Laptop. Need to take it with me for roaming campus with school, so portability would be nice but not the overriding factor.

Get a Sony Vaio. Great laptop for the money.

Lenovos are the finest PC laptops money can buy.

I'd recommend the Thinkpad, unless you do a lot of graphics stuff, in which case the Ideapads are better.

The T series are good for serious computing and the X series are good for portability.

I'm not sure exactly what you'd like. But the x220, or X1 could both be good options. They're at 12.5' and 13.3' inches which are nice and portable while still having good real estate.

That of the T series. I have a T61 that's served me really well.

Sony Vaio? Definitely with look into it. Windows 7, right? But c'mon, who doesn't LOVE Vista? ;)

Yeah, I was looking into the T, X, and W Series (serieses?), but then I decided that W may have too much for what I need (display, cost). I like the T Series a lot. Thinkpad is definitely for me, too because it has the core i3, i5, and i7 Intel processors.

The T Series sounds like it will fit me the most, and a 13" to 14" screen sounds nice enough to carry around without being bulky.

The W is less of a laptop and more of a portable workstation. Completely unnecessary unless you have a job that requires serious CAD or video editing and travel.

Will this be your first semester at college? I ask because I started with a T60p, but eventually switched to an X61t, because the other was just too big to carry with me at all times (plus I loved taking notes on the tablet).

Besides taking notes, surfing the web, and watching movies, what do you like to do on your computer?

Lenovo is great. From my experience Lenovos are the best laptops out there.

All of the above. :D I expect to do some pretty good number crunching, and a reliable laptop is key. Being able to use multiple web applications (Google Calendar, Google Docs GMail, G+, man, I'm a Google freak) is essential for me as except for using Microsoft Office to crank out reports and stuff. Yes, it'll be my first year, and I'm pretty excited.

I'm not sure if I think a tablet will be for a full time use, maybe in a couple years, but I see it as a very good supplement to a desktop/laptop.

If reliability is important, Lenovo is king. They are seriously tough as nails. I sold my old T60p to my mother, who subsequently dropped it down a flight of stairs TWICE will open and running. No damage.

And, if you ever do have a problem, their customer service is the best I've ever seen in any industry. I had a problem once. I called, the next day they sent me a FedEx box to send the comp back in. It was back in less than a week. All free.

An X series will be more than enough for everything you listed above. The only thing it's weak on is graphics, but isn't an issue unless you play FPSes.

For what it's worth, I love my X201t; it's my primary laptop, and my primary computer for writing reports. The screen is a bit small, but it means I can carry it anywhere.

Yeah, I don't really use my laptop for gaming purposes, so it sounds like it fits me! About that customer service: I called Dell Tech Support last week, and I get transferred over to India after being transferred another 12 times. I finally get what I need (I already know the problem): the price of fixing the motherboard. He says "Shipping and handling will cost $125, and the motherboard will cost $150. We will take it down to Houston, Texas for a special check-up which includes the whole computer, so if anything else needs to be repaired, that will also further increase the cost. You can expect it to be back after shipping in about 1-3 weeks."

No offense, Dell, but I'm sick of you and your Chinese-made products! :P

Where are you going/studying?

Well, I'll sort of keep some confidentiality, but I can say it is the Boston area. I'm going to have a lot of fun in the 4 years I'm staying (minus the snowstorms, although the make some good snowball fights!). Is a laptop case/bag necessary to keep all of the cables in or can I just use my backpack (already filled with books and stuff).

Boston, eh? You'll have tons of fun.

You may consider getting a backpack/messenger bag with a "pocket" for your laptop with extra padding. Although honestly, I never carried books with me, so all my bag ever had was a laptop.

Oh, and the best part of Lenovos: the nipple!

You're welcome for canceling :). I got a MacBook back in 2007 and it's run perfectly with not a single issue for over four years now. I boosted the memory a few months ago and its a brand new machine. My bro got a Lenovo Thinkpad (not sure the model, but it's close to top of the line), and now that I've played around with that a bit, it's definitely my next computer. Solidly built, fast as well with an i5 processor.

Ah, the nipple! It took me a while to register what you meant, but the little track thing might not be so bad as I think it might be. I'm not a fan of it, but I might like it.

Sorry 2WL (acronym!), but I'm not a Mac (although I sort of wish I was, so nice is Lion, but I like Windows better). I'm really glad to hear all the positive feedback for Lenovo's. It makes me assured that I'm making a purchase that will last me 4+ years.

Trust me, once you use it, you'll never go back to a trackpad; I have mine permanently off.

Really? Wow! I can't believe that I'm excited just to try a little nipple (little nipple, toungue twister?) on a computer :D

It's too bad Abge spends so much time on pointless nipple-discussions when there are matters of eta-gaming in play,...

Oh....yeah....I know....you just docked me 25 ...

krellin,

You just don't get it, do you?

There are 3 different types of nipples to chose from!

No....I get it....just waiting for a response from my legitimate email, abge....

Trust me, little man Abge, I've been working on computers since probably before you were old enough to acknowledge them. I understand your cute little joke.....<sigh....>

Well, contrary to popular belief, I'm not your personal mod; however, since you went through the proper channels, I'll try some positive reinforcement and look at it now.

Unpaid customer service just isn't what it used to be.

I have had a luke warm experience with my Vaio. It is a good computer in some regards, but I did have to replace my hard drive after the original fried. Also, it has horrendous battery life. Just an FYI. (Also I know very little about computers, so I can't suggest much)