Most suitable HP/APPLE laptop for college

Doggie Walkie

Hi! I am going into college in September and need a new laptop-I'm only interested in HP or Apple. I haven't a clue about the different MacBooks etc. and why one is dearer than the other; I can only assume it is down to memory etc.

Are Apple laptops compatible with NUIG technology, particularly in Medicine? Is 13 inches too small, or should I go with 15''?

What is the best HP laptop available on the market?

Many thanks:)

joeKel73

Out of interest why have you narrowed it down to HP or Apple? I've a Lenovo I got for a great price from saveonlaptops.co.uk and it's serving me very well.

Rob!

Very true. You should keep your options open. And when you find what you want, odds are an online supplier will be much cheaper.

Considering you have something from Apple in mind, I'll assume you're
looking at high-end notebooks? You really don't need to pay €800-€1200 to get a college suitable laptop these days. But if you are looking to spend that much you're spoilt for choice with options.

Raging_Ninja

Not to be smart, the answer depends on what you intend to do with the machine.

If all you want to do is look at the internet, put some music on it, and look at text documents then an Apple will do you fine. You could get something else that will do the exact same for a fraction of the price, but as the girlfriend says, "it looks pretty".

If you intend to do other stuff with the laptop (gaming, development, etc) then a Windows machine is what you want.

A big concern is the security of both. Apple, previously being more of a niche machine, had fewer security issues since they were such a tiny part of the market and so weren't targeted. Nowadays, with Apple products becoming more popular, they are becoming bigger targets. Since they never really had to deal with it, they are very vulnerable.

ciano1

Aren't HP's supposed to have fairly high failure rates?
Lenovo's are supposed to be built like tanks from what I hear!

Raging_Ninja

ciano1 wrote: »

Aren't HP's supposed to have fairly high failure rates?
Lenovo's are supposed to be built like tanks from what I hear!

some of the models suffer from overheating which causes the motherboard to warp over time, unseating things like the graphics card (as happened to mine). This usually takes a couple of years (in my case just shy of 4).

Really the most important aspects are the computer's specs - hdd space, ram, graphics card, processor etc.

TheCosmicFrog

The manufacturer of a laptop has very little to do with its performance or reliability. I wouldn't narrow yourself down to HP in that regard. If you want a laptop as solid as a rock (or, at least, a Mac) go for Asus or Lenovo.

Dan_Solo

Apple's hardware failure rates are no better than Dell's. It's myth that they've magically superior parts or something that stops them breaking.
Cash no object, a Zenbook would be great!

joeKel73

OP how about let us know your budget and we'll pick out the best you'll get with that?

Doggie Walkie

Thank you very much, everyone! I greatly appreciate your help!:)

J o e, that's a good idea:o My budget is anything really, not more than €1500 preferably, but hopefully a good deal below that because I'm saving. Literally anything from €1-€1500!:)

I am only interested in HP and Apple, as they are the brands I am most familiar and most confident in.

Thank you:)

Raging_Ninja

Doggie Walkie wrote: »

Thank you very much, everyone! I greatly appreciate your help!:)

J o e, that's a good idea:o My budget is anything really, not more than €1500 preferably, but hopefully a good deal below that because I'm saving. Literally anything from €1-€1500!:)

I am only interested in HP and Apple, as they are the brands I am most familiar and most confident in.

Thank you:)

I got to ask you, what is it you intend to do with the laptop? Do you need an extremely high-performance laptop for high-end gaming? Because for that amount of money that is what you'll be getting (unless its a macbook in which case you're paying for the light-up apple logo on the case).

I just got myself an Asus N55S laptop for about €900 (got accessories too which put the price up), and for that I got a fairly high-performance laptop which will allow me to do development and some gaming on the side when I'm not at work. Unless you're going to be doing those things then you don't need to spend that amount on a laptop.

But at the end of the day its your money. Or your parents'.

Dan_Solo

Raging_Ninja wrote: »

I got to ask you, what is it you intend to do with the laptop? Do you need an extremely high-performance laptop for high-end gaming? Because for that amount of money that is what you'll be getting (unless its a macbook in which case you're paying for the light-up apple logo on the case).

You could point out that 99% of games won't run on OSX anyway no matter how powerful your Mac is...

Doggie Walkie

That's a great point! I am not very 'well up' when it comes to computers. I would love to get a good, decent laptop which will last me 6 years for €500, but the budget can stretch to €1500, but I would prefer it to be sub €1000. It's my money, by the way-I wouldn't let my parents foot the bill:)

I really would prefer a HP laptop, as I am most familiar and as I have said, confident with a HP. I have only ever had HP, and I have a family member who is a HP engineer. I am not familiar with Lenavo or Asus and would prefer to steer clear of those. Again, I'm not great on technology but really, I am only considering HP, or Apple!

I won't be using the laptop for gaming, literally only bringing to college for Medicine, writing assignments and checking the internet. Nothing more!

Thank you all:)

cat_xx

Id go with HP. I've had my macbook now for 3 years and had to replace the battery after 1.5 years and just had to replace the charger!! I've had some difficulty with ms word and transfering assignments from my laptop to the college computers with references. If i was getting a laptop again I wouldnt get an apple one!

