Someone e-mailed me asking what the best computer to get their kid for college is. I did a lot of thinking and I have two answers. Also, because I'm me, I'm going to over-explain this. Skip to the last, or next to last paragraph for the short answer.
When I went to college, my parents got me a computer. I wanted a desktop computer so I could play the latest games. (Randomly, the latest desktop back then played the latest games for about six weeks prior to obsolesence.) My parents obliged me and I think they paid about $2k for my computer. (That's 1997 $2k.) It had a monitor, a tower I could, (and eventually did, upgrade,) and I think a 2 GB hard drive. (More comparisons: You can buy a 2GB thumb drive for $6.99 now.)
It did last me through four years of college.
As for what would I want now; let me give you a list of what I'd want in a computer.
1. A laptop. Most colleges present class information in such a way as to necessitate lugging a laptop to class.
When I went to college, my parents got me a computer. I wanted a desktop computer so I could play the latest games. (Randomly, the latest desktop back then played the latest games for about six weeks prior to obsolesence.) My parents obliged me and I think they paid about $2k for my computer. (That's 1997 $2k.) It had a monitor, a tower I could, (and eventually did, upgrade,) and I think a 2 GB hard drive. (More comparisons: You can buy a 2GB thumb drive for $6.99 now.)
It did last me through four years of college.
As for what would I want now; let me give you a list of what I'd want in a computer.
1. A laptop. Most colleges present class information in such a way as to necessitate lugging a laptop to class.
2. Able to run decent word processing, spread sheet, and presentation software. Note I didn't mention MS Office. I haven't had Office in about ten years and I've been in school for the last seven years of that. There are a lot of options for you can use that are either cheap, free, and 100% compatible with Office. Open Office is available for PC, Mac & Linux. Google Docs is fantastic. Zoho was great last time I used it, (2008,) but it had a bug where it kept deleting my documents. On the Mac, iWork is the bomb.
3. Able to sync with an iPod. In addition to a good computer, it's really helpful if you have an iPhone or iPod touch. There are lots of reasons for this I'm not going to get into here. Still, trust me, music is wicked important to students and the ability to have it it kind of a big deal. ITunes is available for PC & Mac and you can get workarounds for Linux.
Now, here's a list of things which are unimportant. I'm including this because it's stuff you wouldn't really think about.
1. Operating system. 90% of my word processing is done on Google Docs. If you have a web browser, you've got that for free. Windows is actually an okay operating system, but it's not built on user friendliness. (It's built on networking.) They do a lot for user friendliness, but most of these features are just tacked on. They're not a primary concern. Mac OS is very stable and there's still not enough people that use it to make it worthwhile to make viruses for it. (I think there are about 50 viruses total for the Mac, whereas there are about 10,000 new viruses a week for the PC.) Linux and its variants are phenomenal, very stable, (i.e., not prone to crashing,) and look almost as good as Mac OS, (which looks way better than Windows.)
2. Storage. Storage is something you think you want a lot of. And you do, but it's still not important. (This is from a guy with a 160 GB hard drive who grumbles he has to constantly delete stuff to make room.) The reason storage isn't important is you don't need much with you, and it's cheap to add later. Note earlier I linked to a $6.99 - 2 GB flash drive. For about $100, you can get all the memory you need.
3. Games. I'm crying a little on the inside when I write this, but here is my reasoning: The age of PC gaming is in its twilight years. If you want games, you have your X-Box, Wii, PS3, iPhone/iPod Touch, or Game Boy, (pick a model.) I grew up playing games on my computer. (More long stories ahead.) I got my Commodore 64 when I was in fifth grade. I got an IBM PS/One in middle school, (probably eighth grade,) and a Gateway my sophomore year of high school. Then I got a Dell, (or something, I'm not sure what it was now,) freshman year of college. Here's a rundown of the uses those computers had for me.
Commodore 64: Batman, Ultima IV, Ultima V, Zork I, Zork II, Zork III, Planetfall, Beyond Zork, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Zork Zero, Ultima V, and some word processor.
PS/One: Wolfenstein 3D, X-Wing, Ultima VI, Wing Commander 1 & 2, Ultima VII, Ultima VII Part 2, Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold, Britannica CD, Word Perfect, Prodigy.
High School Computer: Porn, (being honest here,) Duke Nukem 3D, Ultima VIII, Return to Zork, Zork Nemesis, Command & Conquer, Command & Conquer: Red Alert, Word, Heretic, AOL.
College Computer: MP3s, (newly invented my freshman year,) Word, C++ compiler, downloading South Park episodes to watch in Real Player, Quake, Ultima IX, ICQ, AOL IM, Powerpoint, (five times. This isn't an indictment of my work ethic, or Powerpoint, it was just newer then and used less.)
My MacBook, (now computer): MP3s, Movies/TV shows, internet, e-mail, schedule, papers, presentations, household budget, (now that I have a household.)
My X-Box: About 20 games. Movies/TV shows streamed off my computer.
My iPhone: Music, games, navigation, movies.
You can sort of tell where I'm going with this, (I think. I can tell, but I live in my head, you've just got these words to go on. I'll reiterate.) The computer is best for doing homework, (holy cow!) and internet/media related screwing around. If you want games, get an X-Box. (If you want to play games with a girl, get a Wii. If you want to play games with a cool girl, still get an X-Box.) If you want to organize your life, get an iPod touch.
So, my recommendations:
1. If you've got a budget of a grand or more, get a MacBook. The cheapest one starts at $1,000 and does everything you need. (And then some.) It's slick, easy to lug to class, easy to access Wi-Fi, (not always easy on a PC,) and right now, they come with a free iPod touch. Also, there are more discounts for using the Education Store. One quick caveat: Buy the Apple Care. It's as much as an iPod touch, but worth many iPod touches.
2. If your budget is under a grand, get a netbook. They're cheap, really cheap, like wow cheap, and they'll do all the necessary stuff. Not this week, but next week I'll have my netbook with me in class. I'm tired of carrying a 6 lb. computer on my back to school, (I bike,) and although I'll still have my Mac at home, I'm going to have this with me in class. For $300 or less, you can get a great laptop running XP, (if you want it,) or Linux and you'll be able to do everything you need.
Just a quick example of what you can do with a $500 budget:
Computer - $200
External Hard Drive - $50
Monitor - $80 *In your room, it's nice to have a big screen
Keyboard & Mouse - $10 *It's nice to have this stuff in your room too
I hope that helps. Check out the following links for good netbook suppliers.
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