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General discussion

The "Perfect" Laptop for a College Student

by bouce Jun 6, 2009 4:17PM PDT

Wanted to find out if someone can provide me with some tips (i.e. brand, memory, etc.) on selecting a laptop for my daughter who will be going to college.

She would be using it mainly for Internet, word processing, and perhaps power point & publisher presentations. I'm more inclined to purchase a PC as opposed to an APPLE mainly because of the cost difference, and as I'm not very computer savvy I know more people that are knowledgeable on PC's that can help me when I came across problems.

Thanks in advance for any assistance and/or advice.

bouce

Discussion is locked

4 Posts
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look into netbook
by JonTitor Jun 6, 2009 4:28PM PDT

first thing would be look into if a netbook would be fitting for her, they are small, low cost, and easy to carry, they also come with XP which more people are inclined to use.
the down sides are the low performance, the smaller keyboard, and the small screen (although Dell and HP offer HD screens on some models)

otherwise just something lightweight, with good build quality and that isn't underpowered

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Agree but
by deniceels Jun 6, 2009 5:11PM PDT

check out the college's promotions for students, set your estimated budget.

If your budget fit between getting a netbook or a normal laptop, I'm more towards a normal for they can take larger amount of memory (4GB vs 2GB max for netbook), comes with larger screens usually (13" and above vs 12" and below netbooks at the moment), faster processor (depends on your programmes and OS) and an optical drive (which netbook doesn't come built-in). Harddisk is not an issue as both will comes with at least a 160GB capacity (anything below I won't consider) as it means your daughter can store more school stuffs and projects in them.

Furthermore, have a feel of the keyboard as some may not like narrower spacing (though some netbooks feels just like normal laptop).

Weight-wise, netbooks do win hand-down overall, for their purpose is portability. Battery life, they do able to run longer though depends on the tasks involved.

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Netbooks have problems
by Renegade Knight Jun 8, 2009 7:29AM PDT

Netbook keyboards are too small for serious work.

A modest Lenovo Thinkpad T400/T500 would do the job for a reasonable price.

Others can speak to other brands.
A trip to Costco and buying anything they have would result in a laptop that would do the job as well. Watch the quality issue. Lenovo and Apple are better. Others vary.

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Always ask the school.
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Jun 6, 2009 9:25PM PDT

I find many colleges now have the 4 year laptop plan. You get it on their plan and you get 4 years of warranty, loaner laptops and on site repair and support.
Bob

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