Electronics Buying Guide for the College Bound Student
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This guide is for college bound students and their parents. Parents, you want to make sure that your child has the best environment with all the gadgets to help them succeed in their studies and in life. Students, you want to have all the great gadgets and a great computer for talking to your friends and for all your study needs. This guide will help everyone get the most out of their technology.
A quick word about my qualifications: I'm currently a junior in college, so I know what is helpful, what is worthless, and how to get the most out of your technology.
The first and most important thing is a computer. Now back when my parents went to school, no one had their own computers; heck, they had to use punch cards on one of the few college computers and program in COBOL! Things have definitely changed in this aspect. It is almost a requirement to have a personal computer. Some schools even give out computers to every student and bill you in your tuition. If your school does this, you're pretty much stuck with that. If your school expects you to bring your own, you can get the computer that will suit you best.
First you should see what your school recommends and any requirements that they specify. I know my school has some requirements, but they are all available for free with most systems; sometimes they only specify that you need a computer with a web browser, which is pretty simple to find. Most school networks are big enough that they are set up for Mac and PCs. I've yet to see one that doesn't support Macs, but you might want to make sure before venturing off with OS X. Some programs such as engineering may require a PC to run the programs that you may use in class.
After you get an idea of what kind of requirements you must meet, you can move on to buying a computer. I would suggest a dual core CPU with 2 GB of RAM at least. There will be times that you are on Instant Messenger, writing a paper (which is due the next day), and listening to your music. A dual core can handle this much better than a single core system. I would suggest a notebook rather than a desktop. You may find yourself going to the library or meeting a group for a project and it is nice to be able to pick up and take your computer with you. I always found the touchpad to be not as efficient as a mouse, so I got a cheap Microsoft optical mouse to use.
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