cintrepid 2 Report post Posted November 2, 2013 Hi, I just joined this forum right now lol. I am a novice debater (freshman in High School) and want to buy a computer for debate. In my school we use paperless debate so Word with verbatim. Right now I have a Macbook Air but without word but would rather buy a new one for debate and just to use for school. What computers do you guys suggest to get? What do you have? Where should i buy it? What brands are good and bad? I have hear lenovo computers are pretty good and so are acers. What do you guys think I should get?? Thanks!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jacobstime 680 Report post Posted November 2, 2013 Don't buy an air. Cheap - http://www.toshiba.com/us/customlanding.to?page=Satellite_C_Series_Laptops Mid price (about the same as the one I have. Ask me about it.) - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-envy-sleekbook-15-6-laptop-6gb-memory-750gb-hard-drive-modern-silver/9268048.p?id=1219007786107&skuId=9268048 High end - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/15-6-touch-screen-laptop-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive/8937158.p?id=1218954926513&skuId=8937158&st=categoryid$pcmcat247400050000&cp=1&lp=11 Hipster - http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/ 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deleuze 273 Report post Posted November 2, 2013 Hipster - http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/ He says that because he doesn't own one they are awesome actually, same with airs. In terms of cost efficiency though, he is right, stick with ASUS and Toshiba, the best bang for your buck laptops (and the most efficient for debate). Also- as a former Best Buy employee, I can tell you that any and all touchscreen laptops sold thereare absolute trash (Blue shirt tested, Blue shirt approved, seriously) 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SnarkosaurusRex 2830 Report post Posted November 3, 2013 Don't buy an air. Cheap - http://www.toshiba.com/us/customlanding.to?page=Satellite_C_Series_Laptops Mid price (about the same as the one I have. Ask me about it.) - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-envy-sleekbook-15-6-laptop-6gb-memory-750gb-hard-drive-modern-silver/9268048.p?id=1219007786107&skuId=9268048 High end - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/15-6-touch-screen-laptop-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive/8937158.p?id=1218954926513&skuId=8937158&st=categoryid$pcmcat247400050000&cp=1&lp=11 Hipster - http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/ I must vehemently disagree with your notions of "high-end". Dual Core =/= high end. This is high end: http://www.xoticpc.com/msi-gt70-2od039us-dragon-edition-p-5771.html 4GB 780m and 3 SSD's. The main thing for school and debate is battery life not power though. You never know hwen you won't be able to find a plug. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nathan_debate 745 Report post Posted November 4, 2013 Right now I have a Macbook Air but without word but would rather buy a new one for debate and just to use for school. What computers do you guys suggest to get? What do you have? Where should i buy it? What brands are good and bad? I have hear lenovo computers are pretty good and so are acers. What do you guys think I should get?? First, the language you are using suggests this is just something you want. Your MacBook Air should be more than sufficient. Second, but if you do decide to get another computer--it would seem most advantageous to go to Mac desktop in terms of speed--at least in my experience. Although, the value of the speed really only kicks in in terms of internet usage primarily. Laptops tend to be slower than desktops due to available space. Obviously it something you would need to look at on a case by case basis. This some of this may be contingent on if your Mac Book Air has a solid state hard drive, which is a newer technology which helps them run a bit quicker. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
feldsy 1099 Report post Posted November 4, 2013 Honestly Debate doesn't take a very good computer. Anything that'll run word and has a half-decent internet connection will do. Other than that, I think PCs >Mac in their ability to go from doc to doc and use the nav panel, but they're not that much better Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Miro 1469 Report post Posted November 6, 2013 I would always go for a Windows computer over a Mac when trying to use verbatim. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OfficerTom 952 Report post Posted November 6, 2013 If you have a Microcenter nearby, they've got really good deals. I got a refurbished open box Dell inspiron with 6gb ram, 500gb HD, and an i3 processor for $320. Generally though, open box + refurbished is an easy way to get sweet deals on laptops. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PJords 59 Report post Posted November 6, 2013 If you have a Microcenter nearby, they've got really good deals. I got a refurbished open box Dell inspiron with 6gb ram, 500gb HD, and an i3 processor for $320. Generally though, open box + refurbished is an easy way to get sweet deals on laptops. Then you modded the disk drive, right? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zuul 666 Report post Posted November 8, 2013 I recommend Lenovo Thinkpads. I do think you need a decent computer to do debate, oftentimes I'll have upwards of 10 word documents open at the same time, and that's when I'm not debating. Make sure that you get a computer with decent battery too. DO NOT get a mac. Verbatim doesn't work (well) on it. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
