What laptop should I get for school work and running advanced programs?

[_N3WTON_]

For the past five years I have been successfully using a MacBook Pro. However, unfortunately, I spilled beer on my laptop about a week ago so the MacBook is no more. I don't really stay up to date on the advancements of computer hardware, so I was hoping somebody could suggest to me a good laptop to use. I will primarily be using the laptop for school work, specifically, for running Wolfram Mathematica, MATLab, and AutoDesk Inventor, and PTC Creo. Thanks in advance :)

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Do you not wish to buy another MacBook or iBook?

For windows I stick with Asus or Toshiba laptops. Here are a few solid but affordable choices:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HNWLYSK/?tag=pfamazon01-20

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L0EC5AS/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[enorbet]

Unless the laptop tripped a breaker in your home it is possible that it is not dead, just "mucked up". Since you assume it is dead, you have nothing to lose (but a little time) in trying to fix it and you may learn something valuable in the process. PCs are remarkably well protected with their own versions of circuit breakers and fast-response protection devices. Likely the residue is simply just shorting out important connections.

Most laptops are fairly intuitive as to how they are disassembled since all connections are shaped and keyed in some way to avoid wrong connections and orientations. Many have free tech manuals with exploded views for assembly/disassembly available online. Once the keyboard and mainboard are separated and out of the housing, they can literally be washed in warm, mildly soapy water, rinsed, and dried (even a hair dryer will suffice for drying just not on a hot setting or in close proximity) and once THOROUGHLY dry, reassembled and reborn.

 

[_N3WTON_]

Do you not wish to buy another MacBook or iBook?

For windows I stick with Asus or Toshiba laptops. Here are a few solid but affordable choices:

I was very satisfied with my macbook, unfortunately I do not have the money at this time to buy another, however I will definitely check out your recommendations, thanks

 

[_N3WTON_]

Unless the laptop tripped a breaker in your home it is possible that it is not dead, just "mucked up". Since you assume it is dead, you have nothing to lose (but a little time) in trying to fix it and you may learn something valuable in the process. PCs are remarkably well protected with their own versions of circuit breakers and fast-response protection devices. Likely the residue is simply just shorting out important connections.

Most laptops are fairly intuitive as to how they are disassembled since all connections are shaped and keyed in some way to avoid wrong connections and orientations. Many have free tech manuals with exploded views for assembly/disassembly available online. Once the keyboard and mainboard are separated and out of the housing, they can literally be washed in warm, mildly soapy water, rinsed, and dried (even a hair dryer will suffice for drying just not on a hot setting or in close proximity) and once THOROUGHLY dry, reassembled and reborn.

Thanks for the response. I know most PC are very easy to disassemble, however, I've been told that this is not the case for apple products, especially MacBooks. I was told I risk doing serious damage if I attempt to take apart the macbook, would you disagree?

 

[_N3WTON_]

Here are a few solid but affordable choices:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HNWLYSK/?tag=pfamazon01-20

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L0EC5AS/?tag=pfamazon01-20

Again thanks for the recommendations, those are way cheaper than I expected. However, according to my schools Mechanical Engineering/ Mathematics departments, my laptop should have the following specifications:
Windows 7 (latest OS for Mac)

i5 Processor

4GB Memory

250GB 7200rpm Hard Drive

N Wireless Card
I noticed that the laptops you recommended have i3 processors, would that still be sufficient to run the aforementioned applications?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I noticed that the laptops you recommended have i3 processors, would that still be sufficient to run the aforementioned applications?

Yes, but certainly i5 or i7 would be better, although they would put the price up to $600-$800. What is your budget?

 

[_N3WTON_]

Yes, but certainly i5 or i7 would be better, although they would put the price up to $600-$800. What is your budget?

I was hoping to find something for under $600. Also, I have a separate question that perhaps you could answer. On my Macbook, I had paid for MatLab, etc (all of the programs I mentioned above) will I have to buy these applications again when I get my new laptop?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

On my Macbook, I had paid for MatLab, etc (all of the programs I mentioned above) will I have to buy these applications again when I get my new laptop?

Most likely, but you can get student versions right? It also might be worth contacting the companies and asking if there is a solution or at least a discount.

