Law Technology

Laptops for College Students - A Smart Guide for Parents

By Ross

This question came up on the ABA’s Solosez list in the last couple of days. Given that I’m facing this question with Kodner1.html heading to Penn in the Fall, I thought I’d offer my ideas.

I think the most important characteristics of a laptop to buy a college kid are:

1. Campus Support - What do the campus techs primarily support so help can be had if needed?
2. Durability - even careful kids are going to be tough on a laptop
3. Portability - a big 17″ machine is going to tough to lug around
4. Core Software - What software is going to be essential? i.e. a Business student who needs Office 2007 for Windows?, an art student who needs Photoshop or drawing tools?

With that said, after analyzing these questions, Kodner1.html’s high school graduation present will be his laptop for school - a 13″ aluminum Macbook with Windows XP Pro (follow the XP link for a $137 deal) (and likely an Apple factory refurb to save a few hundred while getting the standard warranty - I love this way to buy Apple from Apple at a discount) (under Parallels 4) and Ubuntu Linux (with Bootcamp for the dual boot). He’ll have MS Office 2007 Ultimate via Microsoft’s $60 deal they call “The Ultimate Steal” and OpenOffice 3. He’s totally OS agnostic although mostly a Windows user, but also an Ubuntu nut (for years).

Also, it’s a good idea to include an internet protection suite with 3 or, if possible, 4 years of paid subscription to get you through undergrad life (let your kid pay for their own when they’re in grad school!).
Laptop brands I would consider durable enough with good enough support would be:

• Thinkpads by Lenovo - built like tanks
• Macbook and Macbook Pros
• Panasonic Toughbooks

That’s my short list for machines that would have a chance of making it through all four years (equip them near the high-end spec-wise so you have the best chance of getting through four years with one laptop purchase). Most certainly, research available student discounts through the school as well - they may (or may not) be cheaper than smart shopping on the open market (and may include a campus IT support package).

Someone asked me about netbooks for college students. As much of a netbook nut as I am, I just don’t see this as being practical for a primary machine. Depending on the field your kid may be interested in, their software needs (especially entertainment-wise) may require more hardware horsepower than their parents require. Also, the need to store lots of digital stuff, especially for science and artistic types, may exceed the 160 Gb maximum hard drive size of current netbooks. Smaller keyboards might hinder the ability to take rapid real-time notes in class also. So as much as I *LOVE* netbooks as adjuncts to other systems for myself and my clients, I’m not in favor of them as *primary* systems for students.
Then don’t forget backup - and acknowledge that my normal advice doesn’t apply. Even responsible kids are not going to do regular backups. Kodner1.html is about the most responsible kid you could ever meet - can’t trust him to do backups unless I’m on his back about it (and he’s got a TON of content, art, his latin and language stuff that he’d just die if he lost). So this is the one area where I think backup could be:

• An image backup with Acronis True Image Home for Windows or Carbon Copy Cloner for Mac (tip of the hat to fellow Sezzer Steve O’Donnell in Lancaster, PA for that one) that you keep on a drive at home and on a 2.5″ form factor external portable drive he/she takes with them. So you can do  “bare metal” full system restore as of the time of initial setup.
• Online backup to one of the majors - Mozy.com’s home service (for Windows and Mac) is probably the best bet in terms of low cost ($4.95/month) and likelihood of being around. The campus might have an approved or endorsed online backup provider with a student deal too - worth checking into.
• If you want live on-site backup and you go to the Mac route, I think the idea of Apple’s Time Machine with an Apple Time Capsule (because it doesn’t get any more automatic). This is the setup I use with my Macbook at home - and Windows can backup to it as well).

THEN, you need to deal with the possibility of theft on campus - definitely happens. Deal with it two ways:

• Education - laptops shouldn’t be left out and unattended ever, even in a dorm with an unlocked door - laptops have legs and it may walk away. Put it away when not in use - keep it out of plain sight so it doesn’t tempt anyone.
• Consider locking it up when student and laptop are separated with a DormVault or any other valuables like jewelry, passports, cash, etc.
• Lojack for Laptops - I’ve come to believe this is essential for ALL laptops these days. SO many get stolen, Some of you know that I had a laptop stolen (TSA at the Reno airport in mid ‘07 - only possible conclusion). You can buy 3 year subscriptions to Mac and Windows Lojack service for as little as $10 on eBay for the Windows version, or I just saw a four year version for Mac for $80. You’d kick yourself if your kid’s laptop got stolen on campus and you hadn’t spent $10 to give you a chance to recover it (or remotely kill it).

Laptop Bags: Let your kid pick both a laptop bag they like (i.e. lots of hip messenger style bags around, or acknowledge they won’t use a laptop bag and focus instead of a decent protective sleeve (neoprene lined) so that it can get tossed into another bag and not get trashed. One particular laptop sleeve/protector approach may trip your kid’s green sensibility trigger - it’s called the Act2 GreenSmart Laptop jacket ($45) and is made from recycled plastic bottles. They even point out that each bag is made from between 11 and 17 recycled bottles which carbon offsets up to 89 hours of laptop operation. Think also about plastic protective shields like these $50 models from Incase.

Electrical Protection: A quality surge protector to always plug into in the dorm room and a quality laptop surge protector to outfit his/her laptop bag (i.e. Tripplite Traveler, APC Notebook SurgeArrest, or the nifty one I use from Belkin with three outlets and two USB charging ports.

Printing/Scanning/Copying: Many printing options will be available on most campuses whether university-provided or commercial outlets like FedEx Office with online printing. In the dorm room, where space is always at a premium (I remember how cell-like my freshman dorm room was at Drake University ages ago). Small laser multifunction units probably work best to provide all these devices without the separate peripherals I normally recommend for my law firm clients (yes, even my beloved ScanSnaps may not be the best bet because of tight/non-existent desktop real estate).

Black and White Multi-Function: Where the number one priority may be space-efficiency, one particular ultra-compact standout in black-and-white laser multifunction printer/scanner/copiers is from Samsung - the sleek and svelte SCX-4500w. It also has the attractions of being wireless (802.11g capable so your kid can print from the top bunk without having to drag their sorry rear ends all the way down to their desks to plug in ). It also is VERY quiet - printing at less than 45 decibels (that’s really quiet). Street pricing is around $300 with toner cartridges (always have a spare on hand!) are around $65.

Color Laser Multi-Function: While it might be best for your kid to get their color printing done somewhere on campus, if their assignments demand hard-copy color, the most physically compact color MFD I could find is another Samsung product, the CLX-3175FW, another wireless unit. Smaller than HP, Canon and Brother offerings (which are hulking monsters in comparison), Samsung has one of the best reliability reputations next to HP products. About $465 (but remember, much higher consumable costs, likely around 25 cents per page v. about 2 cents per page for the black and white unit above). My vote? Go with black and white.

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So for all fellow parents of college-bound freshmen (freshpeople?), I hope this is a helpful starter guide to the computer technology to send to school this Fall!

Full post as published by Ross Ipsa Loquitur on April 17, 2009 (boomark / email).