Best "Size" of Laptop for University?

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

There are a number of nice Sony Vaios with fairly good specs and relatively light. You pay for what you get of course, and these have a mark up.

[phongn]

There are a number of nice Sony Vaios with fairly good specs and relatively light. You pay for what you get of course, and these have a mark up.

Sony laptops are not particularly well made nor is their support that great. You pay extra for their appearance.

[Beowulf]

Sony consumer electronics in general are kinda crappy. I'd avoid any Sony laptop like the plague (their tech support is horrible too. 3 different shipments to the depot to get a problem fixed?).

[The Grim Squeaker]

Depends on what you do. .

Computer Engineering, maybe a simultaneous degree in Comp Sci/Economics/Applied Physics too. (Don't know about the apps).
Also desktop replacement for most of the month (I'll be home only on intermitent weekends), so something gaming-capable.
I've decided on a desktop replacement type laptop, the only question is what size (14,15,16,17,18 inch?) and specs/weight.

It meant that on a pleasant, sunny day, I could walk the entire two miles to the train station instead of taking the subway. Anyone in any kind of shape can hump a 13" laptop forever.

I might have the weak and feeble body of a Jew, but I have the heart and soul of a hiker! (And i'm used to carrying around a ton of books and/or a few kilos of camera, so weight shouldn't be that much of a problem). I wish Israel had a subway though, damn buses .

[Starglider]

I've decided on a desktop replacement type laptop, the only question is what size (14,15,16,17,18 inch?) and specs/weight.

You haven't told us your budget. Without that, it's rather hard to suggest a model.

[phongn]

You haven't told us your budget. Without that, it's rather hard to suggest a model.

W700ds?

[Starglider]

You haven't told us your budget. Without that, it's rather hard to suggest a model.

W700ds?

No good for games. If money is no object, maybe he should get this. 3.2 GHz i7 quad core, 12 GB triple-channel RAM, GTX280M GPU, three hard drives in RAID 0, weighs 5 kilos not including PSU brick, sub-60-minute battery life

[Davey]

No good for games. If money is no object, maybe he should get this. 3.2 GHz i7 quad core, 12 GB triple-channel RAM, GTX280M GPU, three hard drives in RAID 0, weighs 5 kilos not including PSU brick, sub-60-minute battery life

Ha ha, wow.

One sticky hot summer south Ontario midday and it's all over for that monster, I can imagine, with all that heat from that i7. Mind you, those specs stomp all over the desktop I assembled a few months back as a workstation for 3-D CAD and doing stress analysis. I'm just amazed that someone could cram all those parts in that frame and it still fits.

[The Grim Squeaker]

You haven't told us your budget. Without that, it's rather hard to suggest a model.

W700ds?

No good for games. If money is no object, maybe he should get this. 3.2 GHz i7 quad core, 12 GB triple-channel RAM, GTX280M GPU, three hard drives in RAID 0, weighs 5 kilos not including PSU brick, sub-60-minute battery life

Dude, i'll be a student, not making any cash for at least 2 years, if not during most of my degree .
I was planning to spend up to 1,300$ of my savings at the most.
(Prices in Israel are a bit higher, but I might be able to get it through my old company which would yield roughly US equiv prices).

And I want a battery life of more than 2-3 hours, thankyouverymuch.

[Beowulf]

You missed the >$5k pricetag with that laptop, Starglider.

[General Zod]

Dude, i'll be a student, not making any cash for at least 2 years, if not during most of my degree .
I was planning to spend up to 1,300$ of my savings at the most.
(Prices in Israel are a bit higher, but I might be able to get it through my old company which would yield roughly US equiv prices).

And I want a battery life of more than 2-3 hours, thankyouverymuch.

I don't know how much it'll cost you in Israeli money, but the Gateway FX laptop I got awhile ago is capable of running just about any game under the sun, from Dawn of War 2 to Crysis on moderate settings. Was only $1,200 in the US through Best Buy but I'm not sure about Israeli availability. Can't really comment on the battery power but you'll want to be either near an outlet or get an upgraded battery cell.

[The Grim Squeaker]

Dude, i'll be a student, not making any cash for at least 2 years, if not during most of my degree .
I was planning to spend up to 1,300$ of my savings at the most.
(Prices in Israel are a bit higher, but I might be able to get it through my old company which would yield roughly US equiv prices).

And I want a battery life of more than 2-3 hours, thankyouverymuch.

I don't know how much it'll cost you in Israeli money, but the Gateway FX laptop I got awhile ago is capable of running just about any game under the sun, from Dawn of War 2 to Crysis on moderate settings. Was only $1,200 in the US through Best Buy but I'm not sure about Israeli availability. Can't really comment on the battery power but you'll want to be either near an outlet or get an upgraded battery cell.

Hmmm. I was heavily tempted to just buy a laptop while i'm still here in the USA, but I still have a good 4-5 months until University, so i'd rather wait for the benefits of slightly better tech . (I have no use for a heavy laptop until then anyway).
Gateway? I haven't heard much about them reliability wise, I was planning on a Dell or Lenovo (Well, not a Lenovo since I want something gaming capable that isn't stupidly expensive), or maybe HP. Reliability is needed, I might not be getting a macbook and I might be tech savvy, but I want something that works without spilling the oil of dead supercomputers on it.

[General Zod]

Hmmm. I was heavily tempted to just buy a laptop while i'm still here in the USA, but I still have a good 4-5 months until University, so i'd rather wait for the benefits of slightly better tech . (I have no use for a heavy laptop until then anyway).
Gateway? I haven't heard much about them reliability wise, I was planning on a Dell or Lenovo (Well, not a Lenovo since I want something gaming capable that isn't stupidly expensive), or maybe HP. Reliability is needed, I might not be getting a macbook and I might be tech savvy, but I want something that works without spilling the oil of dead supercomputers on it.

As far as reliability I've had the FX for about 6 months now, and it's built like a rock; though it does get a tad warm while gaming. It also has one of the nicest feeling keyboards on a laptop I've used outside of a Thinkpad if typing comfort is a major concern.