buy laptop now, or wait for windows 7?

[ruski]

so my law school requires having a laptop, as most do. i dont want to buy one now because windows 7 is coming out on october 22, and i would rather wait and buy a laptop with windows 7. so i was wondering if i would need a laptop before then, or is strictly needed for exams only in december. (i know if you buy vista now, microsoft will let you upgrade to 7 for free, but that's only if you buy the premium versions, not the home basic versions). so should i buy vista now, or wait a couple months and buy 7? i'm going to go to nyu if it makes a difference/if anyone knows about classes there specifically.  also, i dont plan on taking notes on my laptop, in undergrad i was much more comfortable taking notes by hand.

[big - fat - box]

Very few people take notes in law school by hand.

The reason is you end up taking many more notes than you did in college. Plus it's much easier to condense and edit and revise your class notes into an outline that you will need to make for studying for exams if you have everything in electronic format. Trying to transcribe everything from handwritten notes is going to be a huge time suck and a extremely difficult task.

Plus, taking notes on a laptop will increase your typing speed. And for a timed law school exam, typing speed matters a lot so you might as well practice so that your typing speed will be as fast as it can be by exam time.

I took notes by hand in college too, but there is no way in hell I would even attempt to take notes by hand in law school unless my laptop was broken and I had no other choice. I actually have a back up laptop in case this were to happen.

More than likely windows 7 will be a bug-ridden p.o.s. for awhile after it comes out anyway, just like every other windows o.s. I'm still using XP pro and I'm not going to switch/upgrade until I absolutely have to.

[non parata est]

More than likely windows 7 will be a bug-ridden p.o.s. for awhile after it comes out anyway, just like every other windows o.s. I'm still using XP pro and I'm not going to switch/upgrade until I absolutely have to.

I've been using the Windows 7 RC for a month or so now, and haven't had so much as a hiccup.  I think they might have actually turned themselves around after Vista.

[Slumdog Lovebutton]

You could always get a cheap netbook for the meantime.  They run for well under $300.

[NYCFed]

I've been using the Windows 7 RC for a month or so now, and haven't had so much as a hiccup.  I think they might have actually turned themselves around after Vista.

I've also been using Beta and the Release candidate on 3 of my computers for a while now, and it runs great even on crappier hardware.
But hey, let's all bash Microsoft, because it's the cool thing to do.  How dare they have hiccups making an operating system work for every imaginable combination of hardware and applications (versus overpriced homogeneous macs).

Also, I built a new computer for Vista shortly after it came out and never had a problem with it, despite using the 64-bit version.  A new OS is mainly going to give you problems if you don't do a clean install, need/want to use older software or have older hardware.  Windows 7 has better backwards compatibility than Vista, drivers are more up to date, and will run fine on computers I wouldn't attempt to use Vista on.

To the OP, if you find a computer you like at a price point that's okay with you, go for it.  With computers, there will never be a time where you can't get better performance and/or newer features for the same price in 3 months time, so it's really about what you need and when.

[Matthies]

buy now most of the retailer that let you build computers are including a windows 7 upgrade

[Ninja1]

Buy now. There's no good reason to take notes by hand and it's much easier to do something useful with your notes if they're typed.

I took notes by hand in UG, I liked it that way, and there's no way in hell I would do it during law school.

[jsb221]

Matthies is right. A lot of retailers are giving buyers the option to upgrade to Windows 7.

[thegoodtofu]

Laptops. It's more about the hardware. I say this because you can get Windows RC til Aug 20. And it wont go bad until March or so. There are plenty of options to get to Win7 by then. Win 7 is amazing btw.

Cheapest way:
If you get the upgrade you may have to backup your computer, [if you need to] reload Win Vista that comes with the computer, then use the upgrade disc they send you. I think you should be able to use that disc on the RC though I don't see why they would send you an upgrade only disc when you might have to reinstall your OS later. They should send you the full version compatible with Win7RC. In fact, you might not need any more than to update your serial number. Windows Vista and Windows 7 have this thing where you can update your serial after windows has been installed just in case if you bought an Ultimate version and wanted to upgrade.

Easier alternate way:
By then your school should have Win 7 at their bookstore. I recently graduated and I remember windows XP was $5 and Win Vista Ultimate was $10. I assume Win7 won't be much different. Picking up that disc might be another few dollars depending on your school but I'm pretty sure Win7RC to Win7 licensed will be easy.

Do your research. I hear some of the more recent dell studio xps editions are having trouble with vent placement. The insides pretty much turn into a baked potatoes because when the screen is open it blocks the vents. If you're taking notes I'd recommend a full keyboard. My roommate had a 10" Vaio for the past 4 years and looks like a hunchback from holding his arms so close all the time. Getting a netbook for $300 depends on what kind of person you are. Some people go to law school on daddy's dollar and others are on scholarship or loans and every $ counts til you graduate.

[Matthies]

Do your research. I hear some of the more recent dell studio xps editions are having trouble with vent placement. The insides pretty much turn into a baked potatoes because when the screen is open it blocks the vents.

Its, much, much worse with the screen closed in docking station mode. Screen closed and anything more than word processing and I go to thermonuclear heat levels and 100% CPU usage till I either turn it off or open the screen.

With screen open it still runs hot, but not enough to impact performance or CPU, but don’t put it on your lap with shorts on. To solve the docking station/screen closed problem I just got a laptop chill pad with a 200 mm fan. No heat problems from that point on, in fact its running cooler that room temp.

I love the compact size and power of the XPS in 13”, but the heat issue is a big deal if you’re not computer literate. I’d rank the 13 inch XPS as a best buy only for people who need cutting edge hardware (SSD plus 8 gigs ram plus mobile broadband, plus 256 vid card ect) and know their way around computers, otherwise pick up something else or buy some oven mits to handle the thing.