What Are the Best Laptops for Engineering Students on a Budget?

[makethings]

I need a laptop

Criteria:
Thin and light as possible (<= 1" thick, < 4 lbs)
NO need for optical drive (i don't want the option where you could remove an optical drive, i need a laptop where they take into consideration not putting an optical drive in its design which I think makes for a much thinner laptop)
large capacity hard drive (at least 60GB)
core duo but not necessary
no less than 1 GB ram
no specific graphics requirement
USB ports - yes
wireless lan connection
12.1" , 13.3", or 14" screen ok...15" might be too big and more expensive
no need for built in webcam
long battery life
low cost as much as possible (trying for max 1200 USD) so I kinda want to rule out sony.
no apple's please. I'm an engineering student and need to use some windows software in my studies.
So has anyone come across anything close to this?

 

[imabug]

a tablet PC might be something you want to consider. Some of the ones I've seen meet most of your criteria aside from maybe the CPU and price range. $1200 isn't much for any kind of laptop especially considering some of your criteria.

 

[z-component]

Take a look at hp.com's notebooks and play around with their customizations.

 

[0rthodontist]

For an extremely light & small laptop, you could look at the Sony VAIO TX series and see if you can find one on sale, though be warned: before buying a tiny laptop, test the tiny keyboard out by typing a few paragraphs in a text editor. If it's uncomfortable you might want to go to the next larger size. I don't think you're going to find a laptop without an optical drive, and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't really want one. What if you need to install some software? When I was buying a laptop this weekend I saw a Toshiba model, 4.1 lbs, that fit most of your specs (and had a non-cramped keyboard too). What windows software do you need? You can, for example, put MS Office on a mac for ~$150 if you get the student edition, and there are free alternatives to Office. Having just bought a MacBook, I recommend it. The user interface takes some getting used to but it has many convenient features that Windows does not.

 

[makethings]

A friend showed me his new macbook and had windowns running on it.. it looks like an attractive laptop but still heavy. sony is just too damn expensive..tablet might not be what i am looking for. Am i not going to use it to make notes or anything... just a lot of typing.

 

[Anttech]

take a look at dell..

http://www.dell.com/content/product...s=dhs&cs=19&a=6422~0~28025&navla=6422~0~28025

 

[0rthodontist]

I was looking for a very light laptop too but the macbook seems pretty light to me at 5.1 lbs. Maybe your friend has the MacBook Pro--that's a larger machine.

 

[J77]

My laptop meets a lot of those specs...

Fujitsu-Siemens 7020S - http://www.laptopshop.co.uk/FUJITSU_SIEMENS-Lifebook_S_7020-laptop-3-nd2.htm

 

[robphy]

How long is "long battery life"?

Check out Dell's XPS1210 in Anttech's link. I almost got one... but it (with the webcam option) was out of my price range at the time.

Take a look at Motion's LE1600 slate TabletPC http://www.motioncomputing.com/ . (There are wired and wireless keyboard options, when you need one.) I have a now ancient 3lb, fanless M1200 slate TabletPC.. and have been very happy with it. I get about 3hrs of battery time. If you are unfamiliar with TabletPCs, take a lot at my blog entry
https://www.physicsforums.com/blog/2006/05/20/tabletpcs-for-science-and-science-teaching/

A place for dream ultraportables is http://www.dynamism.com/

 

[makethings]

Right now I'm looking at Dell Latitude D420.. Anyone have this one?

 

[Stevedye56]

I have a dell laptop although not the D420. I have the C600. It hasent given me any problems yet. I know mines old but it works for what i need. However Dell desktops in the past have ALWAYS broken for me. Our first had a dying hdd. This one now has a dying power source and probably a hdd also. I say down with dell and build custom desktops! just kidding. The laptops are very durible and will last a good beating.

 

[robphy]

I have a D620 and I'm very happy with it. While the D420 is nice and small, I preferred the CPU and Video-adapter options on the D620.

 

[PerennialII]

Got a Dell M90 laptop some weeks ago. Very happy with it and can work with some really large 3D stuff with it, although I should have probably thought about its dimensions and weight before ordering. Can't say my Dell laptops have stood out from other brands in any negative way, all can have their issues and problems. If you need any graphics performance would recommend to take it into account, some of the "lower" models don't really deliver 'much' in that respect.

 

[vadslram]

I have two that will work.
The panasonic toughbook Y4
and the Micron U1000
I mostly use the Micron because with the aux battery (puts weight at 4.2 lbs) I get 7 hrs full use or 5 hrs playing DVD movie on a plane.
Both have decent video, can take the RAM you want, have neatly integrated optical drives and have all the inputs and network capabilities.

The stock Y4 is 3.4 lbs , U1000 standard bat is 3.8

I'm not sure the going price these days but it's around your range.