How To Buy A College Bound Teen A Laptop

Read the full content of this Article: http://www.notebookreview.com/news/how-to-buy-a-college-bound-teen-a-laptop/

 

I think the best value resides in the Dell Outlet, particularly when Dell is offering coupons. Lenovo and HP have good deals too at times their outlets too. Plus, a business class notebook offers better build quality, making it more likely to survive the scrapes and dings a notebook that travels frequently will inevitably encounter.

 

Agreed with ZaZ; I typically recommend business notebooks to college students. These notebooks will likely be put in backpacks, tossed around, used on non-flat surfaces and so on - a plastic consumer notebook isn't as likely to stand up to that kind of treatment over several years' time. Even the premium consumer notebooks like higher-end Sony VAIOs aren't built to the tolerances of business notebooks.

Just be careful with business notebooks - they're not all high-end. The ThinkPad name has been abused by Lenovo; the T- and W-series models are the best built. HP EliteBooks are all good. Dell Latitudes - just the E6xxx series. The E5xxx are still good but not optimal.

Ideally get a 3-year warranty w/ accidental damage, budget permitting; here's our warranty guide which explains how much to spend on an extended warranty: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5629

 

Mostly good advice. The one bit that seems off to me is to plan to buy a replacement, in particular during junior year. I agree that buying the fanciest one in the hopes it will last is not the way to go, but buying a midrange one or a business notebook and expecting it to last 4 years is not unreasonable. Most of the people I knew in college had one laptop through their college years, although there were of course a few who were unlucky.

Re: Check with the school. Some schools have special discounts with manufacturers that might be worth looking into, as they are sometimes (though not always) better than what you can get elsewhere. Does the Windows/Mac issue actually come up much? I can't say I've ever heard one of my college friends having the "wrong" OS for the college they are going to, at least if they have Windows or OSX. Perhaps also noteworthy is that there's still a few schools that supply students with standard-issue laptops. I can think of one small school near Boston that does this off the top of my head.

August also seems a little bit late to me. It's fine if the college is a quarter school, but if it's a semester school, that's right before school starts. I'd recommend getting it in July for a semester school so that there's time to try it out after it arrives and return it prior to the start of college if need be, should something not be working right.

 

I think August is a good time, since at the moment, it's a little bit after the midyear CPU/system refresh and buying then will allow the purchaser to get the latest technology while not having to worry about any unknown system issues.

In regard to the article, I'm baffled why they recommend cloud backup but not local backup. Local backup via an external drive or USB flash drive is much faster and there's no need to be concerned about how the big companies will data mine all the information you put in the cloud. These services aren't free out of the goodness of their hearts, you know.

 

Definitely agree on the local backup talking point. Not only will you be able to keep your data private that way, but local backup is also independent of your school's network (great if the network has spotty coverage or goes out at times).

For a business-class laptop, six years isn't all that far-fetched, especially for non-STEM majors. Computer tech (CPU, RAM, etc) have been overpowered for the average college student for years now, and I don't see a reason why to buy the latest and greatest after 2+ years if a student's needs don't change all that much. If anything, buy a new OEM battery to extend the charge of the laptop after that many years.

 

Six years brings us to 2006-2007, i.e. Thinkpad T60, X60, XPS M1710, XPS M1330, the Core Duo Macbook, Latitude D620. Certainly fine machines in their own right, and more than usable even today. But I'm certain you would agree with we that they are quite long in the tooth. Four years are much more reasonable, looking back it would bring us such fine computers as the Latitude E6400, T400 and the unibody Macbook Pro.

I'm not saying a six year old computer ain't usable (my brother is using my seven year old Thinkpad T60 and my almost 7 year old HP NX9420 is still fairly zippy.), but for anyone using the laptop for hours each day and bringing it with them wherever they go such an old laptop are both big, heavy and with short battery life. Also remember that a laptop of today is much cheaper than those available just a few years back. I remember the first laptop to crack the $1000 barrier, now a third of the sum would give a far superior machine, while at the same time disposable income has increased fairly substantially.

 

I don't think that any of the laptops you've listed are that big or heavy, especially when compared to what's offered today (is there any major difference between a T500 and T530 in size/weight, for example?). It shouldn't be that hard to find a replacement OEM battery for any of these older business laptops. For example, here's Lenovo's offerings, dating back to the T60 and X60 era: Batteries & Power | Lenovo | (US). I can understand consumer-class laptops having hard-to-find parts after a few years (since they're disposable), but older business laptops are still a valid option for students these days.

