Law Technology

Sending Kids to College: What Tech to Take?

By Ross

Many fellow parents are all debating the same question this summer – what tech to buy for their college-bound kids. I faced this question with Kodner1.html who will matriculate at the University of Pennsylvania this September as a freshperson.  It’s a difficult question with a dizzying array of choices (including the question of whether to buy from a university purchasing program or on your own).

My column for SmallLaw by Technolawyer is available now, here. Hope you find it useful. Some of you have already asked what Kodner1.html will be using. Here’s a rundown of his new system, noting that Penn is a heavily Mac-oriented campus:

• MacBook – aluminum 13″ unibody model with 250 Gb drive, 2 Gb RAM – paid $1299 from the Apple outlet store as a factory-refurbished unit (saved $200 v. the Penn student price)
• Samsung compact multifunction laser printer (small was the goal) – model SCX-4300 for only $89 on a Dealuniversity.com deal through Buy.com
• Parallels 4.0 Desktop to run Windows XP Pro and Ubuntu Linux
• MS Office 2007 Ultimate ($69 via www.thetultimatesteal.com – the great MS discount program for university students)
• Backup will be via Apple TimeMachine and SuperDuper to an external USB drive and an online service yet to be determined
• Speck clear polycarbonate protective case
• Lojack for Laptops for Mac in case it sprouts legs and walks (cheaply acquired from eBay)

So I hope fellow legal parents find the column useful – again, it’s here.

Full post as published by Ross Ipsa Loquitur on June 23, 2009 (boomark / email).