<p>Interesting thread and arguments/discussions.</p>
<p>I think the top question for most students and parents would be “what’s the best computer for my kid to have at college?”.</p>
<p>Assuming, if the computer is working and serving its purpose, it doesn’t really matter until it breaks. Then the question becomes “which computer can be most quickly and easily fixed when something goes wrong?”.</p>
<p>First, I’d rule out anything that requires calling a national support line and possibly waiting for a shipping box within which to send the computer away in the mail for 3-7 days. That’s just not going to be a good setup for a frshman living in a college dorm, possibly with no car.</p>
<p>Instead, I think most cities have really good refurb notebook stores near campuses, and I think a student will be best serviced by purchasing a used laptop from such an establishment.</p>
<p>I’ll use my city of Austin as an example. We have a “Mr. Notebook” 1 block from UT. They sell decent refurb laptops, starting at $300. When you buy a laptop there, you get FREE lifetime labor along with the 90 day hardware warranty. Have a problem? Just carry it in and they open it up on the bench, right there, while you wait, and either fix it and give it back in less than 30 minutes, or check it in for further diagnostics. Out of about a half dozen repairs, I’ve only had to leave my laptop overnight there once. The staff is smart, fast, and they crank out a bunch of small fixes every hour. It’s all they do.</p>
<p>So, I want my kid to have a laptop (instead of a desktop) and an easy place to walk it into when it goes haywire. I think this is a superior setup for a college kid. And if they are using Google Docs and/or keeping proper backups in the cloud, they can get to their docs and files from any computer even if they have to do without their own for a few days while being repaired.</p>