Laravel Checking If a Record Exists

Question

I am new to Laravel. Please excuse the newbie question but how do I find if a record exists?

<?php

$user = User::where('email', '=', Input::get('email'));

What can I do here to see if $user has a record?

Answer 1

$user = User::where('email', request('email')->first();
return (count($user) > 0 ? 'Email Exist' : 'Email Not Exist');

Answer 2

if (User::where('email', Input::get('email'))->exists()) {
    // exists
}