I got a barebones system from Memoryexpress when I started law school. I'm pretty good with computers but even I had all sorts of issues with drivers and such. While what I got for how much I paid was incredible, the lack of hardware support for drivers was a huge pain. Don't follow in my footsteps.
That being said, if I had known then what I know now there are certain things I would really emphasize in a laptop for everyday class room use. Nice screens are a given but the widescreen 17+inchers are over the top. Moving all around the school, you definitely want to make sure the computer is light, compact and gets great battery life. Find where screen size and multimedia features intersect those portability and battery life vectors comfortably for you and go for that. You also can't underemphasize the importance of a nice, comfortable keyboard. Get a quiet one for the sake of your classmates (IBM's are pretty good). Bottom line: If you want something that'll last your entire program, don't cheap out now.
|