LAPTOP FORUM

My sons just finishing at uni, taking a computer science degree,
theres no doubt a desktop is the most useable and reliable and most of
all fixable, of the computer types available for students today.
all the things you list and he wants to do he can do with his desktop.
Laptops are inherently and relatively fragile to a desktop. when they go
wrong they are difficult to fix and costly.
Now Sony make a nice looking machine BUT their product support in
comparison to the others is non existent. For this reason alone its
unsuited to a student.
Heres a rundown on the main makes
IBM make the most reliable machines, there the most expensive and
provide the best product support. go to their web site and take a look.
toshiba have the fastest repair srvice as they have authorised dealers
who draw from Toshiba the components on a 24hr basis and repair within a
couple of days.
Compaq and HP in their pro ranges are good but are not well represented
like the first 2.
Dell are the fastest/performanne for the money, unless yove bought the
next day pro warranty, dont think about them when they go wrong. There
a mail order co.
all the others are just fringe laptop suppliers. The big outfits like
PC world are cheap but so are most of their products. Product support
is poor.
If it was me Id get an extra desk for him and send him off with his
desktop.