I need a recomendation for a laptop

[Lou-the-dog]

My teenage daughter thinks Santa should bring her a laptop. All she needs is something that will support a decent word processing program to do some homework on. State-of-the-art is NOT needed here...I am interested in functional for the intended use but absolute least cost. Any ideas??

Randy

[curtis]

First....does it HAVE to be a notebook and why? If she does her homework at home, does she need to tote her notebook around?

For the younger generation, I think having a notebook/laptop is asking for trouble. A regular desktop PC is easier to have repaired.

That said, sites like dealcatcher.com and techbargains.com will point you to some great deals on the net....I particularly like the Dell deals.

[Lou-the-dog]

I'm with you Curtis, the desktop is the way to go...that is why I am looking as low cost as possible. Unfortunately I am being out-voted here. My wife is on my daughters side. On the other hand I can see her/their point a little. I tend to hog the family PC alot and she spends alot of time doing homework in her room. She also claims that she would take it to school and use it during study-hall. The school does have a PC-lab but their access time is limited.

Randy

[curtis]

OK.....I see their point too, but......

Tell her to put an extra 7-8 lbs. in her backpack/school bag and lug it to and from school for a week to see if she will tolerate that. The lighter the laptop, generally more expensive.

Other than that.....plenty of low cost laptops out there.

[BradJudy]

The majority of students at the university here (and I think most universities) have switched to using laptops. Most do not lug them around all day, but want something that can be used away from their dorm/apartment when they need a quiet place (I think laptops have reduced the number of arguments between roommates ). Laptops are great for students, but I also think that the accidental damage warranties are probably a good idea, especially for a teenager (not all companies offer these, but we have used the ones on our Dells to deal with things like dropped laptops and even drinks spilled on laptops). You may wish to consider some strict rules about where/when a laptop can leave the house though. We see more problems with laptop theft than we do with students breaking them.

I know some people aren't happy with Dell, but I have had decent luck with them (keeping in mind that we buy hundreds of them a year at the university) and they have great online deals if you watch techbargains.com and gotapex.com. We got 30% off the laptop I'm typing on now. These deals are often better than the volume educational discounts we get at the university (which can be frustrating at times).

[bikeman]

We see more problems with laptop theft than we do with students breaking them.

Can't emphasize this enough. Theft is a chronic problem at most academic institutions in the U.S. Students are such easy targets some times. They haven't sufficiently developed a "what if" mentality. The theft of their most prized possesions often hastens that learning curve.

David