Bringing a Gaming Notebook to College

First thing I want to say is, I did not know where to post this and I am guessing this is the wrong section so I apologize for that. I do however need this anwered as quickly as possible.


So, Im bringing a 9.1lbs. notebook with me to class. With all the other material( AC adapter, books etc...) it should come in to about 12/13 lbs. on my back. Is there any backpack made to carry that much? Is this bad for the back?


As this is my gaming laptop I really take care of it Id like to know what I should do between classes. Do you turn it off and put it in your backpack and turn it back on every class? If I turn it off and on every hour doesnt this wear out the material inside? Can I just carry it while its on or is this bad for the components? What about sleep mode? Is this bad as turning the system on and off?

Thanks in advance!

 

All I can say is your crazy...imagine trying to fit that thing on a tiny desk in class...and/or the stupid looks you'll get everywhere trying to putt out a gaming laptop.

 

No no no, this is not a good idea. I have the same problem as you. I got one HP DV2699eo Special Edition wich I only use at school. And this laptop is 2 years old now (Only been used 1 year at school). I bring it with me every singel day. But, now the problems start, first my f3 and f4 buttons is off. My left side "screen holder" has fall of so it is just empty you know that thing wich holds my screen. (Can post a picture if someone want). My battery is dead. Right click of my mouse is nearly falling off. My HDD has started to make noise (changed the standar one about 1 year ago, but this laptop hangs with my all day). Finger print reader is not working anymore (I used it between every lesson becouse I need to shutdown my computer before I change classrom (...). It is getting very hot (Yes I regulary clean it). You can see that on keyboard that I use it every day (Not nice as first year). Paint has started to rip of some places. So, now this is the last months of this laptop, I'm going to buy a netbook or something. I'm never going to bring my qosmio to the class, that is for sure

 

Use a rolling backpack, or maybe get a netbook to take to class instead?

 

Here was my solution:

1) Buy gaming computer for college.
2) Go to college.
3) Skip class most days to play computer games.

This neatly avoids the questions about carrying your computer, as well as turning it off/on or battery life. (Of course, this may cause a few other problems... I just said it's what I did, not that it was recommended.... )

Of course, I learned I had to stop doing this eventually - after all I couldn't just barricade myself in my room all day and play computer games. So I learned to shoot pool, and spent most days drinking beer at the pool hall instead. (Again, fun at the time, but not exactly recommended! )

 

There are gaming backpacks out there for you to use and they should be able to support that much weight if not more. I had a 15.4 MSI that I carried with me to class, but I would not suggest taking to class with you on days you do not need them. Depends on how far you walk, carrying that heavy thing starts to hurt your back after awhile. As far as leaving it on, just shut down the screen, put it in your backpack and your good to go. That way you don't have to clean boot every time and as battery life is concern, its good about a year then you would notice that battery life would slowly diminished.

 

Buy a netbook for going to class and keep your gaming notebook for the occasional carry to library or wherever you study.

 

Yep, this is what I was going to say. You can get a good netbook for like 3-4 hundred nowdays.
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I leave my 17inch gaming laptop at home. For School I bring my gaming netbook (I commute). I have an Asus N10J-A2 (netbook). Basically if I am not busy with any classwork and I find that I have free time on my hands I find my netbook is perfect for gaming and still small enough so I can fit it in my backpack along with all of my books as well.

Last semester I was playing COD4 during my breaks.

 

i bought a netbook recently, and damn if it wasn't the best decision i've made thus far as far as tools for school go. i tried bringing my 17 inch notebook once. i couldn't fit the books into the bookbag because the power supply was gigantic, to mention i could barely see the professor because the screen took up my field of vision. the desks in college are perhaps 12 inches wide and 14 inches tall, leaving you with no room even with a small laptop. a netbook solves this issue greatly.

since the battery life is amazing, you don't have to worry about bringing a power adapter. in fact, i charged my netbook monday, and didn't need to charge it again until friday, and i used it during class and a little bit out of class as well.

 

i bring about 14lbs of laptop and other s in my targus backpack everytime i go to school...dont know why i did that..

 

my alienware orion backpack was great

My laptop is 13 pounds with out the ac adapter and i take it class to class every day

 

I bought a msi gt628 which is pretty light, less than 7 lbs and still manages to game extremely well. I think it's the best combination of protability and performance.

 

I had a 7-9lb laptop last year; I hated carrying it around (it was old though so not my choice). This year, I built a desktop (in sig) and bought a t400 for class. Much happier

 

Take the 80-100 dollars you would pay for a bag and put it towards a netbook. Seriously a little Asus eee pc or other version that you can fit your hands on will be perfect for taking to class. It's a better investment and will be small enough you can just carry it in your hand. They also come with a sleeve usually that will protect it in transit.

I do so much with my asus eee pc 900. Netbooks are awesome.

 

Is this why people call you The_Moo? I think you are nuts but its all good man.

