如何购买笔记本电脑 How to buy a laptop文档格式.docx

如何购买笔记本电脑 How to buy a laptop文档格式.docx

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May30,2013bynhinkle.30comments

‘Tistheseason:

asfamilyandfriendsheadofftocollege,therequestsforlaptoprecommendationsstartrollingin.It’sasemi-annualtraditionformetoblogaboutmyrecommendations,solet’sgetstarted!

Ifyouhaven’tseenmy3partserieson“choosingacomputerforcollege”,checkthosepostsoutforsomegoodbackgroundinfothat’smostlystillrelevant:

∙ComputersandCollegePartI:

HowdoIchoose?

∙ComputersandCollegePartII:

SavingMoney

∙ComputersandCollegePartIII:

ProtectingYourComputer

SinceIwrotethosearticlesin2011,thecomputinglandscapehasshifteddramaticallytowardstablets,slates,andaplethoraofweirdhybriddevices.I’llbesplittingupmyrecommendationsintoseveralcategories:

primarylaptops,forstudentswhoplantohaveasinglelaptopforalltheirneeds;

primarytablets,forstudentswhoplantohavealaptop-gradetabletastheirprimarydevice;

andcompaniondevices,forstudentswhoplantohaveadesktopordesktopreplacement,butwantasmall,light,andcheaperdeviceforcarryingaroundcampus.

Whatcategoryworksbestforyouisapersonalchoice,butmoststudentsIknowhaveaprimarylaptop,andafewhavecompaniondeviceslikeAndroidtabletsoriPads.Iexpectthathavingaprimarytabletwillbecomemorepopularthoughastouchhardwareimprovesandbecomesmoreeconomical.

Generaladvice

Regardlessofwhatmobilecomputingdeviceyouchoose,herearethemostimportantfactorstoconsiderforanacademicenvironment:

∙IntelisreleasingitsnewHaswellseriesofprocessorsthissummer,andhasannouncedbatterylifeimprovementsaround50%comparedtocurrent-generationIvyBridgeprocessors.Oncethesearereleased,newlaptopswillhavemuchbetterbatterylifeandperformance,andprevious-generationlaptopswillcomedowninprice.So:

ifyoucanaffordtowaituntillaterthissummertobuyyourlaptop,youprobablyshould!

∙Withcollegecomesa.eduemailaddress.Useittoyouradvantage:

youshouldbegettingatleast10%offonanylaptoppurchases.Allmajorcompanieshavestudentdiscounts,herearelinkstoafew:

∙DellAcademicDiscount

∙AppleEducationStore

∙LenovoStudentDiscountandLenovoBarnesandNoblediscount（10-20%cheaper,requiresafreeaccount）

∙MicrosoftStudentStore

∙HPAcademy（IrecommendagainstbuyingHPlaptops–seemoreinfobelow）

∙Considerarefurbishedcomputer.Dell,Lenovo,andAppleallhaveonline“outlet”storeswhereyoucangetrefurbishedcomputersinbrand-newconditionwithafullwarranty,oftenforseveralhundreddollarsoffthenormalprice.Thesearecomputersthatwerereturnedunused（orbarelyused）.Forexample,anX1Carboncanbehadfor$870fromtheLenovoOutlet,vs.$1200new.

∙Getacomputerthatwilllast.It’sbettertospendmoremoneyupfrontandnothavetoreplaceyourlaptopintwoyearswhenitbreaks.I’mlookin’atyou,HP.

∙Weightandsizemattermorethanyourealize. 

Yourclasseswillbefarapart,yourbookswillbeheavy,andinsomelecturehalls 

yourdesksmaybeassmallasasheetofpaper.ThestudentsIknowwhohaveheavylaptopsrarelybringthemtoclass,andcomplainbitterlywhentheydohaveto.Thoseofuswithlightlaptopsbringthemeverywhere.ThenumberoneregretI’veheardwithlaptoppurchasesis“it’stooheavy/large”.Don’tgetanythingover5pounds,andshootforaround3-4lbsifyoucan.Iwouldn’tsuggestalaptopanylargerthan14″,andifyou’reconsideringsuchalargelaptop,tryoneoutinpersonfirstifatallpossible.

∙Lookupthird-partyreviewstofigureouttherealbatterylife.Nothing’sworsethanrunningoutofbatteryhalfwaythroughathreehourclass.Ifyoucangetanextendedbattery,do.Alargerbatteryaddsweight,butapoweradaptercanweightjustasmuchifnotmore（andisbulkytoo）.

∙Getthehighestresolutionscreen 

availablethatyoucanafford. 

Ahigherresolutionmeanstherearemorepixelsonthescreen,makingeverythinglooksmootherandmakingitpossibletofitmorewindowsonthescreenatonce.Thismakesitaloteasiertoworkonassignmentswhenyoucanputtwowindowsnexttoeachothercomfortably.

∙Getadual-bandwirelesscard.Thenomenclatureisprettyvariablehere,butlookforanythingthatsays“dualband”,“5GHz”,orsupports“802.11a”or“wirelessNb/g/n/a“.Mostuniversitieswillhavea5GHzwirelessNnetwork,whichwillexperiencelesscongestionandinterferencethanthestandard2.4GHzspectrum.Thisoptionmaycostextra,butIassureyouit’sworthit:

inacrowdedlecturehall,itcanmeanthedifferencebetweennointernetatallandbeingabletobrowsewhateverresourcesyouneed.InadormitcanmeanthedifferencebetweenDSLspeedsandspeedsover100Mbps.