Pulsating Star

I also know little about these things but made the mistake of buying a family member a HP laptop not so long ago. I couldn't believe a modern laptop could be so slow to boot up ! Switch it on - go for a cuppa while you wait slow. Not used much now as a result.

Raging_Ninja

Pulsating Star wrote: »

I also know little about these things but made the mistake of buying a family member a HP laptop not so long ago. I couldn't believe a modern laptop could be so slow to boot up ! Switch it on - go for a cuppa while you wait slow. Not used much now as a result.

How long did this family have it for? What had they installed on the laptop? Had they optimized the startup via MSCONFIG?Did they do regular virus scans and have a firewall installed? Did they regularly defragment the HDD?

Zillah

Doggie Walkie wrote: »

I am only interested in HP and Apple, as they are the brands I am most familiar and most confident in.

Thank you:)

If I covered up the HP logo on a laptop, I guarantee you, you would find it almost impossible to tell the difference between it and any other windows based laptop. The operating system is what you need to be familiar with, and by the sounds of it you are familiar with both Windows (normal laptops) and OSX (macs), so the specific brand doesn't matter at all in terms of familiarity. Don't get a mac unless you definitely want one for some specific reason; as a rule they cost much more for the same performance in a windows laptop.

Raging_Ninja wrote: »

A big concern is the security of both. Apple, previously being more of a niche machine, had fewer security issues since they were such a tiny part of the market and so weren't targeted. Nowadays, with Apple products becoming more popular, they are becoming bigger targets. Since they never really had to deal with it, they are very vulnerable.

This isn't true. Macs have traditionally been less vulnerable to viruses for two reasons: One; as you said, they just weren't targeted much in the past, but 2; OSX is designed much more intelligently to protect core processes than Windows. You might get a virus on a Mac but it'll have serious trouble doing any real damage. OSX is based on a UNIX core, there are far fewer vulnerabilities than with Windows, which is, regrettably, the slutty little whore of the internet.

joeKel73

Doggie Walkie wrote: »

I won't be using the laptop for gaming, literally only bringing to college for Medicine, writing assignments and checking the internet. Nothing more!

The most basic of laptops on the market will be fine for that, definitely no need to spend anywhere close to €1500.

How about this for €466, it's a HP and even looks a bit Mac'y.

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/HP_ProBook_4535s_1134730.html

httpete

Why do people go on about PC brands as if they make the slightest bit of difference. None of the big PC brands like Acer, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony, etc... make manufacture own components, their laptops are all assembled from the same third party components as each other so it doesn't matter a f**k what brand you get, what matters is the spec. You will pay way more for a Sony laptop or a Mac laptop than you will for any other laptop of the same spec. And these brands are counting on the chumps out to there to buy their overpriced stuff because anyone all you are getting for the huge amount of extra cash shelled out is an Apple or Sony logo.

Zillah wrote: »

This isn't true. Macs have traditionally been less vulnerable to viruses for two reasons: One; as you said, they just weren't targeted much in the past, but 2; OSX is designed much more intelligently to protect core processes than Windows. You might get a virus on a Mac but it'll have serious trouble doing any real damage. OSX is based on a UNIX core, there are far fewer vulnerabilities than with Windows, which is, regrettably, the slutty little whore of the internet.

Viruses are blown out of proportion, completely and utterly disgracefully blown out of all proportion. What's a virus going to do? Set your browser homepage to something else? And that is on the extremely rare occasion you do get a virus, I can count on one finger the number of times I got a virus in the last 5 years and I am on the net more than 99% of people. Just install a free anti-virus like Avast and your chances of getting your browser homepage hijacked or whatever will go way down. The 'dangers of viruses' is just a racket by the vested interests to sell more anti-virus software.

OP, if you know someone who works in software development ask them to pick you out a laptop with a decent spec. €1000+ is an absolutely ridiculous amount of money for the spec that would suffice for you. You should be able to get something well under €500 that will perform exactly the same under your conditions of use. You will literally not notice the difference between a€500 laptop and a €1000 for what you need it for, and you will have €500 extra to spend on whatever you want.

I had a quick look on Amazon.co.uk and this spec is excellent for the price - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-laptop-DVDSMDL-Windows-Premium/dp/B007C16VJE/ref=sr_1_26?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1342112964&sr=1-26

It's about €500 and has a better spec than all the other laptops in its price range. 2nd gen i3 processor and 6GB RAM and 750 hard drive. That spec is a good bit better than my laptop and I use mine for software development.

httpete

J o e wrote: »

The most basic of laptops on the market will be fine for that, definitely no need to spend anywhere close to €1500.

How about this for €466, it's a HP and even looks a bit Mac'y.

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/HP_ProBook_4535s_1134730.html

I would advise not to get this laptop and to spend the extra €20 approx. for the one I posted that has a vastly better processor, 50% more ram and 33% bigger hard drive. Even the integrated Intel HD 3000 Graphics performs better than the Radeon in the HP. The Asus is prob the best deal going at the moment.

joeKel73

httpete wrote: »

Why do people go on about PC brands as if they make the slightest bit of difference. None of the big PC brands like Acer, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony, etc... make manufacture own components, their laptops are all assembled from the same third party components as each other so it doesn't matter a f**k what brand you get, what matters is the spec.

