Expert: Bobbert - 12/6/2010

Question
Hello!  I will be buying a new laptop soon.  It will be used for graduate studies.  I have no idea as to what type of laptop I should buy.  Do you have any recommendations as to what specs I should make sure the laptop has.  My price range is $700-$1000.0 USD.  The laptop will be used for grad studies as well as for watching movies, e-mail, web surfing, etc.  Any recommendations?  Thannk you!

Answer
Well, it depends upon what you're going to be using it for - "graduate studies" is quite vague, and could encompass anything from a relatively simple (from a computational perspective) task as composition, to something relatively complex (again, from a computational perspective) such as animation or architecture. If you aren't going to be demanding too much of the system, given your budget you can essentially purchase anything as your other tasks aren't a major problem for modern hardware. However, if your studies have their own, additional, requirements - then you have to take that into consideration, see if your program has any outlined requirements (many content creation, and engineering/science programs do), or if there is any advantage on your campus to have a specific platform (for example, some campuses are more Apple friendly than others).

-bob