Laptop Requirements

[PattyLimps]

Any advice on what minimum specs we should look for in a laptop to use while in law school - memory, speed, etc.

[jeffjoe]

It may depend on the school.  I suspect that even 3 and 4 year old laptops are adequate.  It looks like a lot of students need more power in laptops for games than for school work.

[ruskiegirl]

I wouldn't get anything less than a P3 with 20Gig hard drive. 

[sarahz]

Make sure to get one with a wireless card...MANY schools are rewiring for the service and its great!

[vw515]

MAKE SURE TO GET A DVD ROM  MY FRIEND TOLD ME THIS IS REQUIRED BY SOME DOWNLOADS. ALSO GO FOR 30GIG YOU DONT WANT TO GET STUCK WITH SOMETHING YOU CAN USE FOR OTHER THINGS AS WELL. dELL HAS PRETTY GOOD SALES

[braindead]

My DH is in tech services at a T1 school.  He recommended that I get a minimum 2.0 gig processor, 40 gig hard drive, 512 megs ram.

Also, his school requires a floppy drive to take exams on the computer. I did not purchase this with my computer, as it can be purchased seperately for much less, but you might check with your school to see if you will need a floppy drive.

I just got my computer in today.  I ordered a Dell Inspiron 600m, 1.5 gHz Pentium 4M (Centrino--supposed to be 2x speed of regular pentium chips and give longer battery life), 60 Gig HD (free upgrade) 512 megs RAM. I paid about $1600.  It may be overkill, but I want it to last 3 years, and the extended battery life on the Centrino sold me.

Misty

[vw515]

same laptop just didnt get the 60 gig i hate the fact that dell is win or loose depending on the purcjhase week
Checl out microsoft presentation so much easier to put together than powerpoint and seems like a great study tool.

[PattyLimps]

Going to NYL and was looking at purchasing the Dell300m (like the fact that it's under 3lbs). Def will get a WiFi card.  You're right - Dell is moody about their sales. Guess it's all about price-shopping now.
Thanks for the info, all.
-Patty

[vw515]

I was advised not to buy the 300m because your drives are not attached you will have to buy a seperate modular base. May not be necessary but you may end up carrying the weight anyway

[eee]

ive heard that memory is a must have since lexis-nexis and westlaw supposedly really suck up the ram. is this true? ive been looking at computers with 1024MB of ram... is this overkill?