If you have ever run into me at a coffee shop, you may end up seeing me working with 2 computers. People always look at me as if I am crazy and wonder why 2 computers. As much as I may be crazy, the truth is, they serve two different functions. One is provided by a big corporation with all of the special services and private networks of the corporation, and the other is a Walmart special, a simple tool to get online and work in the non corporate world that is the open Internet. One is a $3000 Computer with all the bells and whistles with programs I may never use, and the other has just the essentials that I know I need to get all of my work done.
As high school students start to head off into the world, parents everywhere are pulling their hair out as their kids try to talk them in to the latest and greatest computer for their upcoming college experience. Your kids are going to hate this, but I am going there anyway. Parents, beware of spending too much on a computer your kid may never use for more than typing up papers and spending time planning parties and sit ins on Facebook.
Here are a couple of things that I would do before buying the latest and greatest computer for your budding academic.
Determine what you are going to need in the next 2 years, not the next 4. Two years from now, whatever you buy today will be obsolete, and if it isn’t, upgrading to what you would buy today would at least be cheaper.
Be sure to investigate the computer programs being used in the college your child is attending. An English Major may need nothing more than a computer that runs Word and the Internet, but Computer Science majors may need to run large amounts of processing power or graphics that require more speed and processing power. The truth is, even here, they may not need all that power until later in their college career if at all, because they have to learn the basics first, and the college will provide most of the high end computers needed by a program later in the process.
Don’t pay for color, back lit keyboards or anything you don’t “NEED”. I know how it goes, you are already into a computer for $1000 bucks, so what is another $2o to make it blue or pink. Well in college terms that is 200 packets or Ramen, or 34 boxes of store brand Mac and Cheese (there will come a time that this is all they eat). Really they are all things you don’t need! Also, those pretty computers are the most likely to be stolen at college.
Size does matter. If you get a computer that is too big, physically, will be too hard to transport to all those study sessions. A computer that has a monitor over 15.4 inches will not fit into most computer bags on the market. If you only get that Mini computer, your kid may end up with carpel tunnel and bad eye site before they get out of college.
Don’t buy any programs for the computer from the computer manufacturer that you can get at a student rate later for less. This little tip will save you a TON of money. Virtually every single program your kid is going to use in college can be purchased at the Student Rate from the university book store. For example, Adobe’s Creative Suite 5 Master Collection sells retail for $2599 to the rest of us, but to students, $899. Microsoft Office Student Edition, Retail $149.95 , Student rate $59.95.
In about 90% of all cases, that $600 Walmart special will do everything they will ever need to do on a computer to get through college. I would rather have a new system every two years, that does what I need it to, with “newer” technology, then invest a HUGE chunk of change into a cutting edge system, that I would never be able to utilize to its fullest. Buy what you need, not everything under the sun, even if your kid says they need it. Make them prove to you, even if you don’t understand them, that they need everything that computer has.
Oh yeah, make sure you get that extended 2 year warranty. It is common for a beer to spill in a dorm room.
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