<p>Every spring, the parents of happy recipients of fat envelopes start a thread or two on shopping for dorm essentials, college insurance and what can be done to prevent laptop theft. I thought I'd share this timely Seattle Times' article on the current state of laptop anti-theft software:</p>
<p>Business</a> & Technology | Software can help retrieve your stolen laptop | Seattle Times Newspaper</p>
<p>Or you can do what we did. Send your kid to college with an older laptop, not a popular brand, and have him break a key (in his case the “8” key) so he just has the little stub below the key left. No one in their right mind would steal his laptop. Or as he says, anyone who would steal THIS laptop needs it more than he does.</p>
<p>[PC</a> PhoneHome and MacPhoneHome stop computer theft](<a href=“http://www.brigadoonsoftware.com/pcphonehome.html]PC”>BRIGADOON Security Group - Locate Missing Computers - Track Mobile Phone)</p>
<p>I have this on my son’s computer. it sends an email with the IP address, this is like lojak for computers. I guess you could put a GPS chip in also to see where the computer was located</p>
<p>I also have the <a href=“http://www.collegestudentinsurance.com/[/url]”>Filing a Claim;
<p>Don’t most of the new Dell laptops come with that lojack thing in it? (Does it work?)</p>
<p>Hubby’s favorite words are “invisible is better than agile.” We advise our kids to keep their laptops out of sight in a drawer when not actively in use by them. So far, so good. S’s computer has failed just after 2 years from purchase (warranty had ended) & needed replacement already, tho it was purchased new for him to start college!</p>
<p>My daughter had a new laptop when she went off to college, but it lasted only 2 years --it then had a variety of issues/problems that led her to shop for a new one. She does a lot of traveling so she wanted something lighter & smaller and picked up a netbook, which she is really happy with.</p>
<p>I mention this because a netbook can be purchased for about $400 and is fully functional. She’s so happy with hers that I plan to buy one too, just to use when I travel. The netbook is small enough to fit in her purse and has realy long battery life – so it really is much more feasible to bring it and use it in class regularly. </p>
<p>She’s does say “you get what you pay for” - so she has run into minor issues with a keyboard and such – but I think that for someone whose top priority is to get a computer that offers basic word processing functions, internet access, etc – its a good option and I can tell you that with the lower price we simply don’t worry as much about theft. I don’t think you would expect a netbook to last all 4 years – but then I think from experience you are lucky if any laptop lasts 2 years. My son actually nursed one along for 5 years… but what happens is that various things start going wrong with the keyboard, or display, or laptop hinges, or CD/DVD Rom drive, or hard drive… and when you turn around to look at the cost of repair for an out-of-warranty computer, it tends to be more cost effective to replace. And once you are thinking along those lines… you might decide it makes more sense to look for something small & cheap for $450 or so.</p>
<p>Yea, my S is replacing his laptop that died just after the 2-year warranty expired with a netbook similar to the one you describe, that he hopes will see him thru the end of college & into his carreer. He’s attracted by the light size & portability too & has already made a docking station with monitors so the smaller screen won’t be a problem when he’s using it at his apartment. Hubby is sad to hear so many having laptops die as he has 4 that are all fully functional and aging–they don’t build them like they used to!</p>