 

[_N3WTON_]

Most likely, but you can get student versions right? It also might be worth contacting the companies and asking if there is a solution or at least a discount.

yes I get the student versions; however, the student versions are still about $100 a piece :(

 

[_N3WTON_]

Except for PTC Creo/Inventor, which I believe is free

 

[_N3WTON_]

Either way thanks a lot for the recommendations, that Toshiba seems like a bargain...one of my friends has had a Toshiba for at least 7 years and it still runs pretty well..

 

[_N3WTON_]

Hey, if I order one of those laptops through Amazon how can I be sure that PF gets a % of the purchase?

 

[DataGG]

Most likely, but you can get student versions right? It also might be worth contacting the companies and asking if there is a solution or at least a discount.

Really? Mathematica/Matlab is tied to a certain computer? Can't he just use his key in his new laptop? Wasn't the key sent by e-mail or something?

OP: What about Lenovo? I've heard good things about Lenovo.

 

[_N3WTON_]

Really? Mathematica/Matlab is tied to a certain computer? Can't he just use his key in his new laptop? Wasn't the key sent by e-mail or something?

OP: What about Lenovo? I've heard good things about Lenovo.

I'll have to check and see if I can find my registration keys so that I can test that out. Also, my brother has a Lenovo, its an awesome computer; unfortunately, they are a bit out of my price range

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Hey, if I order one of those laptops through Amazon how can I be sure that PF gets a % of the purchase?

Just make sure you go through the amazon link here:
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/support-pf-buy-on-amazon-com-from-here.473931/

Take your time, make sure it's what you want :)

thanks!

 

[_N3WTON_]

Just make sure you go through the amazon link here:
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/support-pf-buy-on-amazon-com-from-here.473931/

Take your time, make sure it's what you want :)

thanks!

Thanks for the link

 

[_N3WTON_]

So as long as I go to amazon through that link PF will get a cut? Just want to make sure I'm doing this right before I order something..

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

So as long as I go to amazon through that link PF will get a cut?

yup, it adds a little tracking code to the url

 

[_N3WTON_]

yup, it adds a little tracking code to the url

Cool, thanks for the help

 

[_N3WTON_]

I ended up going with this one thanks to your recommendation: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L0EC5AS/?tag=pfamazon01-20 :D

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Satellite's are solid. My wife has had one for a few years.

 

[_N3WTON_]

Satellite's are solid. My wife has had one for a few years.

I've heard that they're very reliable and that Toshiba offers good customer service; I'm thinking its ideal for my needs and should suffice until I can save up to get another MacBook

 

[enorbet]

Thanks for the response. I know most PC are very easy to disassemble, however, I've been told that this is not the case for apple products, especially MacBooks. I was told I risk doing serious damage if I attempt to take apart the macbook, would you disagree?

While it is certainly true that Apple products, especially smaller ones, are harder to disassemble and there is a greater risk for user damage, it is my understanding that you now consider it as damaged as it can possibly be - irretrievably so, so really there is now no risk. Once considered dead, any improvement is gravy. :)

 

[_N3WTON_]

While it is certainly true that Apple products, especially smaller ones, are harder to disassemble and there is a greater risk for user damage, it is my understanding that you now consider it as damaged as it can possibly be - irretrievably so, so really there is now no risk. Once considered dead, any improvement is gravy. :)

this is true...assuming I did take it apart, would I just wash off the mother board in warm water like you mentioned?

 

[enorbet]

this is true...assuming I did take it apart, would I just wash off the mother board in warm water like you mentioned?

Most boards can be washed in warm water but not all, so the first thing is to try to narrow down the affected area. The keyboard is the most common entry point so making sure it is clean comes first. It is also one of the first items to disassemble so this part is easy. Once you're sure there's no residue gumming up the keyboard start looking at the mainboard and any plugins/connectors. Since these are recepticles liquid can often pool there. Fortunately beer tends to gather dust when it dries and the sugars also help to darken it so it's fairly easy to spot entry points and the path(s) it took. I'd first use a QTip to try to spot clean unless it is just awash with beer residue.

The reason I recommend putting off a good dousing till last is that it takes very thorough drying before one should even attempt to power up. It can't hurt you but it can hurt itself if certain key areas are wet and thereby shorted by the water. Distilled water, having higher electrical resistance, minimizes this possibility but drying thoroughly is your best defense. It is also good practice to google any terms you can imagine associated with yours and similar products. Often there are even YouTube guide videos as well as tech manuals.

