Would this laptop work well with a future undergraduate?

Greetings NotebookReview denizens.

Good. I'm glad we can be friends.

Moving on.

My primary mission here is to hear your opinions and personal stories so that I can figure out if this computer would work well with me, the college freshman.



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A little about myself, before the questions:

• I am an avid computer user, usually clocking in around 6-8 hours per day on average.
  
  
• My University is liberal arts, and my prospective majors are, but not limited to, Philosophy, PoliSci, Econ, English, and a consideration into Physics and CompSci.
  What this translates to is around 5 pages of writing every night, give or take.
  
  
• I am a heavy Photoshop user.
  
  
• I am a light gamer. I spend a few hours each week on GMod, TF2, and CSS.
  
  
• I will not (roommate permitting) have a TV or console system in my dorm.
  
  
• I do, however, have a external 22" monitor, Saitek Eclipse II, and Logitech G5 mouse.
  
  
• I am very certain I want this computer, not so much the price, but I'll stomach it. My other considerations were the HP Envy 14, which I dropped due to lack of ports, and the Toshiba Satellite M640-BT2N22, which I dropped due to lower specs for the same price.
  
  

Ask anything else you want, thanks!


Questions:

Would this laptop be better than it's paint-chip eating cousin, the netbook?

How about productivity?

Is typing painful for someone with big hands, like myself?

Are there any significant problems that inhibit this laptop's portability?

Is it worth it to get the extended warranty?

Seeing as I am a near-broke-soon-to-be-college-student, would you recommend I get this system for futureproofing reasons versus a more budget system?

How well does Dell handle RMA/Tech Support?

Is the color gamut really that bad?

Does the small screen inhibit long usage times (Neck strain, carpal tunnel, etc.)?

Can you disable the laptop going to sleep when the screen is closed?

What other features would I benefit, or not, from this system?

Tell me any personal stories you want! I am all ears, and very thankful!


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I'll be in my second year of grad school starting in the fall, having finished undergrad in May 2009. Given the last five+ years of my life are college experience, I think I can give some advice.

Would this laptop be better than it's paint-chip eating cousin, the netbook?
depends on your uses. No one can answer this without knowing what you do with a computer. The battery life is good, and it's more powerful than a netbook, for what that's worth.

How about productivity?
Productivity in terms of what? It's certainly do Firefox/MS Office/etc.

Is typing painful for someone with big hands, like myself?
Yes, it's good--certainly better than netbooks. Of course this is a personal issue. They sell them at Best Buy so go try one there and compare it to others.

Are there any significant problems that inhibit this laptop's portability?
It's small and has good battery life, so no, not really. Keep in mind the better the cpu you get, the worse the battery life is. Every CPU available is better than netbooks, though.

Is it worth it to get the extended warranty?
Maybe! Only get it if you can haggle it down. I paid $150 for 3 years of accidental damage protection from squaretrade.com. Price out the system as you want it, go on squaretrade.com to check the price of a warranty there (also google around for coupons for it because there's usually a 30-50% one floating around), then go on with Dell and haggle. If they beat Squaretrade, go with Dell. If not, go with ST . Since you'll be in college, I do highly recommend accidental damage. People will be in and out of your room all the time, and those red Dixie cups tend to spill...

Seeing as I am a near-broke-soon-to-be-college-student, would you recommend I get this system for futureproofing reasons versus a more budget system?
Again, this depends on what you do. If everything you do doesn't require more than a netbook, then this is certainly overkill. Word processing isn't going to start using twice the resources when the next generation of the software comes out, after all. It also depends how long you plan to keep it.

How well does Dell handle RMA/Tech Support?
can't answer this one, as I haven't had to deal with them.

Is the color gamut really that bad?
Comparatively, yes. It certainly doesn't won't hurt your eyes, but it isn't great compared to many other laptops.

Does the small screen inhibit long usage times (Neck strain, carpal tunnel, etc.)?
Nope! You are actually a step ahead of me. I bought a 15.4" notebook for my freshman year of undergrad, and I ended up taking it nowhere because it was too big to carry around. After my sophomore year, I sold it for a 12.1" laptop and fell in love with the new one. I used the 12.1" way more than I ever did the 15.4", both at my desk and in others' rooms (my campus was wireless ). Sure, the m11x is an inch smaller, but it really isn't that different. Rather than the screen size inhibiting long usage, it promotes it!

