going off to college laptop advice

[TURBO]

My son will be going off to college in the fall, and I have started looking for a laptop for him.

 

Any advice out there?

 

Just want to make sure he is set up and gets what he would need, so any suggestions would be great!

 

Thanks in advance!!

[LouisEly]

Typically universities will have some type of guidance on minimum requirements for a laptop, as well as guidance on what software they may need and what software/applications will work and what won't work with their systems. UW-Madison had this in their info when I enrolled in grad school last year.

 

I would recommend contacting the IT department of the school and asking them if they have any guidance. See my post from earlier today on the other laptop thread - great deals on seller refurbs on eBay with Windows 7 and Office 2010.

[1992casey]

You should also check to see if there are specific recommendations for your son's field of study. My nephew is an engineering student; the requirements for his computer were significantly beefed up over the standard recommendations. It's quite a bit heavier than what would be ideal for lugging around campus.

 

Another thing to check is if certain brands can be repaired on campus. As an example, UW-Madison has certified technicians on hand to do warranty repairs on Dell and Apple products.

 

Here are UW-Madison's recommendations, last updated in August 2013:

 

https://kb.wisc.edu/showroom/page.php?id=3061

[xisxisxis]

1) consider a Samsung laptop with ssd hard drive. I bought one 7 months ago and it is fantastic, light and fast. I can run multiple Virtual machines using vmware and they perform like it's a native OS. Only problem is it came with win8 and I am planning on downgrading to win7 shortly. For the amount of savings you have buying a windows pc vs a mac you can buy vmware workstation and mac os and save money.

 

2) don't touch office365. I installed it on 2 desktops and it significantly slowed them down even when none of the applications was running. Un installed and both machines returned to normal.

[logan82]

Is Office365 the one with a monthly fee?

[adamb100]

Office 365 does have a monthly fee (with a significant discount for students) but in return you get free updates and can use it on multiple computers.

[DHonks]

As others said, don't buy office. I tell my students this each semester before finals. Unless a power Excel user, OpenOffice is much better (and free). It has a cleaner look as it never went to the annoying ribbon bars. Of course I've become a Mac guy after the iPhone and iPad roped me into the iCloud ecosystem. I love using numbers and pages, and how they instantly sync to the other devices.

 

Edit: since most of my students want to buy Macs (~80%) I tailor my info to them. I recommend a MacBook Air and ipad mini (to take to class) running around $1150-1200 total rather than the $2000 Micron I had in college. That had a 900 MHz processor I think! I always recommend buying through online outlets (all companies have them) or their education stores (10% off macs, similar elsewhere)

[1992casey]

I'd recommend zeroing in on weight and battery life. I'd bet that even a half pound can make a difference.

 

Intel's Haswell processors have tremendously improved battery life over previous generations. The trick is identifying them as most manufacturers don't use "Haswell" in their product descriptions. All current MacBooks have Haswell processors except for the legacy 13" Macbook Pro (the one with the DVD drive).

[BrewersSuperCollector]

I have a Smith Corona typewriter from college. No one is using that anymore?

[adamb100]

If you're willing to spend some extra dough for something that lasts, I would get a MacBook Air. It's extremely light and gets something like 12 hours of battery life. It will last him his entire college career.

[1992casey]

The MacBook Air is actually very cost competitive in comparison to Windows computers that have similar sizes and weights.

 

Besides the hardware itself, the bundled software adds a lot of value. iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand have been included for years, as have Preview, Image Capture, Calendar, and Mail. Reminders and Notes were added in 2012.

 

In 2013, Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, which have been available for purchase for years, were included with all new Macs free of charge. I believe that these three apps are offered as free downloads from the App Store rather than being pre-installed. Additionally, new versions of the Mac operating system are now free of charge.

[TURBO]

Thanks everyone!

 

Feel free to keep adding though, too much information is not possible...

 

[adamb100]

If you do go with the MacBook Air, make sure you upgrade the ram to 8GB right off the bat since you can't do it yourself and it future proofs the machine.

[1992casey]

Apple released new MacBook Airs today. They have a slight processor bump that's basically inconsequential. The big news is that there's a $100 decrease in price. The entry level 11 inch model is now $899, and the entry level 13 inch model is now $999.

 

Entry level models come with 128GB of solid state storage and 4GB of RAM. Doubling storage to 256GB adds $200, and doubling RAM to 8GB adds $100. As Adam says, RAM isn't user-upgradeable, so if you need more than 4GB, that decision has to be made when the computer is purchased. Storage can be upgraded with third party options, but there'd be likely be warranty issues if you try to do it yourself. By the time you pay a certified technician to upgrade storage, it probably makes sense to buy it when ordering the computer.

 

Major processor upgrades will likely come late in the year when Intel releases its next generation of chips. That's too late for this year's college students, but it might be something to consider if you're not in a hurry to buy.

[adamb100]

Apple lowered the price of the MacBook Airs. The 11" starts @ $900, and the 13" starts @ 1000. That's about $100 cheaper I think. Not bad.

[FVBrewerFan]

Don't do anything until you know whtehr the school is Mac or PC. Usually every school is more geared towards one of the other. And once the paperwork startes flying, they will let you know. Good to be out in front of this, but it can wait a couple months until you know for sure.

[1992casey]

Based on Madison's requirements (post 3) and Whitewater's requirements, it appears that Mac vs. PC is very much the choice of the student in most courses of study. Departmental requirements should be checked, though. For what it's worth, Madison states that about 50% of its students use Macs.

[GB12]

I've been using a $400 Toshiba for my junior and senior year, and it has been able to do everything I've wanted to do with plenty of speed. Laptops now a days are so advanced that even the low end models will be more than the average user ever needs. Unless you're looking for a gaming computer or something for graphic design or whatever, I wouldn't spend more than $600, and would recommend something even cheaper. Those saying to buy something that lasts, no. The computer my Toshiba replaced? An $800 Sony Vaio I purchased 4 years prior to the Toshiba. The $400 Toshiba blows the Sony out of the water, twice the computer the Vaio was. My Vaio was still working great, but I couldn't pass up such a big upgrade for only $400.

 

Getting a $400 computer every 4 years is a better move than getting an $800 computer every 8 years. That $800 computer will be nearly obsolete in the last two years anyway.

 

*Oh, and in case you didn't know already, never buy the extended warranty.

[1992casey]

I'm running a MacBook Pro that'll be six years old in November. I doubt that I'll need to replace it until Apple stops making operating systems for it. That could happen this year, or it might not happen for a while. Once it doesn't run the newest OS, I figure it'll be good for up to two more years. Currently, with the latest OS and the addition of an SSD, it runs noticeably faster than it did when I bought it.

 

I'd strongly suggest AppleCare on a Mac or any other Apple product simply because of the value it adds, but I'd question buying extended warranties on other products. On Macs, you have a year to decide to buy AppleCare. On iPhones and iPads, you have a month, but because AppleCare includes accidental damage protection on those devices, they require an inspection if you don't purchase the warranty immediately.

 

By the way, discounted 2013 MacBook Airs are popping up. The only difference between last year's models and this year's is 100Mhz of processor speed, meaning that last year's models would be a good choice at the right price. Had there been significant upgrades (e.g. battery, graphics, or speed), it probably would have made sense to go with the newer model vs. a discount. That was the scenario last year, and I think it could be the scenario the next time Intel upgrades its processors.