It would likely be helpful if you could say what, if anything it does or doesn't do when you first tried it after the accident.

 

[_N3WTON_]

Most boards can be washed in warm water but not all, so the first thing is to try to narrow down the affected area. The keyboard is the most common entry point so making sure it is clean comes first. It is also one of the first items to disassemble so this part is easy. Once you're sure there's no residue gumming up the keyboard start looking at the mainboard and any plugins/connectors. Since these are recepticles liquid can often pool there. Fortunately beer tends to gather dust when it dries and the sugars also help to darken it so it's fairly easy to spot entry points and the path(s) it took. I'd first use a QTip to try to spot clean unless it is just awash with beer residue.

The reason I recommend putting off a good dousing till last is that it takes very thorough drying before one should even attempt to power up. It can't hurt you but it can hurt itself if certain key areas are wet and thereby shorted by the water. Distilled water, having higher electrical resistance, minimizes this possibility but drying thoroughly is your best defense. It is also good practice to google any terms you can imagine associated with yours and similar products. Often there are even YouTube guide videos as well as tech manuals.

It would likely be helpful if you could say what, if anything it does or doesn't do when you first tried it after the accident.

Thanks a lot for the instructions. So after the accident I turned off the machine to let it dry. After about 4 hours I tried powering it up again (probably this was a mistake) but it powered up with no problem. Firefox launched but when I tried to use the trackpad it was not working at all, each time I clicked to open a new tab a completely new window would open. Also, the right click feature was completely unresponsive. Finally, when I would close or open a window it would take a really long time and it almost looked like a ghost getting trapped in the ghostbusters device used to capture ghosts (sorry for the weird analogy but I don't know how to describe that issue lol). I powered down and waited 3 days before I tried to power up, but this time it wouldn't even start.

 

[enorbet]

This ^^ is possibly good news. Obviously the area most affected at first was near the trackpad and as most laptops have this at the lower edge of the base (where there are a LOT less important components - ie: power supply and most "workhorse" elements are at the commonly thicker end where the screen attaches) so you may be in luck even after the moderately ill-advised restart after only four hours (with no steady airflow in affected areas). Frankly I wouldn't have attempted to restart it at all without cleaning first but then I work on PCs and Laptops - the residue is nearly as bad as the "wet" and considerably more difficult to remove.

However in this case it is quite possible that some component like the trackpad is now in a "constant on" condition, which can rapidly abort POST. Does the power light even flicker at all briefly? I wouldn't try to power up again just to answer that before examination and attempting cleaning but it is a good sign that it powered up at all after the accident. It's up to you as to how motivated you are to try but it is not hopeless. It could still be fixable and you could learn something that you may find valuable but that will in all likelihood at least be interesting.

 

[_N3WTON_]

This ^^ is possibly good news. Obviously the area most affected at first was near the trackpad and as most laptops have this at the lower edge of the base (where there are a LOT less important components - ie: power supply and most "workhorse" elements are at the commonly thicker end where the screen attaches) so you may be in luck even after the moderately ill-advised restart after only four hours (with no steady airflow in affected areas). Frankly I wouldn't have attempted to restart it at all without cleaning first but then I work on PCs and Laptops - the residue is nearly as bad as the "wet" and considerably more difficult to remove.

However in this case it is quite possible that some component like the trackpad is now in a "constant on" condition, which can rapidly abort POST. Does the power light even flicker at all briefly? I wouldn't try to power up again just to answer that before examination and attempting cleaning but it is a good sign that it powered up at all after the accident. It's up to you as to how motivated you are to try but it is not hopeless. It could still be fixable and you could learn something that you may find valuable but that will in all likelihood at least be interesting.

Thanks again for the help. The power light does not come on at all when I attempt to pOwer up the machine. However, the battery light is green, so I'm assuming that the battery is still charging. Yesterday I watched a few videos on taking apart the macbook, and although it does look sort of difficult I'm going to try it, probably over thanksgiving break when I'm not so busy with class. I'll keep you posted :)

 

[_N3WTON_]

Well I just bought some necessary tools and studied some online guides, I'll let you know how it goes. Since it is my first time I expect I'll break something but it does seem like its good knowledge to have so I can clean out my laptops more thoroughly in the future.