Computers for College Students

• Author: Michael |University Scholar
• Filed under: Uncategorized
• Date: May 2,2008

Photo by Andrew*

This post is for all of those high school seniors who are about to run off and buy a computer with their graduation money. When I graduated I saw a lot of my friends who went out and bought computers that were not worth the amount they paid for them. Shopping for a computer should be like shopping for a car. The more you know; the better deal you will get.

Desktop vs Laptop

The majority of students are going to want a laptop, the desktop computer seems to becoming less and less popular. I bought a desktop, and absolutely love it! Chances are I wont convince you to buy a desktop over a laptop, but I will list the positives of both.

Laptop:

• Portable

Desktop:

• Cheaper: You can get a lot more for your money.
• Larger Monitor: I love my 24 inch monitor. I can put two word documents side by side, or an internet browser and a word document. I am much more efficient with a large monitor than a small monitor. If you are working with programs such as Photoshop you will want a large monitor.
• It can be a TV too! For about $30 you can put a TV tuner in your desktop computer. You no longer need a TV in your dorm. You get to save some space!
• Easily upgradeable! It is very easy to buy a new part for your desktop and update your computer. With a notebook you will just have to buy a new one.
• When it comes to ergonomics, a desktop is much better for you. When you are at a keyboard your arms should be about parallel to the floor and the top of the monitor should be eye level. Which is impossible with a laptop.
• If you are a hardcore gamer(Like I used to be!) a notebook will not cut it. Especially if you want to play new games like Crysis!

Mac vs PC

We all have seen the commercials, and even I, a PC fan, think they are absolutely hilarious! I do not want to get into a discussion about which one is actually better, but I would like everyone to know that if you do like the look and feel of a mac, you can install a Windows operation system onto a Mac. In the next section I will explain why you may want to buy a Mac with Windows installed.

Love Your Computer

I believe the most important quality for a computer is comfort. When you sit down at your computer you need to enjoy the feel of the mouse, keyboard, and gloss of the screen. Even if you buy your computer on the internet you should first go to stores and test out a few of the possible choices.

When determining a comfortable computer do not look at the price. For example, the mouse I am currently using was $60. I love my mouse! I was at BustBuy one day and I was browsing, I put my hand on the mouse and said “THAT’S IT!” It fit my hand perfectally. My keyboard on the other hand was only $10.

Having an actual mouse is very important. Trying to use the pad on a notebook is very time consuming and inefficients. If you buy a notebook, get a mouse to go along with it. You may also consider buying a keyboard for your laptop. That way when you are at a desk you can be ergonomically correct, but you can always take your notebook somewhere else.

The Tech Stuff(specifically for notebooks/laptops)

CPU: Chances are you will want to get an Intel Core 2 Duo. Most will say it is the best CPU out there. Now when you are looking at the specs it will say something like 2.0GHz. That is the speed of the processor. What speed do you need? If you are only going to use word processing and the internet you could probably go as low as 1.33 GHz. If you want to watch movies, use advanced programs, possibly play a few games, you will want 2.0GHz or more.

Note: Sometimes you will see a computer with a 2.0GHz CPU and then a 2.1GHz for $100 more. Unless you are a hardcore gamer, and you pay attention to your computers benchmarks you will not notice a difference between 2.0 and 2.1. Save yourself some money and get the cheaper one.

Graphics: You have three options when deciding on a graphics card in a laptop. There will be an on-board card, Radeon, or Nvidia. On-board graphics cards are very disappointing, I would avoid them altogether. I would get either a Radeon or Nvidia. If you are buying a desktop and you want a good graphics card for gaming I would get the Nvidia 8800GTS (G92) as of today it is the best bang for the buck.

Memory Size: You need 2Gigs of RAM. More is better, but you wont see a difference unless you use intensive applications or games.

Screen Size: Screen size changes the value of your laptop in an unpredictable way. With a monitor for a desktop computer, the bigger it is the more expensive. But with a laptop this isn’t necessarily true. The smaller the screen is the more difficult it is to fit all the parts in, which causes it to be more expensive. When determining your screen size its all about your own personal preference.

Hard Drive: Chances are you will find a notebook with 100GB or more, and 100 GB should satisfy the average user. If you are obsessed with music and have tones of songs on your computer you may need more. Or if you are a photographer you will need a lot of hard drive space for the high quality photos. But you may consider getting a notebook, with a small amount of hard drive space, and purchasing an external hard drive to put your photos or music on.

Those are the 5 major specs you will looking at when buying a computer. Just do yourself a favor, do not assume that because it is more expensive it is better. You can do yourself a bigger favor by asking a friend who knows computers to help you out.

How much should I spend?

For a good notebook, I would not spend more than $1200. I believe if you spend more, you are wasting money. The cheapest I would go is $600, any lower and you will feel as if you were in the stone age.

Here is a perfect example of a good notebook that I would buy. ASUS M51 Sn-X2

It has a 15.4″ screen, 250 Gig Hard Drive, a NVIDIA GeForce 9500M GS graphics card, 2.50 GHz CPU, 4GB of memory, an integrated webcam, and even a mouse and a cheap carrying case. I honestly do not know what else you would want in a computer, and it is only $1200. There are notebooks that cost more, but they can’t possibly have much better specs than this one.

Do realize that most of this is my opinion, and there may be other people that may tell you something different. If you are about to purchase a computer, and would like an opinion, just contact me and I will be more than happy to help a fellow student. Or you can visit Newegg.com and read the customer reviews. Newegg.com is where the hardcore computer nerds, like me, shop. You may be using your computer for several years and you should not take shopping for one lightly.