 

lol, this is the reason why I got my X301. My W90 (>13lbs.) sits in my room all day.

If you don't want to spend the money on an ultraportable, I'd suggest looking for a cheap netbook, as others have already suggested.

 

all I can say is that you're a brave man

 

Either that or a stupid one.

lol, jk

 

I've no issues lugging my M1730 in a bagpack to school 5 days a week in and out every week. The hell with anyone who stares at me and comments how "big" this thing is.

 

I've been telling people for the past year+ that the best college setup you can do is gaming desktop + 28" display for the dorm room (HTPC + gaming) that will set you back about $1,000, and $200 netbook for class. $1,200 for a room cinema and gaming display + notebook is less than you'll pay for a gaming notebook by itself.

 

I like everything centralized into one computer. One gaming laptop ftw.

 

I second this answer. ^^

 

I have no problem lugging around ~15 pounds of books and ~8 pounds of laptop gear. Maybe it is because I am very large, though.

 

+2

Im about to buy a gaming laptop for college and i could careless about weight and how big it is.

 

It really depends for each person. Many factors come into play in what type of laptop/notebook you'd want for college life.
- whether you're in a dorm or you commute
- if you have [heavy] textbooks to carry around
- your own physical state(health issues, back problems etc.)
- your own needs/preferences in terms of the computer itself

So really, in order for us to do anything more than simply provide our own experience we'd need some type of insight on your situation OP.

 

I had a decently portable 4 pound 12" through my college stint, and I wouldn't have wanted any larger. I had it hooked up to a, at the time, large 20" widescreen display for movies, tv, and a more comfortable workspace. It was not a gaming laptop, but I didn't need that anyway since I was more of a 360 gamer then (till it died and I no longer cared ).

But now, with a 17" that I take to and from work, being at work more than home, I enjoy the all-in-one desktop. A full-size keyboard and a fairly large display, with the power of a moderate gaming desktop. Work leaves me with time For me, the weight is a not a problem, but it may be for some students. The all-in-one power is inticing though...

 

i guess it depends on what school you go to as well. many ucla building were equipped with computer labs and the library rented out macbooks w/ bootcamp already installed so i really didn't need a laptop to carry with me everywhere. also it took almost 20-30 mins to go from dorm to class (a lot of hills in between) so i chose not to carry anything other than bare essentials. i wouldn't recommend carrying anything bigger than 12"-14". anything bigger and it seems a little obnoxious unless it's slim like the 15" MBP. seriously though don't be like those ppl who carry around 17" toshiba sattellite with huge power brick and wired mouse and take over 2 person desk all by yourself.

edit: to answer original question lol you should be fine as long as you make sure that it goes into sleep mode when you close lid before putting in your bag. i always used the north face backpack for all my notebooks (even XPS M1710) without any sleeve and never had problems/scratches.

 

would it be bad to just put your laptop in your regular backpack? I am also wondering how to lug around a laptop that weighs around 7-9lbs. I really don't mind carrying it because it isn't that heavy. I'm just wondering if it will ruin my laptop.

 

buy a backpack with separate laptop compartment. if not then you should get a sleeve since the normal backpacks aren't usually padded.

 

You can get sleeves for laptops that would allow you to use a regular backpack and still provide moderate protection. However, regardless if its a laptop bag or a regular one, traveling frequently with your notebook will wear it down faster than otherwise. It's up to the loving (or not) hands of the owner to determine how much faster.

 

speaking from personal experience, i never felt the need to bring a computer to classes, just learn how to organize your notes better, and some professions ban laptops in classrooms just like cellphones.

 

There is another aspect you are completely missing here. People are going to see you with this nice huge laptop and are going to want it.

You open yourself to stealing if you have something like that with you. The rule generally is have something nice but not too nice. You draw attention with too much bling. While that can be a good thing it can also be a very bad thing. Sure a netbook will draw attention too. It won't draw as much as someone who throws an alienware out on the table.

 

I have a g51vx-x2a a big "15inch" laptop and I bring it to class everyday. Its nice keeping everything with you in one spot and if the professor steps out for a couple of mins you can load up a quick game of fallout 3.

Now if you care that people are gonna stare at you or you don't like the weight I would suggest getting a netbook and leave your gaming laptop in your dorm.

 

i believe it feels nicer to game with friends in a spot for long hours...
using gaming laptops of course...LAN party FTW

you cant do that with desktops sticking in the dorm room..

 

When I used to bring my M1730 in class last year, I felt that the blackboard was my laptop as everyone was staring it.

 

lol, you should have changed all of the led's to different colors and then made them flash...

 

First off, as an engineering student the vast majorty of my books weighed more than 9lbs...

If 12-13 lbs bothers your back, you should see a doctor as you are subhumanly weak for a college-age person. (You don't have to be be a he-man or she-ra to lift 15lbs... they let people with broken shoulders lift 15lbs!)

