<p>Laptop, I would highly recommend looking into the inexpensive college student property insurance. It is like $100. per year and covers loss or theft of laptop...</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for the advice everyone - hope others are benefitting from this info too!</p>
<p>Sounds like laptops are the computer of choice for most. I will remember to check w/my D school before purchasing, get a lock for it and buy it during the summer so she can get used to it before her first semester starts!!!</p>
<p>D bought her laptop after she worked a summer stint as a camp counselor last year. She may also take our older desktop with her (with a newer, flat screen, smallish monitor), depending on where she goes.</p>
<p>When purchasing any modern computer (Windows or Apple) the cheapest performance upgrade you can get is more RAM. I strongly encourage installing the maximum your operating system can use -- right now the "sweet spot" for Windows XP seems to be 2GB. Most notebooks only "come with" 512MB or 1GB, but pay for the upgrade. My wife and I have computers with similar CPUs, but her's has a very high end mobile graphics card and 2GB of RAM. It's noticeably faster than mine in every way, and runs the kids' favorite games, too (which is a bad thing to me, but we bought the high-end graphics card for digital movie editing and now the boys fight over mom's computer).</p>
<p>Go with a laptop. My son rarely brings his to class but ALWAYS brings it home on breaks. If you want bigger displays, regular keyboard, you can get a docking station.
The biggest issue with laptops is potential theft. Locks are a good idea but we found another product to help deter theft. It's a permanent label (pretty scary looking) and it registers your computer, a bit expensive but worth it IMO. Some universities require all students to use these labels. Check them out here: <a href="http://www.stoptheft.com/site/products_security_plate.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.stoptheft.com/site/products_security_plate.php</a></p>
<p>If you're not scared of using a screwdriver, laptop memory can be cheaply upgraded yourself, sometimes for less than half the price of what the laptop maker will charge. It's not difficult at all (Dell considers memory a user servicable part), and takes under 10 minutes. Some sellers, including crucial.com, will guarantee compatibility of memory if you correctly enter the type of laptop that you have, so there's no guesswork about it.</p>
<p>We love this topic! 4 pages already. IMHO, it depends almost entirely on the kid. We have one of each: For S1, I wouldn't have considered a laptop. He would have dropped it and broken it, lost it, or had it stolen in the first week. Desktop with big flat screen for him. S2 will probably get a laptop for portability.</p>
<p>I have been seeing some neat commercials recently for a durable laptop. They show it being abused, bounced around spilled upon. But the ad's shortfall is..... I can't remember the brand name! IBM?</p>
<p>Panasonic Tough Book</p>
<p>
You are coming along quite smartly. ;) Now, remember the advice about looking for discounts on the net. The board offered me the same advice and told me to google Dell + (model) + coupon (I think). What I found I couldnt beat any other way (that I could find). It surprised the Dell sales dude. They change daily or at least weekly.</p>
<p>Go with the laptop. When my daughter went to college we were going to get her a desktop but then were advised for laptop. This has definitely been the better choice....students can just pack them up and take them home with all their work on it. I did buy it during the early summer so she could get used to it. Check with the school for what the basic requirements are and then at least double it! Then it will hopefully last all 4 years.....definitely need a lock!</p>
<p>Son had his choice last summer- took a 19" screen, loaded desktop we had gotten last spring to school. Has an external hard drive and a flash drive as well. Brought the computer home for the 1 month winter break so he didn't have to use the old slower one he has loaded up. The new one was supposedly going to be used by husband last fall... Son still doesn't want a laptop- physics major. He took a comp sci course last semester, they were required to log onto the lab computers for their lab time (I suspect it was one way of making sure they attended the lab...). There are some super deluxe computers on campus he would have to take more training to be allowed to touch. Son was happy for the external drive- he needed the extra space for his nonacademic downloads; also, they have a weekly limit with the dorm internet system (apparently intra college things, such as from courses, don't count in the limit)- I can imagine the budget if every student could download ad lib, it's a generous limit.</p>
