<p>Welcome to Williams, my daughter is a student there. She got by using the school’s printers without a problem after hers broke down. I think there is a certain allotment per student but it was adequate for her needs. She uses a non-Mac laptop and aside from one experience with a virus hasn’t had any problems. The Office of Information Technology fixed things for her for free when she had the virus. I believe they have loaner laptops students can sign out as well.</p>
<p>When I was at the Apple store, they were pushing ‘applecare’ - $183 which covered anything going wrong with the computer - but it didn’t cover damage if they dropped it. At least that’s what I remember. So ask if whatever insurance you are buying actually replaces the screen if it gets cracked. The way the Apple guy described it, they would replace the hard drive (but in all our years owning Apples, I have never had that go bad…)
The Apple care is available to be purchased for 12 months after you buy your laptop.</p>
<p>When DD was a rising freshman, DH “stalked” the Dell Outlet website. She got a Dell Latitude fully loaded for a song (it was unopened box…probably a return). It included the 3 year in-home warranty and all the necessary software for under $1000 and that was FIVE years ago. That computer is running just fine (had to replace the battery after three years). </p>
<p>She is out of the country for two years and we were not comfortable sending her with a four year old machine (she left a year ago)…so we got her another Dell at Best Buy…it’s perfectly fine and running well (knocking on wood). It was far more powerful than her first dell…and much lighter weight…and cost about $500. Since she’s in Africa, we didn’t get the warranty this time. So far so good.</p>
<p>DS (the one who went to college with his used desktop and survived) has a Mac laptop…he got one that lasted for 4 years…and it was replaced last summer with a newer one. His music editing software is on the Mac…and loves it. Almost $2000.</p>
<p>The $100 Apple printer rebate applies to any printer-there is not just 1</p>
<p>You can get a very cheap ins policy to cover dorm contents-even theft</p>
<p>schlagowsky, can you just get a policy like that from your homeowner’s insurance company?</p>
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S wants a pretty expensive laptop capable of running some computer games he likes.[\quote]</p>
<p>If your son wants to use his computer to play videogames, you’re much better off having him build a desktop and getting a netbook for e-mail checking in between classes. A laptop that can support serious gaming is going to be outrageously expensive.</p>
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<p>I’d be wary of underestimating computing needs for the humanities/social sciences set. For one thing, I ended up taking two programming courses with labs for CS majors…and I’m not the exception. Also, there’s an increasing trend of humanities/social science students needing to run statistical analysis software for certain math or social science courses with some quantitative analysis component. </p>
<p>My older relatives made such an erroneous assumption and ended up getting a crappy notebook which was not only seriously underpowered even for basic apps, but also broke down on me so many times that it ended up costing far more in repair costs than it would have if they had gotten me a decent reliable machine in the first place. In retrospect, it would have been far more cost effective for them to pay a few hundred more for a machine which lasts 4+ years than one which died after year 2. :(</p>
<p>In short, if you want the laptop to last 4+ years, don’t go for the supercheap(IME, anything below $500 and/or consumer-line notebooks(i.e. Dell Inspirons*)) notebooks/laptops unless YOU KNOW 120% that your college student and his/her roommates/classmates are supercareful with their stuff (If you believe that, I have a nice Bridge in Brooklyn to sell ya).</p>
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<li>Repaired dozens upon dozens of those and other cheapo consumer grade notebooks past warranty for various clients due to causes ranging from rough handling to fundamental hardware design defects.</li>
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<p>^^ My point was that the needs of students for strictly academic purposes can vary depending on the major and more specifically the courses taken. Contrasting the needs of the CS major with the English/History/PoliSci major is a valid one generally speaking. Sure, if the history major decides to take some CS courses then they might need more than otherwise but that’s really making my point. And for those who need ‘more power’ only occasionally there are usually computers available at the college to use although this is less convenient. For some students, a lot of them, what they mostly need is the abilty to browse the internet and write papers and even the more basic ones can do that including the ability to stream music and even run more intensive applications.</p>
<p>For some people cost isn’t such a big issue and they have the luxury of getting what they want but the OP indicated a bare bones budget.</p>
<p>btw - My kid has a Dell Inspiron laptop that received very heavy use and it’s still operational now over 5 years later. The biggest problem on this one is the hinges which would break eventually. These were fixed under the 4 year warranty/accidental damage coverage I purchased with it. Since my kid was a CS major this was a higher end of the Inspiron from the power perspective. I had the same issue with the hinges with a Dell Latitude I had so getting the more expensive line doesn’t necessarily avoid issues. They almost all use the same components from the same small set of manufacturers anyway (hard disk, display, DVD, CPU, memory, graphics, keyboard, etc.) but the engineering of things like air flow, hinges, case, etc. does make a difference in durability and the failure rate of the components (especially if air flow is poorly designed or the fan is unreliable) and the mechanical design is important.</p>