∙Don’tpaymoneyforantivirussoftware.Thereareplentyoffreeoptions,andifyougetacomputerwithWindows8it’llhaveantivirussoftwarebuiltin.

∙Don’tbuyMicrosoftOffice,Adobeproducts,oranyother“addon”softwarewhenyouorderyourlaptop.Thistypeofsoftwareistypicallyavailablewith 

hugestudentdiscountseitheronlineorthroughyourcampusbookstore.Also,softwareyoubuywithyourcomputerisnon-transferable,whilesoftwareyoubuyseparatelycanbereinstalledonadifferentcomputerifyouswitchmachinesinthefuture.

Specificrecommendations

Primarylaptops

Inmymind,therearereallyjusttwocampswhenitcomestolaptopsforcollege:

ThinkPadsandMacBooks.I’llmentionafewotheroptions,buthearmeoutfirst:

you’re（hopefully）goingtobeincollegeforabout4years.You’regoingtobespendingasignificantamountofmoneyonyourlaptop,andyou’regoingtobeusingitdailyforyears.Youwantsomethingthatlasts.ImadethemistakeofgettinganHPlaptopforcollege,andnotonlydiditdieinlessthan2years,but 

everysinglepersonIknowwhogotsimilarHPlaptopshadvariousproblems.ThreeyearslaterIonlyknow2peoplewhoseHPlaptopsarestillworkingatall,andtherewereabout20ofuswhohadsimilarlaptopsfreshmanyear.

BothThinkPadsandMacBooksareknownfortheirquality,andwithstudentdiscountscanbereasonablyaffordable.Youstillmightpayalittlemoreupfront,butyou’llspendmoremoneylong-termifyouhavetoreplaceyourlaptopsophomoreyear–nottomentionthehassleofhavingyourlaptopdieduringfinalsweek.I’mtellingyouthisfromexperience,folks. 

Ifyoudogoforadifferentbrand,trytogettheirbusinesslineifatallpossible–forexample,chooseDell’sLatitudeseriesovertheirInspirons,orHP’sProBooksovertheirPavilions.Business-gradelaptopsmaynotbeasshiny,buttheyaremuchmoredurable.

ForbothThinkPadsandMacbooksyouhavetwocategoriestochoosefrom:

thinandlightultrabooks,andheaviermachineswithmoreprocessingpower.Ultrabookstendtobemoreexpensiveandlessupgradable,butaredesirablefortheirweightandsize.WithMacsthelargercomputersaren’tupgradablethesedayseither,soitreallycomesdowntowhatyourneedsareintermsofprocessingpower.

ThinkPadT430（from$680）

TheT430isontheheaviersidefora 

14″laptop,butisoneofthemostversatilelaptopsyoucanget.Weighinginat4.6lbs（5withthe9cellbattery）,ithasafull-powerprocessorandmanyuser-upgradableparts.Keyfeaturesandspecificationsinclude:

∙Full-powerIvyBridge 

Intelprocessors,froma3.3GHz 

Core-i5uptoa3.5GHzCore-i7

∙Oneeasy-accessRAMslot（withasecondslotunderthekeyboard）.Thedefaultconfigurationcomeswithasingle4GBmemorymodule,andit’seasy（andcheaper!

）toaddyourownsecondmoduleafterpurchase.

∙SATA32.5″harddriveslot,whichisalsoeasytoaccessandupgradetoanSSD（whichischeaperthanpreconfiguringanSSD）.

∙UltraBaywhichcansupportaDVDwriter（default）,orasecondfull-size2.5″harddrive.

∙mSATA/miniPCI-Eslotwhichcanbeusedfor 

eitheraWWANmobileinternetmoduleoranmSATASSD

∙IntelHD4000graphics,orNvidiaNVS5400Mswitchablegraphics

∙Webcam,optionalbacklitkeyboard,MiniDisplayport,VGA,USB3.0,SDcardreader,optionalfingerprintreader

∙Optional1600×

900（default1366×

768）display–thisisahighlyrecommendedupgrade!

∙6cellor9cellbattery

∙Variouswirelessoptions–makesuretogettheIntelCentrino6205or6300togetsupportfor5GHznetworks

Fulltechspecs

ThinkPadX230（from$760）

TheX230hassimilarspecificationstotheT430,butissmaller（12.5″）and 

significantly 

lighterat2.96pounds.Italsohasafullpoweredprocessorandisuser-upgradable.Thisisprobablythemostcustomizableandupgradablelaptopinthissizerange.Additionaloptionsinclude:

∙Full-powerIvyBridgeIntelprocessors,froma2.4GHzCore-i3,3.1GHzCore-i5,uptoa3.6GHzCore-i7

∙Twoeasy-accessRAMslots.Defaultconfigurationcomeswithasingle4GBmemorymodule.

∙SATA32.5″harddriveslot

∙NoDVDorultrabayslot

∙mSATA/miniPCI-Eslot,whichcanbeusedfor 

∙IntelHD4000graphics

∙Webcam,optionalbacklitkeyboard,MiniDisplayPort,VBA,USB3.0,SDcardreader,optionalfingerprintreader

∙Only1366×

768screen,butthere 

isanIPSdisplayoption.IPSscreenshavemuchbetterviewinganglesandcolors.Thisisahighlyrecommendedupgrade!

∙3,6,or9cellbattery

∙Variouswirelessoptions- 

makesuretogettheIntelCentrino6205or6300togetsupportfor5GHznetworks

ThinkPadX1Carbon（from$1200）

TheX1CarbonistheUltrabookofThinkPads,andisoneofthenicestmachinesyoucanget.At2.9