New "laptop" for son

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Originally Posted by Nick1994
A $5k laptop that isn't portable so he can play video games at college?

Why not just play an Xbox or PS4 or something?

Why is it your concern?

He wanted to buy his son a nice all-in-one solution that will last him throughout college and beyond. It's going to be a long time before that machines is outdated.

Comments like yours reek of jealousy.
 
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Originally Posted by Nick1994
A $5k laptop that isn't portable so he can play video games at college?

Why not just play an Xbox or PS4 or something?

Why is it your concern?

He wanted to buy his son a nice all-in-one solution that will last him throughout college and beyond. It's going to be a long time before that machines is outdated.

Comments like yours reek of jealousy.

I see it differently.
The post suggested this was a computer in support of college; later he suggested it was more for gaming.
A $600 Chromebook is a far better choice for school.
A $1,000 Mac or Win blows the doors off an Alienware notebook for school.

And technology will make the computer old, as it does all things computer.
 
In what way would any $1000 computer "blow the doors off" this Alienware? Your Tesla will be obsolete before this laptop.

It's a beast of a desktop replacement, and in the op he states that the son already has a compact laptop for notes, etc.
 
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
In what way would any $1000 computer "blow the doors off" this Alienware? Your Tesla will be obsolete before this laptop.

It's a beast of a desktop replacement, and in the op he states that the son already has a compact laptop for notes, etc.

Simple; you buy computers based on need.
Alienware is a gamer computer. 9 pounds is not portable. Horrible battery life.
This post was originally about a college computer.
My $400 Asus Chromebook is a great college computer; light, turbo fast, easy app load. 10 hours on a charge.
Now, for my large scale database programming, I use a Dell i7, 16GB Ram, ultra fast 1TB SSD.

Gamer computers cost is high because of intense graphics cards and screens; even mechanical keyboards.
And gamers change out parts regularly to keep up.

Not a good school computer.
FYI, we probably have 50 notebooks in our house, from Chromies to high end Windows and Macs.
And a 90 core server with an experimental Intel chip running Ubuntu O/S. Used by a group of stock analysts for large computing tasks.

You mention our Model 3... Turbo fast on the road, but a poor choice for an off road vehicle.
Great with solar panel charging; terrible if the only fuel available is petrol.
 
Again, the OP said it was bought as a desktop replacement. A "desktop" that can easily be locked away while he's gone. A "desktop" that can be transported between the dorm and home on weekends and over the summer with ease. A "desktop" with enough power to be relevant for a long time.

He already has a compact laptop for the backpack.

What is so hard to understand?
 
Best choice typically is what university can fix and turn around themselves or if a store nearby eg Apple.

My Apple loving nieces both got Mac Book Air with used monitor/keyboard's and are making $50k-$90k upon graduation. My other under employed $15/hr unmotivated college grad niece had a used Thinkpad Carbon mainly because she had a remote telecommute job needing windows. They all made it 4 years no repairs with the $1000 purchase for computer.

The Alienware sound like he is a gamer. Glad you enjoyed picking it out!
 
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Originally Posted by rooflessVW
In what way would any $1000 computer "blow the doors off" this Alienware? Your Tesla will be obsolete before this laptop.

It's a beast of a desktop replacement, and in the op he states that the son already has a compact laptop for notes, etc.


He means use cases. I work in technology field as cloud architect and 95% of time my $1000 special 2017 Mac Book Pro with only 128GB and 8GB is excellent balance of computer. Majority of student work is just like apps I develop/design , in the cloud with small bits of code and something called Docker running locally.

I gave my 32GB Thinkpad W530 i7 with RAID SSD's(6 yrs old) Nvidia to my daughter to play chrome games on Ubuntu. It weighed like 8lbs and power supply like 2lbs. No thanks!
 
Originally Posted by madRiver

He means use cases. I work in technology field as cloud architect and 95% of time my $1000 special 2017 Mac Book Pro with only 128GB and 8GB is excellent balance of computer. Majority of student work is just like apps I develop/design , in the cloud with small bits of code and something called Docker running locally.

I gave my 32GB Thinkpad W530 i7 with RAID SSD's(6 yrs old) Nvidia to my daughter to play chrome games on Ubuntu. It weighed like 8lbs and power supply like 2lbs. No thanks!


I think I have the same MacBook as you... love that thing. I use a 128gb USB3.0 flash drive to transfer my audio files. Love the speed.

Originally Posted by JeffKeryk

Simple; you buy computers based on need.
Alienware is a gamer computer. 9 pounds is not portable. Horrible battery life.


It's extremely portable compared to a mid or full tower PC though. But yeah, my Asus g750 would last about 2 hours at most just browsing the web. Gaming maybe 30 minutes lol
 
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Originally Posted by Nick1994
A $5k laptop that isn't portable so he can play video games at college?