The typical 12-pack of pop (or other beverage) cans weighs 10-11lbs which most college guys consider weightless... or at least so light 2 fingers is plenty to carry them around. So they carry 4 12-packs (20-22lbs per hand) and consider it light...

My backpack in college was often well over 50lbs due to books and equipment and I almost never bothered to carry my computer except to select classes. Note 9lbs didn't matter much at that point.

You can always tell a freshman from an upper classman.... the freshman takes 4 hours of primping to get ready, is carrying 20x the equipment they need.
The upperclassman looks like they just rolled out of bed and is carrying a notebook+ writing instrument + EXACTLY the equipment they need and nothing more.

Frankly as a freshman, 90% of your classes are best served by going to class with a notebook + writing instruments + class-specific equipment. The laptop will simply get in the way and give you more to lose in those general 100+ person classes.

There ARE classes where the laptop is very handy, but you will learn which ones they are through experience. Most of them are your more specific and smaller classes in your junior and senior years. (example: having a nice high-end laptop to install high-end math software on is invaluable)

Yes, I'm suggesting you take note the old fashioned way, then type them up AFTER class and preferably on the weekend, summarizing the week's lessons.
Normally the professor has a PLAN and is trying to get through something specific and it is helpful to re-think the notes from the week in a macro-look sort of way. This also helps memory as you piece together what you learned.
Do this on Saturday BEFORE going out for the night for fun along with whatever you can get done from the weekend's assignments. This makes Sunday's (or monday morning's) "finish it off" burst easier.

Note this plan risks your laptop being stolen less (keep it somewhere not visible when you aren't in your room, you'd be surprised how well this works!), requires less carrying, and annoys less professors.

You usually have plenty of time for e-mail and text AFTER class... no need to do so IN class.

 

Definitely not a good idea. In my experience even a 15 inch notebook is too heavy to carry around all day. Using a computer during class distracts you from the material. If you really need to use computer for notes, get a netbook or a tablet. The latter would let you scribble stuff down, but a netbook is far cheaper. Or, just don't bring computer with you at all...leave it at home.

 

I agree with you. But that what a CCL is for

 

I agree with some that bringing a laptop computer to class isn't really all that useful. I myself just started University this fall at Engineering school and thought I'd want a laptop(figured a school of engineers would require machines more than an engineering department in a standard university)...

However, in all honesty...so far, all I've been bringing to class are a pack of 100 loose papers and 2 pencils and 1 eraser. All that I need for school can fit in a simple carrier bag. I don't even bother to bring my engineering textbooks or anything since those are used mainly for homework and you can borrow them from the library if you need to work on homework at school(not my case since my breaks never last more than an hour). Heck, my library lets you borrow laptops(they were last year's Lenovo W500s so not really bad machines) so I could probably manage most of my Uni years with a standard external hard disk

 

Per day?

10chars

 

Well no, all in all. I've probably filled in say 15-ish papers(for 6 courses' worth of material) since Uni started 3 weeks ago. I basically just drag around the same set of sheets every day lol

When they run out I'll probably just get another set or something idk.

I know my friend went through College Engineering sciences with only a pencil. he'd borrow a sheet of paper form a classmate, write the notes down, then basically recycle the paper lol

 

I forgot to put in the extra questions marks to signify the joke.

For the classes I take--I'm not an engineer (yet?)--I rock it with pencil and paper. It's just easier.

 

Yeah don't worry, I got the joke lol Just felt like clarifying anyways >.>

But yeah, engineering classes so far aren't really much. Probably down the line it'd be useful to have more equipment, but for now, it's not really necessary.

It does depend on your school though. I go to an engineering school(i.e. there's NO other program in the Uni except different kinds of engineering) so it's more or less optimized for the program. The library rents decently powerful laptops, there are probably enough computers for most students(maybe say 10% more students than actual computers in the labs), not to mention our labs provide the horsepower needed for laboratory material. All in all, there isn't such a need to bring a laptop to school other than if you really want your own machine. Some people still do mind you and that's fine.

 

lmao....I wish. Maybe next time, I will.

 

Buy the 11.6" netbook with full size screen and leave the big laptop at home. You won't even have to use AC power.

You hear that sound when you pull out the gaming laptop and plop it down on your desk? That's the sound of hot girls running away.

 

Real advice here (seriously, no sarcasm)!

 

The above is false... computers and gaming are not exclusive to guys.
I can't help saying something as quite frankly I don't know many woman who deeply care one way or another which laptop I have and I don't know a single one that has run away due to my laptop ever.

If your dating pool seems thin, I suggest expanding your interests/activities to something beyond your laptop that has a higher chance of female participation. (music, sports, "social events", etc.) Nevermind bothering to change your laptop...

One exception... telling her how much lighter 4lbs is over 5lbs is not likely to serve you well especially when she usually carries 20+lbs of books around campus.

 

My major is full of a bunch of nerds, I'm not worried about attracting the girls that happen to find themselves in those classes.