It's true that the brand makes no difference to the performance, it's down to the components which are made by third parties. But the build quality of the laptop is worth consideration.

Especially for a college student, who'll be carrying it in and out of college every day over several years. I got a cheap "E-Machines" laptop in first year that had very good specs and components but the laptop ultimately started falling apart over time. So it is worth getting something well built too.

joeKel73

httpete wrote: »

I would advise not to get this laptop and to spend the extra €20 approx. for the one I posted that has a vastly better processor, 50% more ram and 33% bigger hard drive. Even the integrated Intel HD 3000 performs better than the Radeon in the HP.

The OP said they only wanted a HP or Apple. Don't agree with it but no point offering them an Asus. That one was selected as it was one of the cheapest HPs that appear to be of a decent build and with specs more than capable of the OPs requirements (Word processing and web browsing). There are of course better non-HP options for cheaper.

httpete

J o e wrote: »

The OP said they only wanted a HP or Apple. Don't agree with it but no point offering them an Asus.

There is a point. The OP has admitted they know nothing about computers so I am trying to save them getting rode on the price by paying extra for nothing but a logo. If I was in the market for a laptop at that price point at the moment I would be buying that Asus.

fizzyorange

I'd definitely recommend paying no more than €400. You're doing medicine, not comp. sci. so really you don't need a high end laptop. Also I do think limiting your choices to two brands is a tad silly, and since you are limiting yourself to HP or Apple you're going to end up spending more money than you need to really.

Just go myself a laptop with decent specs second hand for €150 myself. I'm heading to college in September and will be using it for the same reasons as you. I think spending a small fortune on a laptop is absolutely ridiculous.

If you are positive you want an Apple or a HP however, why not check out apple.ie for refurbished models or take a look at second hand HPs?

Dan_Solo

Zillah wrote: »

This isn't true. Macs have traditionally been less vulnerable to viruses for two reasons: One; as you said, they just weren't targeted much in the past, but 2; OSX is designed much more intelligently to protect core processes than Windows. You might get a virus on a Mac but it'll have serious trouble doing any real damage. OSX is based on a UNIX core, there are far fewer vulnerabilities than with Windows, which is, regrettably, the slutty little whore of the internet.

This is total fanboy nonsense.
Don't take my word, take Charlie Miller's, one of the best hackers on earth.

"I'd say that Macs are less secure for the reasons we've discussed here (lack of anti-exploitation technologies) but are more safe because there simply isn't much malware out there. For now, I'd still recommend Macs for typical users as the odds of something targeting them are so low that they might go years without seeing any malware, even though if an attacker cared to target them it would be easier for them."

NOTE TO OP: This doesn't mean that point 1 isn't still true. Because Macs are rarer, there are less viruses made for them, so they are indeed safer.

RolandIRL

Personally I wouldn't go with a Mac. IMO it's not value for money, especially given what you've said you'll be using it for. Windows 7 is very secure in terms of viruses. As long as you're not blindly opening every file websites throw at you, you won't come across a virus. Common sense will protect you from most viruses, but having an anti-virus program like MS Security Essentials won't do any harm. Never pay for anti-virus. It's a complete waste of money. Uninstall any crapware like McAfee that comes with the laptop you buy.

Post over in the Laptops forum if you want to get more opinions about the best laptop for your needs. I haven't looked properly for one, but if you're not doing serious gaming or video editing, you'll be okay with a ~€400 laptop. Documents and browsing can be done on any machine, though don't go for a netbook, the screens are way too small on them.

pourquoi

I find Samsung are great machines! I was hesitant buying one at first, but I've had no problems one year on. You can get great spec Samsungs for good prices.

As much as I would love a Macbook, they're very overpriced for the spec that you get.

A year ago, ~€650 got me an 2.3GHz i5 processor, 6GB RAM, 750GB HDD, 1GB dedicated graphics. While I wouldn't be using it for games, I'd use Photoshop fairly heavily for editing photos and it didn't break a sweat. Physically, it's a fairly robust machine, though I suppose I would be considered a "careful user" in terms of physically handling it (I keep it in a padded messenger bag).

Don't always think that more expensive is better, though.

TheCosmicFrog

Zillah wrote: »

This isn't true. Macs have traditionally been less vulnerable to viruses for two reasons: One; as you said, they just weren't targeted much in the past, but 2; OSX is designed much more intelligently to protect core processes than Windows. You might get a virus on a Mac but it'll have serious trouble doing any real damage. OSX is based on a UNIX core, there are far fewer vulnerabilities than with Windows, which is, regrettably, the slutty little whore of the internet.

This.

Macs aren't as bolted down in terms of the user/root separation as Linux, but are a damn-sight more secure than Windows, at least conceptually. In reality, it's not a fair fight. It is true, however, that anti-virus software is mostly overblown nonsense that's unnecessary in a modern operating system.

Just remember not to download "song.mp3.exe" and you'll be fine...