Why not just play an Xbox or PS4 or something?

Why is it your concern?

He wanted to buy his son a nice all-in-one solution that will last him throughout college and beyond. It's going to be a long time before that machines is outdated.

Comments like yours reek of jealousy.

This is a forum. It's entire purpose is for discussion.

So my question still stands. Why not just play and Xbox or PlayStation?
 
Originally Posted by Nick1994
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Originally Posted by Nick1994
A $5k laptop that isn't portable so he can play video games at college?

Why not just play an Xbox or PS4 or something?

Why is it your concern?

He wanted to buy his son a nice all-in-one solution that will last him throughout college and beyond. It's going to be a long time before that machines is outdated.

Comments like yours reek of jealousy.

This is a forum. It's entire purpose is for discussion.

So my question still stands. Why not just play and Xbox or PlayStation?


One of the games I love, Killing Floor 2, has a ton of custom fan made, and usually really good/fun, maps available on the PC. The Xbox and PS versions do not. Last I knew, console games with legitimate mods available could be counted on 1 hand.
 
That's way more powerful than my work computer, with 3 monitors, doing development work all day.

It would be a waste if he is not gaming all day on it.
 
My dad bolted for another state 3K miles away when I was nine years old. It led to my entire family being busted up amongst relatives.
Way-to-go Vava! Happy upcoming Fathers Day to you.
 
Originally Posted by JeffKeryk

I see it differently.
The post suggested this was a computer in support of college; later he suggested it was more for gaming.
A $600 Chromebook is a far better choice for school.
A $1,000 Mac or Win blows the doors off an Alienware notebook for school.

And technology will make the computer old, as it does all things computer.


How did you come to this conclusion? Surely not based on what I wrote. In my first post in this thread I wrote:

Originally Posted by vavavroom
]While this a gaming laptop, he does some gaming, it's going to be great for other uses also.


I clearly indicated he does some gaming, and that the computer will be also for other uses. Those will be the main uses, and I mentioned AutoCAD, which he gets free. Good to know for those who are worried about how I spend my money. These other uses will be mostly study-related and will not be discussed publicly. If I can't mention what computer I purchased for my son without causing a commotion, I can only imagine the comments regarding his intended field of study. I'm also glad I never mentioned the laptop my employer has supplied to me.
 
Originally Posted by PandaBear
That's way more powerful than my work computer, with 3 monitors, doing development work all day.

It would be a waste if he is not gaming all day on it.




You are a great resource. Could you format an MS Word document for me?
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
My dad bolted for another state 3K miles away when I was nine years old. It led to my entire family being busted up amongst relatives.
Way-to-go Vava! Happy upcoming Fathers Day to you.


Sorry to hear that Triple_Se7en. As for dad bolting, while I am not bolting, just a bit over a month after my son goes off to university for the fall semester, my job will take me away for 5 months without any possibility of contact other than via phone and computer. The kid will be 17 by then and I expect it will be easier for him than for me. My son will stay with my brother at least initially so I know he'll be securely and well-accommodated. The new computer is also compensation for me feeling bad about having to go away.
 
Originally Posted by vavavroom
Originally Posted by JeffKeryk

I see it differently.
The post suggested this was a computer in support of college; later he suggested it was more for gaming.
A $600 Chromebook is a far better choice for school.
A $1,000 Mac or Win blows the doors off an Alienware notebook for school.

And technology will make the computer old, as it does all things computer.


How did you come to this conclusion? Surely not based on what I wrote. In my first post in this thread I wrote:

Originally Posted by vavavroom
]While this a gaming laptop, he does some gaming, it's going to be great for other uses also.


I clearly indicated he does some gaming, and that the computer will be also for other uses. Those will be the main uses, and I mentioned AutoCAD, which he gets free. Good to know for those who are worried about how I spend my money. These other uses will be mostly study-related and will not be discussed publicly. If I can't mention what computer I purchased for my son without causing a commotion, I can only imagine the comments regarding his intended field of study. I'm also glad I never mentioned the laptop my employer has supplied to me.


I misunderstood your post. I thought you were buying a computer for a kid to go off to college.
I focused on the first 2 sentences:
"I bought my son a new laptop. He is going off to university in the fall and his current desktop computer is getting long in the tooth."
My mistake...
I have quite a bit of experience in school computers.
Gaming computers focus on ultra graphics, while school computers focus on portability, cost, cloud connectivity, etc.
Alienware notebooks are surely top-of-the-line gamers. They are Dell, which are excellent and highly recommended.

Again, apologies.
 
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I wish great success to your son! He got over first hurdle acceptance. Creating the right balance of studies, social life, internships and university activities is key to next success.
 
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