What is a good laptop for a college-bound kid?

[MissB]

She's probably majoring in journalism, if that matters at all. Money is a consideration, but cheap computers need not apply.

Any advice?

[Nite Owl]

1. I have an Averatec

and it's a nice little and lightweight laptop. It was under 1k too. I had a Dell that lasted forever, about 6 yrs until the screen finally went. It was a good machine then don't know about now. I know they are a red company but they did work. IBM and Toshiba have very good reputations but are pricier.

There is a computer board that may have some threads on this and people who really know stuff that might be a help.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=242

[DBoon]

5. I have one too, nice little machine

I bet she could get a major student discount at the college bookstore for a laptop. I'd see what they have to offer. You'd get a much better price than retail.

Also make sure she stocks up on software - student discount prices are a steal.

Lastly, have her get all the anti-theft stuff she can - locking cables and "phone home" software. Make sure the machine is password protected. Maybe even write her name and phone number in indelible ink all over the cover.

[Nite Owl]

10. Apple gives a

good student discount, on the added warranty too. Some of them aren't expensive, forget which one.

[Forever Free]

15. The iBooks are excellent and relatively inexpensive machines

Perfect for the college-bound student. I have a 12 inch G4 myself; it is hands down my single best investment.

[mondo joe]

33. We have a 14 inch iBook as our 2nd computer and it is really

my partner's - he's in love with it.

[DebinTx]

2. Just a thought

but every niece, nephew, cousin, etc. I know in college has had their laptops stolen. Consider getting her a desktop. Laptops are not required in college classes.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

3. Get one of those steel cable things too..

It's something that attaches to the computer and then wraps around the desk or something. You can't get it off no matter what.
Desktops are ok ideas, but laptops are great for notes, and you can print and highlight what you need. They rock. I bought mine the last semester, and wish that I had bought one years ago. (I was in college for seven years. I have a bachelor's. Don't ask. LOL)
Duckie

[DebinTx]

16. Laptops are certainly convenient

but I had to point out the obvious.

And, btw, seven years isn't bad - heck I still go to college and I'm 50! I love to learn new things...

[YellowRubberDuckie]

26. LOL....

Cool.
Duckie

[Tektonik]

4. Before college I thought I would need a laptop, but

it turned out I didn't and regretted not getting a proper performance desktop.

[jpgray]

6. Since she's female, she'll probably have plenty of laptops to choose from

:)

[Technowitch]

7. IBM Thinkpads are pretty good

My own choice over the last few years though has been the Sony VAIO laptop.

I refuse to buy Dell, because they donate heavily to the GOP.

[HamstersFromHell]

8. If the classroom(s) are going to feature wireless connectivity...

Beware of Intel's Centrino "technology", or at least make sure there are available AC outlets or buy a spare battery.

One of my clients went wireless for their classrooms and Dell convinced the school to offer Dell laptops through a school discount program. (Sight unseen or tested in the lab environment, unfortunately.)

Once most of the students purchased them through the school, no one could remain connected to the school's network.

Network was fine, it was the Centrino technology...it "features" 5 levels of power consumption for wireless, and the "best" level (level 5) is only available when on the AC adaptor. On battery, it defaults to level 3, and cuts back on power to the wireless chipset (down to level one, which wouldn't connect with the router in the same room 10 feet away) as the battery drains. You can use the control panel to force a higher level, but it kills battery life. Most students weren't charging their laptops overnight before class and most couldn't connect when the battery level was under 1/2.

What's the point of being "wireless" when you have to be on the AC adaptor all the time?

Just my $0.02

[AngryAmish]

9. In Champaign-Urbana there is the Silver Bullet

wait.. you did say lapdance, right?

[Worst Username Ever]

11. My advice is to go very high-end.

My issue in college was that my desktop was completely obsolete by the end of my third year. It gathered dust for a year and a half. If we had just splurged and gone VERY pricey right off the bat, I could have avoided all those hours at the computer lab.

Whatever you buy, spend at least 2,000, if not more. Also, check with the college, they very often have negotiated deals with a computer manufacturer, which will get you a great laptop at a discounted price.

[Xithras]

12. Wha??? A college teachers perspective....

You know, I always think it's funny when these kids walk into my classrooms with high end $4000 laptops thinking that it will help their education. My first rule, and the first rule of most college teachers, is to TURN THEM OFF AND PUT THEM AWAY. And I teach computer science!

