<p>I'm a sophomore now going to be a junior next year. The computer I have now is a couple years old and is getting dated. I'd really like to buy a new one. </p>
<p>But should I get one before junior year of HS? Will I need to get a new one for college? I won't be doing engineering or anything like that, if that makes a difference.</p>
<p>If you can wait until the summer before you start college, then wait.</p>
<p>What are the specs on your current computer?</p>
<p>i dont really know. its a 12" powerbook from like 5 years ago. its missing a lot of stuff. this is something id pay for part of, and id ask my parents for part of it for birthday and im also going to a summer thing but the one i picked was much cheaper (and better) than the other one i got into so itd be in place of some of the tuition.</p>
<p>If you buy a new laptop now, it will be six years old when you graduate college (assuming you don’t take any time off). That seems kind of old to me. I agree with fabrizio - if you could get your PowerBook to last two more years, then you could start college with a current-model computer that should still be reasonably new four years later.</p>
<p>My daughter is starting college this fall, and she’s going there with a 12" iBook G4. It is getting long in the tooth right now, but she really likes it. I have no illusions though, that this computer will make it through four years of college-type use.</p>
<p>Don’t get one now. If anything, get a cheap desktop to have.</p>
<p>Why do you need a laptop for high school? I don’t know anyone who “needs” a laptop for high school… Especially not a new one if yours still works.</p>
<p>Maybe if you want give it some sort of a refresher, maybe some more ram or whatever, but I’d wait for getting a new one.</p>
<p>Click the Apple menu and select “About this Mac.” Tell us the exact specs. I’d guess a 12" PowerBook from 2004 should have a 1.33 ghz G4 processor and at least 256 mb of RAM.</p>
<p>What do you want to do that you can’t do with your laptop?</p>
<p>What are you missing that you want/need? A 5 year old computer is fine for the basic stuff.</p>