Gonna pick me up a brand new laptop for classes. I pretty much know what I'm after as far as components go. Main things i'll put on this thing are stuff like Flash CS3, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Pinnacle Studio, Visual Studio 2008 and a few other programs like Dance 7. Shit like that. I've priced a bunch from Dell and such but would just like to see what you guys pack around with you. Price isn't really that much of an issue. I want a powerful machine that is durable and will pay for those qualities. Battery life isn't a hassle since most of this is for my work between classes to save me having to run back and forth between the house and the tech department labs.

I have no real brand turnoffs other than Compaq, and don't mind mom and pop house jobs so long as they have a good warranty that covers LCD.

So show me what you recommend.

What about weight? Do you want something super light and portable? Or do you not mind if it's around 9 / 10 / 11 lbs, or even further, a desktop replacement?

Also, do you have any mobile devices you plan on using / syncing with? I have had a Blackberry Pearl 8100 and an iPhone 3g, and with Windows, the Blackberry Pearl was an ease, and Mac it was a hassle. With the iPhone, it's regular on both mac and windows.

I mean obviously if price were no option I'd go with a Macbook Air http://www.apple.com/macbookair/ or a Lenovo Thinkpad x300, http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/lenovo- ... ontentBody

With the Suites of software you're working with there are both Windows and Mac counterparts, so software compatibility shouldn't be much of an issue.

Personally, and regretfully, I use a Gateway MX6420 and it's pretty bulky. I got it for 800$ bones though from Best Buy with a good warranty, about 2 1/2 years ago. So, it was a pretty "beefy" system at the time, for a great price. I was able to play WoW and a few other games on it. I used to dualbox w/ it. After 2+ years of use, it's missing an H key and F key and the DVD-Rom drive no longer works. I probably treated it really shitty though. Oh, and it has a hard time charging w/ the charger it has. I have to get it in just the right position for it to charge. A real hassle. I've heard a lot of notebooks regardless of manufacturers end up having that problem though.

http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/Q10 ... 55nv.shtml

It's pretty bulky to take to and from classes, and I prefer a pen and paper over it. If I had a lighter notebook though I'd almost definitely use it more.

Edit: Also, if you're at a "real" university, you should be able to get significant discounts on laptops / etc. Esp. through Apple. They discount a lot of their shit for Universities. If not, a lot of Universities have specials anyhow. My alma mater has http://www.asu.edu/1to1/ "one to one" which helps you select a computer right for you. You'll have to check with your school though.

I just got a Dell XPS M1530 through work and I quite enjoy it. However, it took *forever* to get built, boxed and shipped, so beware.

$1300 (approx) got me a 2.1ghz C2D, 4gb of ram, 320gb hd, 128mb geforce 8400gs, slot load dvdrw and a 1440x900 15.4" LED LCD.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

New Apple laptops in are due in october. So if you go that route i'd wait if you can.

If you're primarily using it for those programs you mentioned...go Apple.

God I can't believe I said that, I feel so dirty.

Otherwise, I happen to like Dell...as long as you realize their India CSR is shit.

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I've got an Everex StepNote 17" that I spent my tax return on. 700 bucks, 2gigs, 64bit processor, etc. Love it. It's a little unwieldy - finding a decent bag has been a nightmare - but it was a steal at that price and even (shockingly) runs Vista rather well. (Still leery about dualbooting OSX.) It's a desktop replacement to be sure, but the ability to throw it in the car and take it with has helped me in my repair work.

Actually, if you're doing Visual Studio, skip a MacBook and Boot Camp. Your best bet is a desktop replacement. Vana makes a good recommendation, I'd also take a look at the Thinkpad T-Series.

I have a Averatec 6200 - I will never buy an averatec again.

One thing I would recommend is buying a good monitor (if you are going to do graphics work). The difference between my Dell p1110 and this LCD in my laptop.... unreal.

I have done graphics work on my laptop and then moved it to my desktop. It is amazing the difference in the way things look. Something that would look like a good job on my laptop looked like shit (flawed) on my P1110.

My next laptop, I am going to be shopping for something that doesn't get as hot as molten lava or shoot 140 degree air out onto my mouse hand. Heat, and screensize are most important to me, and I might consider a better graphics card in my next laptop. Battery life, not so much. Also, fuck this piece of shit laptops fucking mouse placement. I graze the fuck out off the touchpad and it drives me up the fucking wall.

If you do any serious graphics work, please god make sure to use the same color profile on both screens. That's why it looked like shit.

Also, use an external mouse, touchpads are an abomination.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

Just bought a Dell Studio 17, but its for gaming, so not really what you're lookin for. As far as quality goes, we couldn't be happier.

If money's not part of this equation, I think Lenovo just released (or is about to) some new ThinkPads that are very well-suited toward the graphic design niche.

I've had my Dell XPS M170 for going on 3 years now. They don't make that particular model anymore but it's a great machine. I got it for gaming, but it can do anything. It's been a solid box for years now.