My budget is around a thousand dollars. I want to run Windows 8, Chrome OS, Unix, and Linux on this computer. The reason I want so many is that this machine is for a Computer Science major in college, and I want to become familiar with all of these OSes. I do intend to upgrade them as new versions are released, so far as finances permit. I would LOVE to run OS X as well, but I don't think I have an Apple budget right now. This computer is for programming, modelling, and texturing, and possibly editing sound and video. It will need to run Maya and Blender smoothly, as well as a sizeable host of other programs I haven't thought of yet. I also need to be able to run games as well as can be reasonably expected, as I will eventually be making them.
If I want OS X (I want it bad), I have to get a Macbook, which, if I bought off Amazon right now, would cost me $1,050. Windows 8 Pro is another $130. My Pell grant for the Fall quarter is $1,865. Of this, the college is taking $49 to pay off registration fees I owe them. The remaining $1,816 needs to pay for textbooks for Elementary Algebra, College English/Writing Level 1, Elementary German, and Beginning Drawing, as well as generic school supplies. I may be able to stretch the thousand dollars I set for my computer a bit, but I have to be very careful. I did see that I can currently get a used or refurbished Macbook for around $870. I've never bought a used computer from Amazon before. How much could I trust the machine? If trustworthy, I could shelve Windows 8 until my Pell grant for Winter quarter disburses or buy it in Fall, as finances permit, and just run OS X, Unix, and Linux in Fall if necessary. I don't absolutely need Windows 8 until Spring, really. How do you guys feel about that option? Is a Macbook good for what I need? What vid card would you recommend, Mhin?
Have you looked into Lenovo? Their T series line come with an nVidea workstation card variant. I ran windows 8, now Linux without any problems. My only warning would be to stay far far away from the caching ssd's. They are nothing but trouble. You can price out a pretty nice machine on their website, just do some digging because their pricing isn't the most straightforward.
May seem a like some trouble, but take a look at sites like OSX86, you should be able to find a powerhouse laptop that can run OS X at that budget. Installation Guides - OSx86 Google and YouTube will turn up plenty of results, search "Hackintosh".
I have a Lenovo T430 running Fedora and Windows 7 which I like. You might wanna take a look at the X series though - they're thinner and lighter (which might not matter for you)
One possible problem: does the X series ThinkPad have enough power to do all that's needed? Don't know the line, but I do know one model was discouraged on a discussion forum I follow because of limited power. ---------- Post added 11th Aug 2013 at 11:31 PM ---------- But Lenovo is worth considering in general. I've been impressed by some I've seen. Probably not as good as the true IBM ThinkPads...but then quality in general these days is not what it once was.
I've been doing some thinking and listened to some advice from smart people, and OS X probably isn't necessary. My branch of computer science is computer game design, so Mac won't come into play much if at all. However, a good gaming capability is essential. It's what I'm learning to do, after all. Chrome OS doesn't have much of a future, either. I have started running Linux Mint on my desktop, and I like it enough that I think I'll make it my default OS on my laptop, with Windows being kept around for anything Linux just can't do.
Yes. Right now, for example, this computer has both Linux Mint (my default) and Ubuntu installed, and I can select either when I turn the computer on. Using software like VirtualBox, one could essentially run more than one OS at once. Only one would be the "real" OS running the computer, but VirtualBox would allow another OS to run inside the actual OS.
I have an Envy 15 by HP. It has a touch screen, Windows 8, Beats audio, and I've gotten over 3 hours of battery out of it. It has a terabyte hard drive so if you want more than one OS on it, you can definitely split it no problem. AT the moment, I can't remember how much ram it has, but the only foreseeable issue you might have with it is the fact it has no disk drive, which can be fixed by buying an external drive. I think that it might be something that you might want to look into
You can get an X series with anything up to an i7. I have a coworker who frequently builds very large codebases on his laptop and he likes his X series with an i7 (not sure precisely which one) I find them every bit as good. I'm not a huge fan of what they did with the keyboard layout in this latest generation, but still leaps and bounds better than anything else that you can get, IMO. Personally I'm waiting for Haswell before buying anything, though. Depending on timeframes this might or might not work for you.
But how about things other than the processors. Is the X series capable of the gaming OP needs? And other software mentioned? I looked at Lenovo's website, and notice that the X series has Intel video which is a bit of a concern with me, although that's more based on my experience with older Intel designs. Unfortunately, it looks like Lenovo uses Nvidia otherwise--at least on the T models I looked at--and Nvidia has, I gather, not the best support under Linux (required by OP).
Well, I plan to run a dual OS system, with OS selected at boot. I can boot into windows when I need Nvidia and Linux when I don't. That's what I do now, and I have no problems. I am biased towards Nvidia for gaming. Don't much trust Intel. Granted, that is from experiences had years ago, not recently.
I'm guessing OP needs "sooner" rather than "later." One thing to keep in mind: no matter what one buys today, it'll be obsolete sickeningly fast. Today's cutting edge design is tomorrow's Goodwill find.
I've been considering the Envy. My only worry is cord durability for an external drive. ---------- Post added 16th Aug 2013 at 04:42 PM ---------- I'm looking to buy end of September/beginning of October, which is when the financial aid money for this disburses.