<p>UW Madison has a "DoIT" computer website, store and support services, as I'm sure most schools do. Last summer they had a nice computer buying guide online- with information on hardware, laptops/desktops at three price points and Dell/Apple codes for deals which could be used in addition to other deals- this has disappeared by now. A wealth of information is still available, including information on VISTA (make use of any school's websites for the help they offer). The time to buy a computer is next summer- some of the new OS kinks will be worked out and the prices will be better (back to school deals flourish), now is a good time to start thinking and researching, or even wait a few months. UW offers free antivirus etc. software to students, check with your school before rushing to buy software. They also have some free repair services and training- again, check with your school. If you have a June or July summer orientation for parents you can check things out for yourself on campus before buying.</p>
<p>Laptop or desktop, Apple or Dell or other-it depends on major (heavy graphics users usually prefer Apple I'm told and the engineering school had its additional recommendations) and student preference at UW. There are many computers all over campus to use so taking your own outside the room has not been necessary for our son. You need to know what your specific school is like, some have definite preferences while others make deciding more difficult.</p>
<p>Dell:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.delloutlet.com%5B/url%5D">www.delloutlet.com</a></p>
<p>and...</p>
<p>Some companies have corporate purchasing deals with Dell, and some of these corporate arrangements include discounts for employees. My employer has an arrangement like this, and -- once I figured out the somewhat Byzantine process -- we ended up saving an additional $300 on a notebook that was already on sale for $150 off its list price. Of course, this encouraged us to upgrade everything and spend more than we had planned originally. But it's a really cool computer...</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Happened to us , too. We (D bought half, I bought half) still spent the same money.</p>
<p>On the topic of portability, flashdrives have gotten so cheap lately it is pretty easy to save a bunch of files from a desktop to a flashdrive and take it home with you and work at the home desktop.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I strongly encourage installing the maximum your operating system can use
[/quote]
Installing the maximum (4G for many notebooks) may be more than needed but I agree that one should install more than the recommended minimum for the OS. A capacity of 2G is fairly good at this point.</p>
<p>
[quote]
flashdrives have gotten so cheap lately it is pretty easy to save a bunch of files...
[/quote]
It's true that the flashdrives can hold a substantial amount of file capacity. One could fairly easily write a small backup script (batch file on Windows) to compress and copy their source files (word, source code, etc.) to the drive. </p>
<p>The problem is in the student having the discipline to actually do the backup although once they get burned the first time they're more incented to do it.</p>
<p>Son's friend left his flashdrive in the college (lab) computer and it was gone when he got back. I figure this happens all the time.</p>
<p>My daughter left her flashdrive in a computer lab and had a scared 24 hours until she got it back. It had her whole fall's worth of lesson plans and her teaching portfolio on it. Turns out that someone saw it in the lab, which was near the ed department, they gave it to someone there who thought it might be my daughters and she got it back the next day. </p>
<p>BTW, she did manage to be without her computer for the first semester this year. She had use of a computer lab 24/7 but no computer in her apartment - it is possible to do without!</p>
<p>Having had 3 kids start college so far, I cast 3 votes for laptop! And they are so much cheaper & lighter now than when we bought the first one. When my kids are home from college they all set up in the family room and surf, play games, IM, send stuff to each other (we have wireless.)</p>
<p>Get the extended warranty so if (when) something goes wrong with it you can get it fixed for free and quickly.</p>
<p>And they make special backpacks (right size, padded) for laptops so they are convenient to carry and no one needs to know you're packing one.</p>
<p>
[quote]
She had use of a computer lab 24/7 but no computer in her apartment - it is possible to do without!
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Ha ha ha! Ho ho ho! Heh heh!</p>
<p>Oh.</p>
<p>Were you serious?</p>
<p>Also consider the matter of insurance. Because of my son's major, he has some hefty computer, camera, and electronic gear in his dorm room (somewhere between $15,000-$20,000). For about $300 a year I was able to get coverage from my homeowner's insurance company (separate from homeowner's) that gives a non-deductible, 100% coverage not only for theft, but also for damage. If my son drops his laptop on the floor, it's covered. Well worth the peace of mind, and reasonable, considering the investment in equipment. Give your agent a call and see what's covered under the homeowner's policy and what it would cost to cover the lot that many kids have (ipod, desktop, laptop, digital cameras, etc etc etc....).</p>