Best laptop for an engineering student?

What you do.... with it?

1.Word Processing ?

2.Internet Browsing, Email and Chatting ?

3.Listening Music and Watching Movies ?

4.Gaming ?

5.Programming ?

6.Simulation ?..etc

If your do 1,2 & 3 a netbook will do instead of a laptop. Netbooks are cheaper than laptops.

Processor must be atleast 1.6Ghz of speed (Atom/ Core2 Duo/ AMD Neo)

Atleast 1 GB of RAM and 160 GB of Hard disk capacity.

If you wish to do 4, 5 & 6 along with the first three, then you may need a mainstream laptop.

At least 2 to 2.4 Ghz processor and 2 to 4GB RAM and 250GB Hard disk capacity.

Consider a dedicated graphic card if you are a gamer.

Look for a Core 2 Duo processor based laptop

Dell, Lenovo, HP are good brands to consider for a mainstream laptop

You can also consider Compaq for a lower price

For netbooks consider Asus, MSI along with Dell, HP and Lenovo

Choose the one that comes with good software:

Eg: with latest OS like Windows 7, Free antivirus subscription for one year etc.

I would go with Windows 7, as you can always run stuff in Compatibility mode in Vista or XP which is great if a certain program doesn't agree with Windows 7. Get a 64-bit OS if possible and go for 4GB of ram. Dual core at least @ 2.5 GHz, get a quad if you want and look for at least 2.3 GHz if you choose that. Look for at least 320GB for a HDD and make sure it is a 7200 rpm or higher. For a Video card, look for at least 512 MB of ram.

Look at cyberpowerpc.com They have incredible laptops for great prices and their hardware is also incredible for the price.

Make sure it has all of the following. 10-14 inch screen. 2gb ram and an extra slot. Quadcore cpu or better. bus speed 1600MHZ or better. HDD doesn't matter you can always buy another. Get an external wifi card they pick up wifi better make sure it is 802.11N and backwards capability so you can use the 802.11G and B. Matte or shiny screen. I think matte is a little better. With laptops you will have motherboard graphics make sure you get 512MB dedicated or even a Gig. Again always make sure the motherboard has a good bus speed. Go to newegg or tigerdirect.com

A $1500 Dell with plenty of RAM. See what a larger, reputable, high tech company is distributing to all its employees. Not with Vista, Window 7 perhaps, or XP. Don't get one of these huge ones, just normal size.