Anyway, on topic of student laptops in general, I should have probably mentioned a very helpful tip (to any students reading this and NBR): Only buy what you can afford! By that, I mean don't look at that shiny $1400 laptop when you only have $900 in cash to spend on a laptop. Don't take out a loan on a laptop, since that's probably the worst student loan idea I can think of (take out loans on your tuition instead, if you have to). It's simply not worth the debt to try to buy a piece of technology you can't afford now, and will have a hard time paying back later. If that means that you can't buy that Alienware that you've been eyeing and thus can't play Crysis 3 (or whatever) at max settings, oh well... This is college, not high school; you need to pay attention to your coursework. Or if not taking out a loan means you can't buy that MBP, even though you want to have a computer that all your other friends have, tough luck. Part of what college teaches you is how to prioritize your life and your financial means; encouraging the urges to buy stuff that isn't affordable is a bad, bad lesson to teach. It would have been nice if the article induced that little tidbit along with the other advice tips.

 

I think the OP's link to his tips is outstanding. Notice not an endorsement of any model or brand but a very good guideline I might even say construct. Zaz and Charles mention "real" options which is fine and valid and I think their suggestions might be great. But they fail in my opinion to comment on the fundamental point of OP.

Maybe I am just a sorry tired old soul but the gist of the suggestions could simply be "business class" build for the more durable build and likely superior support even onsite. Oh and "workstation" for the "STEM" students. I never mentioned a brand or model but I think I conveyed the substantial points of the follow up posts.

The point is the general concepts in original post are valid in a very broad sense and I think are very illuminating to the subject as laid out. The very specific recommendation's while certainly very good units I am hard pressed to be enlightened or impressed with what is a bit of a one size fits all suggestion. Remember I can say that because I am aligning with OP and his general suggestions not the recommendation of unit "X" or unit "Y" as those are anything but general.

On the suggestion of close proximity physical backup I must say it has drawbacks. Theft, fire, power surge? I know that it would be valid to dismiss it is a possibility and compared to concern about Drive failure they certainly are worthy of concern comparatively. Drive failure is not likely but if it happens to you it is a problem. Theft is unlikely but exactly the same, if it happens to you? If you notebook and backup drive are in the same physical space both will likely suffer from theft or physical disaster. I guess I would say a three approach to back up is the best and can be done. I find neither purchase of backup drive and cloud storage to be cost prohibitive even in combination. Of course the third prong on my three prong approach is the primary storage whatever it be.

I thought the suggestion of not expecting the notebook to last the entire college experience to be valid and insightful. I see a little resistance on that one. This one has an element of humor or irony to me. It does because I don't even see the "let's agree to disagree" going on. I more see what appears to be a disagreement that could even be classified as a "let's agree to agree". OK agree with me or don't but OP's comment about not trying too hard to buy too far into the future. Likely meaning be careful buying cutting/bleeding edge currently. It will be marginal in a few years any way. I agree with that 100%. But I also agree with Kuroi's comments about the relative overpowered current components for a large group of the college kids. In three years be ready to decide how your notebook might work in the future. Some might decide to push on others might buy new that surpasses the bleeding edge of what was available first time around for a fraction of the cost. Anyone see how none of us can foresee the future and both of the input of these other posters is not really at odds other than form, not say concept/content.

OK finally I have to put something on the line that others can disagree. I thought OP's comments about the STEM students vs the ART students to insightful and I think correct. I am in the US so I will say the "science" and the need for greater computational power. And I think link said enogh that science business/workstation class, "art" yes lighter even dare I say "ultrabooks" for some. I want to make clear I do recognize that business class does have much crossover and can be thin and light. I guess I would say I we have two extremes workstations are one and ultrabooks are the other. Business class straddles both very well.

Shoot me down and cut me up I really thought original post with link was a very good general suggestion for students and their parents. The actual choice on any specific notebook will be greatly enhanced with the insight provided by OP. I think anyone who reads the fist post and link combined with NBR's general questionnaire will be in a better place overall on their future purchase.

"Sticks and stones will break my bones" but Internet fights never really hurt me.

 

I think theft is a very legitimate concern both in dorms and in apartments with high numbers of roommates, not to mention parties. The problem with a backup to a HDD right next to your computer is that if someone grabs the computer, they might grab the HDD as well.

 

Maybe I am bored or something but I really think some variation of the suggestions made by OP in his link should be considered as a "header" to the "NBR questionnaire". I find 90% of it to be spot on. I think it informs and sets a mindset. That mindset is a level of understanding that I am hard pressed to recall on this or any other site. If we compare to a standardized test. The current questionnaire is multiple "guess". The addition would be more like the essay section.

NBR questionnaire is either the most stolen or dare I say stolen of itself. I see it all over. I really think a little thought/concept/enlightenment is worthy as an attachment to the main questionnaire.

Dare I say, I said. Dare you do............?

Edit: To be clear I do not think the "essay" section needs response from members on their wants, it is just very informative.

 

Thanks everyone for your comments and I wanted to respond to a few points that some people brought up.

