Computers & Networking

[Drew-Intel]

as starflyer mentioned, a budget of $2000 or so gives you many, many choices.

here are three machines that should do a fairly good job of fulfilling your academic needs:

* asus U81A-RX05: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9366562&type=product&id=1218092151327

* hp dv6-1259dx: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9415091&type=product&id=1218101178783

* dell X1640-026B: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9353399&type=product&id=1218090334197

they all sport intel core 2 duo processors, have plenty of system memory to keep the OS snappy, and come with spacious hard drives. all three of the machines also have decent battery life and the wireless connectivity capabilities that you'll appreciate while on campus.

[Adamtech Emerging Expert]

Great choice Drew, I can say that those models have been very popular here in my store atleast.

[mikelinley]

I have not had any problems with my HP laptop..pavilion series...excellent laptop!

[Adamtech Emerging Expert]

Please do not post links to personal webpages.

[Entropy]

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Adamtech wrote:

Please do not post links to personal webpages.

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I could see posting a link to a RELEVANT personal webpage (e.g. if someone wrote a HOWTO for fixing an oddball problem...), but those look spammish to me.

So far the OP has not stated any specific requirement that would rule out a Macbook, other than his original post saying that it doesn't meet their requirements.

What, exactly, about the Macbooks doesn't meet your requirements?

If you are specifically looking for a particular Windows app you occasionaly use - that's what Boot Camp and/or virtualization are for.