faithgeraghty 3 Report post Posted December 22, 2013 Unpopular opinion here, but you should probably just get word for your mac and debate off that. The trackpad things to switch between different windows makes it really easy to switch between different documents when you're prepping and the reading list thing on Safari is great for cutting cards on the bus/van/plane. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zuul 666 Report post Posted December 22, 2013 Unpopular opinion here, but you should probably just get word for your mac and debate off that. The trackpad things to switch between different windows makes it really easy to switch between different documents when you're prepping and the reading list thing on Safari is great for cutting cards on the bus/van/plane. I agree, but I have a partner who uses a Mac, and the sidebar thing is just awful to use 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hartman 275 Report post Posted December 22, 2013 Hi, I just joined this forum right now lol. I am a novice debater (freshman in High School) and want to buy a computer for debate. In my school we use paperless debate so Word with verbatim. Right now I have a Macbook Air but without word but would rather buy a new one for debate and just to use for school. What computers do you guys suggest to get? What do you have? Where should i buy it? What brands are good and bad? I have hear lenovo computers are pretty good and so are acers. What do you guys think I should get?? Thanks!! I guess I'm a little late to this party, but I currently have a MacBook Air as well, and I believe I'm going to purchase this laptop to replace it. The Best Buy employees always told me that "once you go Mac, you never go back", but you can sure get much better bang for your buck when you buy a PC instead of a MacBook. The Asus I linked to above is about $500 cheaper than my low-end MacBook Air was when I bought it, and its hard drive is ~630GB larger, its screen is 2" bigger, and it has 2 more GB of RAM. Plus, I miss the added element of customizability that is present in PCs (but not Macs); a fair amount of software (such as Verbatim) has limited functionality on Mac OS X or isn't available at all for said OS. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coconuts 872 Report post Posted December 23, 2013 a fair amount of software (such as Verbatim) has limited functionality on Mac OS X or isn't available at all for said OS. I greatly urge a PC for this very reason. Verbatim will work best on a PC because that's what it's made from. Verbatim on a Mac will always have problems, plus the majority of the debate community has PC's so the best way of transferring files (speech docs, between your team, etc.) will be PC -> PC. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KChow 0 Report post Posted December 25, 2013 Unpopular opinion here, but you should probably just get word for your mac and debate off that. The trackpad things to switch between different windows makes it really easy to switch between different documents when you're prepping and the reading list thing on Safari is great for cutting cards on the bus/van/plane. Just pointing out, the Reading List functionality is available on Safari for Windows as well, not to mention a couple Chrome apps. Regarding the trackpad, is it normal to have a wireless mouse in during a round? My dad used to tell me always to use a mouse when in a time-crunch because of the sheer reliability/accuracy, and I'm wondering if that's true here. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coconuts 872 Report post Posted December 25, 2013 Regarding the trackpad, is it normal to have a wireless mouse in during a round? My dad used to tell me always to use a mouse when in a time-crunch because of the sheer reliability/accuracy, and I'm wondering if that's true here. I use one in some rounds and others I don't. It'll save you a few seconds, but it's not gonna shave a minute off of prep. Plus you shouldn't be needing all that much prep on the computer. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cintrepid 2 Report post Posted January 8, 2014 Hii, thanks for all the replies. I bought a computer on black friday. Im really happy with it and already took it on a tournament! Using it right now by spreading. the computer i got is the Lenovo u530. Its great! http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/ideapad/u-series/u530-touch/ 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coconuts 872 Report post Posted January 8, 2014 Hii, thanks for all the replies. I bought a computer on black friday. Im really happy with it and already took it on a tournament! Using it right now by spreading. the computer i got is the Lenovo u530. Its great! http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/ideapad/u-series/u530-touch/ Awesome, nice choice my friend, Lenovo is a great company. If you need any help regarding paperless debate, not just Verbatim, but anything related to research and organization, don't be afraid to ask! 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jobas 453 Report post Posted January 12, 2014 Awesome, nice choice my friend, Lenovo is a great company. If you need any help regarding paperless debate, not just Verbatim, but anything related to research and organization, don't be afraid to ask! Regarding the organization part, I am realllllyyyyy disorganized. Any Suggestions on cleaning up my computer? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zuul 666 Report post Posted January 13, 2014 Regarding the organization part, I am realllllyyyyy disorganized. Any Suggestions on cleaning up my computer? I just spend an hour or so every few months sorting through my stuff into different folders. I try not to ever save to desktop, Instead I have a speeches folder inside my larger debate folder. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coconuts 872 Report post Posted January 13, 2014 Regarding the organization part, I am realllllyyyyy disorganized. Any Suggestions on cleaning up my computer? Delete stuff you don't use, make folders, and then different programs can help too, Steam for games, Calibre for ebooks, etc. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TamaleTosser 202 Report post Posted January 13, 2014 if you are not already, use dropbox Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BrookeB 8 Report post Posted January 14, 2014 I myself have a Macbook Pro that has served me well as a debater. its a tad expensive but its worth the speed and space. it all depends on what you're using the laptop for. if your flowing on it, most people choose to not go the mac route. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mitch13 5 Report post Posted February 17, 2014 A debate computer should have a screen larger than 13 inches (my partner has a 18 inch laptop, but that's overkill) have a good amount of memory and MUST have office word. All other things don't really matter too much. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ARGogate 2316 Report post Posted February 17, 2014 I've seen people do fine with 13-15 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