In regards to Cloud vs. Physical storage, I recommend cloud storage because of several advantages for the student. Number one is that it is automatic and transparent. A physical backup requires the student to remember and actually perform the backup. Students barely remember to do the laundry much less take the time to perform a backup. Cloud backups are also pretty much instant. Anything more than a few days old on a students computer is useless because it has already been turned in. Even a nightly backup won't get back a full day of work getting trashed. Cloud services also offer web-based file retrieval and multi-computer syncing. I've had more than one student presentation rescued with a quick web-logon and download of their slide deck when the local file gets corrupted. And finally, an external hard drive is still a hard drive susceptible to the same physical failures as the one in the computer. My general opinion for all users, student or otherwise is that if you are serious about local backup then a personal RAID NAS is the only option for protection of data loss due to hardware failure.

The Mac vs. Windows issue is much less of an issue than it has been in the past, but parents should still look into the requirements before purchase. While Macs have a reputation as the preferred system in education, my experience is Windows is still the dominant OS for a few reasons. More and more majors are incorporating actual coding work in the curriculum and professors will generally work in the Windows environment for these assignments. Any major that makes use of a database application for assignments will generally lean to Access because "everyone already has it". Everyone except Mac users - Mac Office does not nor probably ever will have Access. And lastly, lots of text books will throw in a CD-ROM on the back cover with some sort of add-on application which rarely is compatible with the Mac OS. Before you jump down my throat, I am aware that the obvious solution is a Mac with a Windows partition / virtualizer, but setting this up LEGALLY adds a couple hundred bucks to the cost.

Finally in regards to laptop durability, I have to flat out disagree with suggestions that the student laptop could be stretched to 4,5,6 or even 7 years. A students laptop is a crucial instrument and the quality, reliability, and speed of that instrument directly impacts their ability to be effective as a student. A functioning computer does not mean it is an efficient computer. Every school I know of that provides their student with laptops swaps them out with new ones after two years. Most corporate IT departments plan on a 3-year cycle for their machines and only stretch it to 4 when management squeezes the budger. This on top of the point that the DOE data show a bachelor's in four years is not something that can be automatically expected. Forgive the generalization but most people in these forums are 'techies' and keeping a laptop healthy and reviving them when they get sick is second nature. Students are stereotyped as being highly technical but they are not. They are fantastic users of technology but this does not translate into the skills necessary for hard-core troubleshooting and maintenance.

 

Aw c'mon, not all of us have issues remembering to clean our clothes .

With a lot of programs being cross-platform and even more resources being web-based, I definitely agree on the Windows vs Mac (vs Linux) debate being pretty much a moot point these days. I can, for my university at least, attest to Macs being pretty ubiquitous, though not because it's a preferred system imo. Familiarity is probably the reason many students turn to Apple for their first college laptop, since just about everyone has heard of "MBP", but how many of those have also heard of "Latitude", "Thinkpad", etc.? Seeing how business-class laptops are rarely seen outside of businesses and brick-and-mortar stores having most of their stock being consumer-class (Macs included) leads students to believe that the MBP is the best they could buy.

Problem with the last point though is that for most students, the most that they'd be doing is typing out papers (and other Office-like stuff), surfing the Internet, and perhaps watching a few movies. Some will play low-intensity, casual games that don't require much int he way of computing resources, and even fewer would be playing games that demand decent hardware. So long as the laptop isn't broken and the battery is holding a decent charge, I see no reason to buy a new computer every two years of college, especially since that'd only add to their debt (especially if they don't resell the older laptop).

 

Kuroi I don't disagree with you but please do recognize that Barney is as a main component of his suggestion the future. You comment on more of a current aspect. Can "said" computer continue to be used. Of course as you say, it can. You are correct. But in the initial purchase so much of what you present as the obvious would not, could not, and will never be obvious in the initial purchase.

So once again while I do not disagree with your specific comments I believe you might doing what I like to call "tangenting". Create a construct then support it. The creation of the construct and within that construct your clearly correct conclusion seems obvious. Fools over 90% over 90% of the time. But does not have anything to do with being right.

Let me throw this at you. Squirrels have larger wings than eagles so squirrels can fly better than eagles. You know that is crap and I know that is crap. But your context likes to reference the current and then support your conclusion. Sorry about the squirrel stuff but if I didn't make it so obvious we would just keep running around the same tree.

Agree/disagree whatever, your logic in construct/context is correct (benefit of hindsight) your application/conclusion is not because (hindsight) as basic logic a "false" followed by a "true" is false. Put lipstick on a pig it is still a pig. You can't know what you know and conclude what you do in anyway other than contrived. Respond to OP in the "future" context.

I still think the original post is worthy of "header" "sticky" status. It so far exceeds the current sticky for any level of helpful intelligent suggestive discourse. I am sadly concerned that the current sticky has a major entrenched agenda. Change is a hard thing. I mean seriously I think at one time only 4:3 screens offered while almost only 16:9 offered.

Whatever as far as the sticky goes it is unlikely to change. This is a great site. To be honest it's greatness is the comment and helpfulness of the contributors/members/Mods. Not in anyway site originality or administration at least as far as direction. Oh well so be it.

Ad revenues up Mods busy cleaning up words, no incentive. Likely a vertical disconnect going on there.