Buying a Laptop for College... need help.

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flyersluv7

New Member
So bear with me because I am not the most tech savvy person. I am buying my first laptop for college and I was having trouble with one of my colleges requirements. Most of the requirements are pretty basic, things like at least 4GB RAM or at least 1 USB port which most laptops I am looking at of course meet. But I am confused with the processor requirement: 2.4 Ghz Core 2 Duo or better. What exactly constitutes as better?

I personally do not want to get a Mac, I have had a lot of trouble with my sister's mac in the past, but I know it is 2.4 Ghz so it meets the requirements. I am aiming to get a 2 in 1 convertible laptop, since I would like to be able to take notes and draw on the tablet part and still use it as a normal laptop, but the majority of those are 1.6-1.8 ghz core i5 or core i7 (and then they say something about "with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.00GHz") would this be considered better or because it is 1.6GHz to start off it is not considered better?

Thanks.
 
College requirements for computers I have come to realize, are rather pointless. Most colleges don't give you specific software, so it doesn't matter. But in any case, also know the the Core2Duo series processors are out of date, so basically anything will work fine with those standards in place (as long as it's not a cheap $300 APU laptop).

Also remember that the Core i5 and i7 CPU's are much more powerful than a 2.4Ghz Core2Duo would be, no matter what the processor speed of the i5 or i7 is. All that turbo boost means is that the processor is capable of hitting up to 3Ghz when needed, but it will normally remain around the 1.6ghz mark for most general things.

If you want specific recommendations for machines, give us a budget range and what you plan on doing with it. I know you said you want to write on it to take notes, but honestly, typing is faster, or even hand writing notes in class is better. Writing in tablet form can be annoying and an overall PITA.
 
Thanks so much voyagerfan99 that's exactly the information I needed. And as far as using the tablet feature I plan on using that for writing notes not during class (so taking notes on an ebook or something), editing photos, drawing for fun. I will be using the laptop function during class to type notes. My price range is $1,000 to $2,000 (I know that may seem like a lot for a first laptop but I am hoping for something that will last me for years if not as a main laptop at least a photo editing and drawing laptop. Also even if it no longer works for me I can always give it to a younger sibling to use in high school)
 
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