Keep in mind though, he should get 4GB... he's not going to last 4 years (unless you're planning on buying another one in like another 2 years or so) with just a gig or two... he'll need 4 later on.. but I couldn't agree with Pizza more... It just depends on what you need to use it for...
Ah yeah.. but this is same as what Sony, Lenovo, and Dell are also doing. I guess it doesn't really matter too much if he can get it for close to free with that UH thing.. also.. since you're going to UT butterfingers.. this is your campus computer store that sells software for like $30... http://www.campuscomputer.com So, that should help whenever you want to buy stuff.. mainly software. Also... read this thread.... http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=171929 It may help.
Oh definitely, 4 gb is not a need, but damn well sure it makes my PC run like a beast. I was running an opti with 2 gb of ram with a radeon 4670 and I was maxing out my machine doing practically nothing (watching TV, Facebook, Photoshop, and clutchfans). I recently bumped it up to 5 gb and I'm floored at it's ability to do all of it flawlessly.
Haha.. man, my desktop is still running on 1 gig on Vista.. and it's hella slow sometimes.. speaking of ram.. there's a bad ass quad core 2.33 and 8 gb HP for $530.. damn good deal from Staples. It has DDR2 ram.. but you cant be picky for that price. Specs Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q8200 2.33 Ghz 8GB DDR2 Memory 1TB 5400RPM Serial ATA Hard Drive SuperMulti DVD Burner with LightScribe Technology Wireless LAN 802.11a/b/g/n PCIe internal modem Integrated 10/100/1000 Base-T networking interface Windows Vista Home Premium Service Pack 1 64-Bit http://www.staples.com/office/suppl...=home&cmArea=SEARCH&catalogId=10051&langId=-1 Use this coupon: 72382
That is not bad, wowwy. Right now I'm eyeing the Phenom x4's, but I'm not sure if an AM2+ chip will run on my AM2 setup..
Did you see that article on Giz that said the new I7's could run elder scrolls without a graphics card at 15 fps! Haha, I'm not sure if my current system could do that!
Haha... wow... that's pretty crazy without a graphics card... but yeah hopefully I'll be able to find a deal here maybe around the holidays to get it...
i dont get why people always say they need a laptop "for college" like college requires special laptops that the rest of us can't use. unless you are going into a computer specific field (in which you should know yourself what you need) then OSX vs. windows is purely preference, both will do the tasks that you need.
This is basically the same advice I give when people ask me. Test drive a Mac and see if it's for you. I finally gave it a shot when 'new computer time' came around and I was hooked. Granted I was also very interested in Logic Studio (9 just came out! ) And I've made my living off of working in MS products (Visual Studio, MS SQL Server, etc). Since you have access to free MS stuff, you could install your chosen flavor of Windows on a Mac and run it natively in Boot Camp (not a virtualization) when the need arises. I haven't used MS Office for Mac, but from the sounds of it you're better using it on Windows, so consider that. On the other hand I have XP installed as a virtual machine w/ 1gb allocated for when I don't have my Windows machine nearby and it works fine for my needs. Otherwise just stick w/ the HP machine and buy the Touch w/ the money you saved. My only complaint is I've had 2 HP laptops die on me in 3 years and I take care of them like a baby. But I suppose there's stories like that for every other brand.
The good thing about the HP is it has the 3 year warranty with Costco(and we all know how jizztastic costcos customer service is) so i feel safe buying the HP. I guess im leaning towards the PC for now. Im gonna play around with an apple tonight to see how it is.
Yeah, I'm gonna get Parallels or VM Fusion for Windows 7 when it comes out... hopefully it runs smooth.
Don't do that, that's dumb. Vista is extremely stable post-SP1 and anyone that says otherwise just doesn't know how to operate a computer. I'm running Vista at both home and work and I have zero problems.
I don't agree with out... it's not stable... Vista just flat out sucks... I wish I didn't upgrade from XP to Vista.... but the good thing is... Microsoft is saving everyones ass with Windows 7. Everything is slow on this damn computer ever since I've gotten Vista... and it doesn't have anything to do with my hardware... or running a lot of programs.. it's the slow OS.
Sorry, I should have said in my post "If you have the hardware to run it." I can see how running Vista with only a gig of RAM is a bad experience for you. I ran it for a short period of time with only 2GB and it was pretty slow then. Both of my machines now have 4 gigs and it runs like a champ.
I test drove 7 in VM Fusion w/ 1 gb allocated and it ran fine. Granted I didn't spend much time w/ it or pushed it too hard, but it handled all the basics fine.
Agreed, it's a resource hog and that's the one major flaw with it. But if you have plenty of hardware, it runs great. Granted most people don't have enough to run it, so that's why it has such a bad rep. It looks like they've fixed the resource requirements with Windows 7 so I expect it will do very well.
I think not only that, but most people don't tailor the OS to their needs. Frequent registry cleans (manually), monitoring what runs in the background, eliminating Windows sidebar, stuff like that. The only reason I am so in love with 7 is because WMC is a step above any other kind of media answer. Without that, windows 7 runs really similarly to Vista. DX11 is killer though!