You come into the classroom to learn, which means you have to listen. Computers are a distraction from the lectures, and aren't welcome.

Unless a student is majoring in computer graphics, there simply isn't a need for a high end laptop. What are you going to do, type a report? Word and Office run fine on older laptops. Surf the web? I'm typing this message right now on my 700Mhz Dell Inspiron, and it's plenty fast. Heck, even filesharing is fast on a lower end laptop. Simply put, unless you're playing video games, major amounts of computing horsepower simply aren't needed.

My personal recommendation, though, is that the OP not purchase a laptop AT ALL. I've probably failed a dozen students over the last few years because their laptops (and all of their homework on them) were stolen. College campuses are prime targets for technology thieves, and laptops are one of the hottest items on the market. Many thieves nowadays will pass over a girls purse to steal her laptop, simply because they know it's worth more.

One of these newer ultracompact desktops with a flat screen will do it just fine.

If she's going into journalism, she's also going into a Mac friendly world, so it might even be a good idea to start her out with an OSX machine. You can get a turnkey Mac Mini system with flat panel monitor for about a grand, and it will do everything she needs.

[MissB]

13. Thank you everyone

and thanks Xithras for Mac advice.

She is going to a private Christian school, so I'm not sure if the journalism thing is still valid. Last I heard that was her goal, but heck she isn't even in college yet. I don't mind spending the money on her (she is my niece) but I'd hate for her to have it stolen. I didn't think about that at all (as I'm not the one heading off to college).

So thanks again! :hi:

[jmowreader]

19. Private Christian school? PC

Private Christian schools tend to hire help-desk staffs who don't know Macintosh, so you'd be better off with a PC. Preferably one you can bolt to the floor.

[Worst Username Ever]

14. I disagree.

My 75 megahertz Pentium couldn't even get in the internet by my third year in school, and I bought that when the standard was the 386, with many people still bragging about their 486 processors. Right now, 1.8 gigahertz is more than one could ever imagine needing. But in four years? I can virtually guarantee it will be lacking. Everyone says it is "just for typing papers." If all I needed in school was a word processor, I would have popped 100 bucks to get one. But there are many, many functions that this computer will need to fill. IF 4 years from now software has not caught up with processing speed, then I am sure the student will appreciate the fact that s/he can still use their computer for a few more years before is sinks in to obsolescence. It should also be added that if they do indeed need a laptop, they are a lot more difficult to upgrade than a desktop... all the more reason to go all out at the start.

I also do not know what the requirements are of this student. My law school classes require that I have a laptop in class, so a desktop is not an option for me.

[Xithras]

18. The story is a little different today

Processor speeds aren't advancing at the same speeds they once were, and application aren't using all of a PC's potential computing power today anyway. Open MS word on a 1.8Ghz laptop, and then open it on a 3.2Ghz laptop...the difference in load times is minimal, and the differences between them while using them are practically undetectable.

My current laptop is far older than three years, and still has several years of useful life left in it. Your example, a machine bought in the technological boom that accompanied the introduction of the Pentium and Windows applications, was an exception, not the rule.

[Worst Username Ever]

23. When you bought it 4-5 years ago,

was it considered a low-end computer? What are the specs?

In 2001 I bought an 800 megahertz pentium 3, 20 gig hard drive, 250-ish megs of ram, DVD rom, etc. Still very useful today, but only because I splurged in 2001. It was rare to get a high-speed internet port in a laptop then, but again, I bought high-end, and now it is pretty much the standard. If I had gone low- or medium- end in early 2001 when I bought it, I doubt it would be nearly as functional as it is now. It is because I bought a high-end computer then that I am still able to use it now.

Unfortunately, my classes require that I get a new one, so I am giving the still fully-funcional laptop to my fiancee for her sales job. And bonus, I get a brand new computer, yea!

[Xithras]

25. Mid range.

700 Mhz, 128Mb of RAM, 18GB HDD. No DVD, no internal LAN. Aside from an OS upgrade (from Millennium to 2000Pro), and a PCMCIA 80211 card, the laptop is pretty much unchanged. It was a mid range computer when I bought it, and it continues to be functional today.

[Jilly Beans]

21. History Prof here. I second EVERYTHING you say.

All university libraries have laptops for use in the library for a nominal fee ($5 at my uni.).

