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Back to School Computers

When we were kids, it seemed like shopping for back-to-school supplies meant a few pencils, erasers and a spiral notebook or two. Now that we're having to foot the bill for this stuff ourselves, we find out that a computer is pretty much a necessity for a modern education.

Whether you are headed back for some adult education yourself or sending your offspring back to the grind after their summer of leisure, you no doubt want to get a computer system that's adequate for the task but preferably without cleaning out the bank account. Perhaps these tips will help.

Laptop/Desktop - This is the first decision to make because it will influence everything else. A desktop system will cost less money (quite a bit less) for the same capability. It will also be easier to get the exact configuration you want, and much easier to upgrade. On the other hand, a laptop takes up much less space on the desk, which can be important in a crowded dorm. Then too, the portability of a laptop is sure convenient, and if the system commutes along with its user between school and home, which can be the deciding feature. One thing to keep in mind about laptops is that portability makes them a prime target for thieves. Only you will know whether that student of yours is responsible enough to guard an expensive portable computer.

CPU - Thanks to the race between AMD and Intel, CPU speed and power has evolved to the point where just about any CPU on the market will be more than adequate for schoolwork. Ignore the kid's clamoring for the latest and greatest and save your money toward some of the other features listed below. You can always upgrade it later anyway. The processor in most systems on the market will be about 2GHz, and CPU speed over 1 GHz is probably wasted on anything but the latest games. If you want to get the most bang for your buck, take a look at the AMD Athlon XP processor.

Memory - Don't scrimp on the memory though. Memory is relatively cheap, and my feeling is you can never have too much of it, especially with multi-tasking or working with large graphics files. The minimum would be 256MB, and 512MB is better.

LCD/CRT Display - Here is a good place to put the money you saved on the CPU. Just about everything else can be upgraded, but what are you going to do with that 15" CRT if you decide a 17" or 19" is really what's needed? The cost isn't that much, either. You can pick up a 19" CRT monitor for $150, about what you would pay for a 14" just a few years ago. To save space on the desk you might consider a 15" LCD monitor, but be aware that LCDs can cost up to twice as much and the quality isn't necessarily better. While you might safely buy the rest of the system by mail (or eBay), it's a good idea to actually look at the monitor before you buy it. With a CRT display, look slightly away and see if the image seems to flicker in the corner of your eye. If so your eyes will get tired looking at the screen for very long. With an LCD display, turn it away from you and see how off-center it can get before the image starts to fade.

Hard Drive - Disk space is another thing that's a bargain compared to yesterday. The operating system will eat up close to 2GB. Then add in a handful of applications and utilities, a semester's worth of homework assignments, some recreational stuff like MP3 files (you know they're gonna), and there goes another 7-10GB. A hard drive of 30-40GB will probably be about right. Of course, if they are taking classes in graphic arts or digital video, better plan on 100GB or so.

CD-RW/DVD - An important consideration here is to get re-writable media, for making back-ups and moving data from one system to another. You can forget about a floppy drive for that task. Many of today's files are too big for the diskette, and some new systems don't even come with a floppy drive. CD-ROM is essential but a DVD reader sure comes in handy for a movie now and then. One economical solution is a combo drive, which can read and write CDs but is read-only for DVD.

Ports - If the school has a network accessible to students, a 10/100 NIC is a must. Many campuses (colleges in particular) are adding WiFi networks, which can help to sway the decision in favor of a wireless laptop. If the system will be used for graphics or video editing, a firewire port (IEEE1394) will almost certainly come in handy. USB is pretty much a given on any new system. And since you have it, take a look at those USB drives that fit on your keychain. For moving files that are too big to e-mail, they're much more convenient than burning a CD.

Peripherals - For the student, a printer is a must. There are many inexpensive inkjets and these can spice up homework with some color. For large print quantities though, the replacement cartridges will quickly add up to more than the cost of the printer and may sway things in favor of a black and white laser printer. Another useful add-on is a flatbed scanner. Scanned-in photos and charts in a report can be the difference between an A and a lower grade. Most scanners come with OCR (optical character recognition) software, and this too can be invaluable to the creative student.

PC vs. Apple - If you think we are going to make a flat-out recommendation here, guess again. Just consider us conscientious objectors in the Mac vs. PC war that's been going on for 20 years now. However, we will leave you with one piece of sage advice. Think about your future (or your student's future). The PC dominates in the business world, and the Macintosh does likewise in the graphic arts, video etc. Experience with one platform or the other will probably be more useful when the time comes to turn that education into a real-world career.

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