Picking a Computer for Back to School

Mac or PC? Desktop or laptop? Big or small? We offer essential tips for picking a computer for back to school.

About this time a year, I get a lot of calls from friends and relatives buying PCs for their kids for school. This time, I’m noticing a new addition to the list as an alternative that some of the kids are pitching: the iPad. My general rule for parents is that they should buy what the child needs; if the child wants something unique and special, they should earn the difference because, in my experience, they will take much better care of any device they had to work for and these things aren’t cheap.

Check with the School

For this question, you start with the school your kids will be going to and find out what it is set up to support. In the 90s, most schools actually seemed to prefer Macs. Last decade, they switched to PCs, but started getting much more balanced by the end of the decade. However, particularly in college, some areas of concentration still favor one or the other, with Macs most consistently favored for art-related studies and some social sciences, and PCs most other areas. Find out what the power and networking requirements are, and what brands the school has a relationship with. If there are any group buying plans in place, that could save you money.

PC vs. Mac vs. Tablet

If the school prefers a Mac, then bite the bullet and go with that. But, if not, then a PC is cheaper, and if your kid wants a Mac, or any premium product, find a way to help her or him earn the difference. Macs, and this is true of most premium boxes, have a higher chance of getting stolen or trashed, and once again, that skin in the game is important.

A tablet, and for now we are only talking iPads, is an interesting alternative, but it can’t be used entirely to replace a Mac or PC, and would be used in conjunction with a desktop or full-featured laptop. These things are actually pretty good for notes, but make sure you kid actually takes them and won’t sit in class playing with the device, rather than paying attention. In addition the Wi-Fi setup on an iPad can be troublesome, and virtually no schools I know of fully support it yet (Update 8/18/2010: Apple has recently added a patch update that addresses these WiFi issues). So, for now, unless you child is very technically proficient, I’d suggest they buy the iPad and you focus on a more traditional machine.

Size and Configuration

This depends on how it will be used. If it will be going to most every class, then smaller laptop (which generally is cheaper) is better. Your kid may want something with a huge screen and massive power, but coupled with the mass of books they also have to carry, you might actually cause them to do harm to their backs. On the other hand, if it will just be sitting on a desk , then you might want to consider an all-in-one or a desktop computer instead, with a 23-inch screen. You can actually buy one of these for less than most notebooks, they are harder to steal, and they can better double as an Internet TV in a dorm or bedroom if needed.

You can get pretty good buys on big laptops, but I’d generally favor a smaller laptop, and if the student needs a big screen add get a monitor and keep the weight down. There is a lot of discussion about cores, but few applications can use more than two, and even in gaming rigs, it is still more of the exception than the rule that three or more cores are needed. However, the market is beginning to move to higher-resolution browsers, so for those not buying Macs, I’d look for products that support DirectX11 (which is the new graphics standard for everything Microsoft) to avoid premature obsolescence. For a Mac, just get the current model. A minimum of 2GB of memory is advised, knocking out some of the low-end netbooks, and anything you look at will likely have more than enough hard drive. Avoid high-gloss plastics without a pattern, and real metals if you have a choice, because these tend to require more care than metallic plastics and pattern finishes.

Look for battery life of five hours or more, or plan to pick up a spare battery if you chose a laptop and the school hasn’t been upgraded for power to the seats. If it has, then battery life doesn’t matter as much.

Brands and Upselling

Currently, I’m not aware of any blacklisted brands at the moment, but I would avoid store brands or unbranded machines because there is no way to assure quality, and lugging or shipping it back home for you to get fixed at the store where you bought it will be no fun for either of you. Lead with whatever the school has a buying program for, but always check to see if you can get a similar configuration cheaper at Best Buy or on the Web. Sometimes, school discounts are out of touch with reality, and prices may be lower at a normal store.

Be careful about upselling; remember that if you buy a more premium product, it may make you child a target for a thief who will tend to select the most valuable products to steal. It isn’t the cost of that laptop that is important, it’s that your child could lose too much of their work to recover.

Backup Solution and Security

Schools often offer backup offerings and recommend security software products. Remind your child to use them, and if a school-sanctioned version of either isn’t available, use an online backup service (I prefer Mozy) and an anti-virus product (Microsoft security essentials is free for Windows users). I would recommend the computer be password protected, so other kids can’t get easy access and pull pranks like formatting the hard drive and it does make the computer less attractive to a thief.

Wrapping Up

While it is fun to spoil our children, it is actually better to have them pay for part of a purchase if they want something special, because it will be more likely to be lost or stolen if they don’t take better care of it. If they help pay for the computer, they generally will take better care of it. Remember to start with the school, and what they recommend for the course of study your child it taking. Make sure the computer is properly secured. I’d recommend a Kensington lock but only if you can get your kid to use it. Maybe reminding them that they will be buying the next one or working out of the library if they don’t lock it up will help that.

Eventually, iPad-like devices may be a better choice for students than laptops, but not this year. They are probably more of a distraction and magnet for thieves than anything else at the moment, but that may not be true everyplace, and if you go that route and find it works, well I’d love to hear from you.

Good hunting, and lets all be glad it is our children and not us that are going back to school. I still have nightmares about being late for class or being lost on campus.