I don't know any profs who allow open laptops in their classrooms. I ordered them closed after I realized that students were using them to surf the net when they should have been taking notes.

A good desktop PC in the dorm is worth much more than a laptop in the classroom. Take notes by hand, then go back to the dorm and transcribe them into the PC. This helps the student retain lecture, too.

About theft: in my department alone, two laptops were stolen in one month--last November before Christmas. And countless ones were stolen before that. One of them was a military laptop that a grad student who was in the military was using, probably against military regulations.

If someone steals your laptop, they don't just get your technology; they get your credit card numbers, access to your online accounts (at places like BN and Amazon) and they get access to all of your personal correspondence. It isn't worth the burden of having to be vigilant all the time against theft just to carry a laptop around campus.

That said, I have a laptop, but I leave it at home. I never use it in my lecture, opting for other forms of technology.

[DS1]

17. Yeah, if you're a gamer. I have an ancient laptop, a PIII-500

with 256 MB Ram and I can run Apache/mySQL databases/PHP/Photoshop CS/Macromedia Flash/Macromedia Dreamweaver/Avant Browse/Winamp Streaming Radio/ICQ/Textpad/NAV/M$ Antispyware Beta and 3-4 browser windows all at once, on Windows 2000.

And I'm productive as hell on it. Of course, I could use a battery that lasts longer than 40 minutes, but eh? So I gots ta plug it in here and there.

This thing's a great little workhorse, and it's from 2000.

[LoZoccolo]

28. I don't think the technology changes much nowadays though.

When I was in college, 1992-1996, it did quite a bit, and I had kind-of the same problems that you did using my 25mHz 386 laptop with no PCMIA slots or network port and not enough speed to run Windows 95, etcetera. But I'm not sure there are these big revolutions as took place in the mid-nineties (first CD-ROM multimedia, then Windows 95, then the Internet) that make things obsolete so fast.

[Jilly Beans]

20. Stay away from Gateway.

Mine's been in the shop more than it's been in my lap, and even with extended warranty, it costs me $40 every time I have to send it in.

Stay away from Gateway. Their customer service is great when you are buying, but nonexistent after the purchase.

[Rooktoven]

22. Power mac if you have money

iBook if you have less.

[mondo joe]

34. I have an iBook and a Powerbook and I think the iBook would be

a much better option for a college freshman. Built to take more punishment, and as powerful as the student is likely to need.

[Jilly Beans]

24. For her core curriculum (the first two years of college) she should...

just use a desktop in her dorm. She won't working exclusively in her major area until her junior and senior year. Therefore, there won't be any requirements that she have a laptop for two more years.

If I were you, I wouldn't buy a laptop now. I'd wait until she's a junior, to see if her major will require it.

By the time she's a college junior, the laptop you bought her as a high school senior will be obsolete.

As I said in my other post...a desktop PC will serve her fine for now. Wait until she is certain of her major and to see what her major profs will require before you purchase a laptop.

[Dastard Stepchild]

27. I love my new Mac ibook....

I got the student discount of $899. It was a great deal.

[immoderate]

29. Laptop is good for lab courses.

If you need to collect data, it's nice to type them directly into the spreadsheet.

In the early 80s I took a Radio Shack Model 100 into a physical sciences lab. It was one of the first usable laptops. I had installed Lucid spreadsheet software on a ROM chip which also had an integrated word processor, and outline processor. I took notes, lab data, on that little computer. It had an Intel 8085 processor and 32 K of RAM!

For the term paper I just put it all together and printed it out. What a rush.

On edit: I've had good results with Toshiba laptops.

--IMM

[seemunkee]

30. I bought my son and wife Toshibas

The bigger Satelites make good portable desktop replacements. My son's has the 17" wide screen and is very nice. My wife's is smaller but she also has access to our desktop box if she needs a larger monitor

[Lady Freedom]

31. anything that can be hawked in a hurry!!!!!

Majoring in journalism can get her in ALOT of trouble that she may need money but dare not ask you for!!! I know! I am a Mass Comm Major!!!

[mondo joe]

32. Get the iMac. It's powerful enough without being over the top,

it's well built and can take some punishment.

There is a good discount on MS office for Mac for students.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/72008/wo/TJ21mPfZbk0R3LQGiExCJIvLqZP/0.0.11.1.0.6.21.1.1.1.0.0.0.1.0