Can you disable the laptop going to sleep when the screen is closed?
yep--that's a Window's feature not tied to any particular laptop.

What other features would I benefit, or not, from this system?
I only have the R2 (second edition), but it runs quiet. The one problem I had with my 12.1" I used junior/senior years was it pretty much constantly ran the fan on high, and people in class sometimes noticed.

Tell me any personal stories you want! I am all ears, and very thankful!
I recommend getting a notebook stand or cooler only to keep it off the desk. That way if a drink spills on your desk (and not on the laptop directly), the liquid will not end up running underneath and up against it because it will be raised off the desk. Table top space is at a premium in college (all you're going to get is your desk and a dresser), so there will be food and drinks on your desk.

 

Graduated a year ago, and wish I had something like this back then. I own an R1, and with lowest brightness settings (keyboard lights still on) I get roughly 7 hours from the battery while just browsing. If you aren't tempted during classes and will just be typing notes, you could likely get even more life out of it.

If you're living on campus, get the extended/accidental warranty for at least the first year or two. If you live at home, you may be able to live without it or just a year.

Typing is not painful for large hands--I'm 6'1 with fairly large hands, and have little to no issue. Maybe after prolonged use you would feel something, but not bad. I should also mention the keys are silent, which would be useful during classes.

 

Completely agreed, I was in the exact same situation. Bought myself an awesome 15" HP with great resolution, used it for a month then sold it to a friend of mine and picked up an asus 12.1". That lasted me up until 4th year when I switched it up for an XPS 1530. My mom is still using the 12" to this day. Portability is much more important in a university/college situation cause you never really know where/who's house you will be working at.

 

I actually found a netbook adequate for most tasks in grad school (including statistical modeling). It won't run advanced scientific simulations / CAD / etc but that is what school computers are for.

If you go with a netbook I'd recommend buying a screen ($100 or so on newegg) to give yourself some more screen space at your desk.

I'm 6'4'' and have large hands, and typing was never a problem for me (I'm a very fast touch typist).

Unless you are doing graphically demanding work (photoshop, drawing programs, etc) for your major an m11x is overkill unless you want a machine for gaming in your free time ... in which case its probably your best option.

 

I see other people have answered your specific questions, so I will answer simply.

The M11X is one of the best laptops a new college student could buy, it will run everything you need for school and at the press of a button let you play all the hottest games. It is small and light so it doesn't take up space. It is quiet so it doesn't annoy others in class. The battery lasts upwards of 8 hours of note taking, so you are good for a full day of classes. In the overall I would say it would be hard to beat the M11X for a single computer to take to college. The only better solution would be a cheap netbook and a desktop, but that is really more of a hassle and a higher chance of things getting stolen.

All of that coming from someone going into my third year of college this fall.

 

What a first post!

I'd say most any laptop would work, get what you prefer. With this laptop you get ~4.5lbs of carry weight, <12" of size, and the extra ability to play games (for a laptop this size).

I think the only real problem you might see is with a netbook running an atom processor or similar. Other than that you should be good.

And for reference, I carried around a 17" laptop my entire college career. I loved the thing, but it was definitely a hassle sometimes.

 

Actually I weighed it at work...its 4.9 lbs with a regular ol' HDD. The weight isn't very noticeable in a backpack though. You will easily have books heavier than this machine, especially if you are in a major like the sciences (like me) or engineering.

And this laptop works beautifully for school. To keep form sounding repetitive, all I can say is this is the best compromise if you are looking for a computer that you can do EVERYTHING and in the smallest footprint possible. Aside from the Acer TimelineX 3820TG and Sony Vaio Z (It's physically bigger), there's really no other options out there that have the portability/battery life of a netbook, while having good gaming capability. Besides the price isn't half bad for what you get.

And I'm a graduating senior in Biochemistry FYI.

 

Fantastic! I am 6'6" myself, so this is very good news.


Thanks for all the feedback guys!

 

Yeah, I just can't see myself with anything bigger than 14", which is not to say my campus is big or I will be carrying my computer everywhere, but every pound counts.

Just what I wanted to hear. I really don't want to slow down performance just because I'm going mobile.

I agree with the price too. Kinda why I don't like Mac or the HP Envy 14.