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<p>My basic point is that many well-meaning parents and relatives…even those with engineering/CS experience like my older relatives tend to underestimate the actual computing needs of the non-engineering/CS set which caused me and several other humanities/SS major students to get burned by crappy machines which died well before our graduations. </p>
<p>From that experience and repairing the hundreds of crapped out low-end consumer-grade notebooks…it is better to pay a little more for a better quality notebook than for a low-end budget notebook where the high costs come later in the form of repair costs, wasted time, and worries about whether one’s data is safe/salvageable. </p>
<p>There’s a saying about being penny-wise and pound-foolish which IME is very applicable here. </p>
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<p>You’re one of the few parents IME who were prudent enough to purchase such extended warranties…assuming they’re available/affordable. Notebooks are one of the few products where such extended warranties are necessary…especially if the users are college students. Most parents/relatives are more like mine who saw these warranties as “extra frills”…so their college students end up getting burdened with out-of-warranty repair costs, wasted time, and worries about data safety/salvagability. </p>
<p>As for problems with budget-line notebooks…problems I’ve seen included poorly designed powerjacks which work/crack loose causing short-circuiting of the motherboard/other components, overheating of onboard video chips/systems due to chip placement and/or idiotic decision to use hotter desktop CPUs in notebooks, use of low-grade fans which cause notebooks to overheat and fail within a matter of months, LCD design defects causing backled/inverters to short out causing black screening, hard-drive interfaces which failed abruptly, power supplies which overheated/failed, etc.</p>
<p>if you are gong to insure the laptop buy from someplace like CSI. Homeowners coverage of laptop can cost more, have a larger deductible and not cover as much as CSI. My S is an incoming freshman and we havent’ bought the dorm insurance yet, but when I looked into it, it was cheap, and seemed to cover most everything that could go wrong without a hassle.</p>
<p>DS spilled a “liquid” substance his Junior year in college… We had insurance and received a nice sum of money for a 3 year old MAC. Was able to purchase a new one thru the Campus computer store at a discount… The company we use is: [Affordable</a> Laptop Insurance, College Student Insurance, Personal Property, & Laptop Theft | National Student Sevices](<a href=“http://www.nssi.com%5DAffordable”>http://www.nssi.com). So far we are happy with them and will be using them for our DD as she is heading off to college in the fall.
Good Luck and Congrats on Williams!</p>
<p>My D2 has CSI ins but she must have a face that Apple Geniuses love.
WHen she spilled liquid in her macbook, she took it in to the genius bar.
( under warranty) they replaced the hard drive, the face plate and the monitor.
No charge.
Yesterday she needed the battery replaced. I have always had to buy the battery myself, but they replaced it for her without charge.
( too bad she forgot to ask about her iPod touch which has a cracked screen & quit working in Costa Rica)
;)</p>
<p>tessamess: thank you for the link. I will spend some time tonight checking out that insurance policy.</p>
<p>My daughter has had a Mac for 4 years and loves it, it got her all through high school, but has filled it up so much that it runs slowly and has no space left.</p>
<p>Just last night she ordered a new one. Upgraded the hard drive to the biggest one they offer so she won’t have space issues again. Upgraded the screen to high res, upgraded the processer and the RAM, and got a case for it. She spent over $2,000 on it! This one should last her a loooong time. Took up most of the money she earned this summer plus gifts.</p>
<p>Her little sister, going into 7th grade, will get the old one. Should be good enough for her for a while.</p>
<p>Agree… don’t switch to Mac if no experience on them, especially since so expensive. </p>
<p>I just bought my Dad a laptop. $500 buys a lot of laptop at Best Buy (far more than he will need). The extended warranty and support for 2 yrs added another $259 lot, but very necessary in his case. We opted not to get Microsoft Office, but students would need to.</p>
<p>I have my son’s old Mac, but he configuered it so I use Microsoft products (Word, billing programs, …)</p>
<p>I wish the worm had the cuteness factor of Emerald’s D1; he must have at least 3 or 4 nonfuntioning Macs. I think carrying laptops around all day shortens their life.</p>
<p>Dell has the worst customer service- Macs rarely have problems- I got mine a MacBook Pro 15"- for about $1200 I think- no printer needed at her school- most HW is emailed to professors-</p>
<p>Shell: first of all, you can get a decent laptop from Craigslist for about 200.00. Say, an IbM thinkpad which is sturdy and reliable. (no bells and whistles but…sturdy) I would do this. WHY? Because kids are now going over to PADS as opposed to laptops, but this is an emerging market, and the new generation of ipad clones will not be available for some time. If your son is going to be going into a graphics/art related field, then yes, you will need an apple related system. ALSO, the ipad clones boast 6-8 hour battery life. Make sure you add the Lojack software.
By the way, Acer makes some terrific, discount 6-8 hour smaller laptops. (10")Better power than a netbook, but smaller than standard issue laptops.</p>
<p>sylvan-I have state farm and it’s like $10/yr per $1000 insured-yes through homeowners</p>
<p>Ha ha, just scrolled up and read your message-he is correct. Lenovo isn’t flashy, but since they are generally work contracted computers, they are sturdy-no crummy flimsy hinges, better keyboard and indestructible. You can pick up one for a song, as business contracts are upgraded, and they release the older models. I am on a T-51 that I picked up off Craigslist for 60.00.
Again, because the future seems to be tablet/ipad technology, I would buy a cheap reliable used system like the thinkpad (terrific online support btw), and wait to invest the bigger money on an ipad/tablet clone system.</p>