If you're on a budget, then think twice about a Macbook - not saying DON'T, just saying think twice. If you're going into certain fields, think about what you should get: some mandatory programs do not work on Macs (and yes, you can run Windows on Macs, but again, for MOST users I don't recommend it and it is more expensive than "just" a Windows laptop).
Again, I'm not recommending against a Mac. I'm recommending against the blanket recommendation FOR a Mac - I'm saying. . . "THINK" :D
I don't GO to college, but I run the student support arm of IT at a top ten liberal arts college so I do know something. . . well, maybe! LOL
Uritziel - Friday, August 5, 2011 - link
Anandtech needs an Amazon-like comment system, such that worthless posts like yours can be 'minus-ed' until they just show a subject line plus a "most people don't find this post contributes helpful information" -esque line.