| Here in my Advice...
safisher,
Great question! My answer can be summed up in just a few words:
GET A NON-MAC LAPTOP!
First off, desktops take up too much room on/around one's desk area. Also, they are not portable (of course!), so your daughter would be "stuck" inside her own dorm room whenever she needed a computer. Even though we do have many public computer facilities on campus (one of them is open 24/7), you really should have your own computer. Also, desktops are difficult to carry if your daughter would ever need to have her computer serviced by Computer Services downstairs in Pardee Hall.
Even though laptops are slightly more expensive than comparable desktops, spend the few extra dollars and get the laptop. Your daughter will be able to go all around campus and get her work done (start a paper in her room, go to Skillman Library, then on over to Farinon College Center, etc.) Also, many buildings on campus have wireless internet access, which is a GREAT convenience for laptop owners. We are currently working on plans to make the entire campus wireless, including all of the residence halls. Also, keep in mind how much easier it would be for your daughter if she needed to bring a laptop to Computer Services versus a bulky desktop tower.
Remember that you do not need to purchase the most advanced and fastest laptop on the market...get one with a decent hard drive (at least 40 GB) and at least 512 MB of memory. Built-in Intel Centrino Mobile Technology is a must. Make sure to purchase Microsoft Office Student and Teacher Edition ($124.99 at Amazon.com) software and install Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint before arriving on campus...those programs are a must-have. For the most part, your daughter will be typing documents, surfing the web for research (and for fun!), instant messaging friends, emailing professors, listening to music, etc., all of which are pretty basic computer functions.
Why not a Mac? Compatability issues, of course! The majority of students (and professors) use Windows, so if your daughter were to be working in a group with a Mac, she would come across issues while sending information to others in her group who have Windows. Whenever I have a group Powerpoint presentation project, the person with the Mac is always the problem because they can't send their slides in one piece to anyone else. I know that Windows XP will become Windows Vista in 2007 (they delayed it!), but don't let that turn you in the other direction...I am sure Microsoft will make the upgrading process as painless as possible!
Also know that, since your daughter has decided on attending Lafayette in the fall (yay!), she will soon be receiving a TON of information in the mail regarding everything you could possibly imagine. Look for a sheet which has pictures of computers on it...Lafayette has programs with Gateway, Dell, and Apple (Macs) to offer student discounts. You choose a base model, and can upgrade it as much as you like...the discount amounts to a few hundred dollars in the end, so definitely take advantage of that opportunity. I got a Gateway M460e laptop through this program, customized it over the phone as I was ordering it, and received the computer directly from the manufacturer in China in about two weeks during the summer.
I hope this "crash course" in computer buying helps...you should be receiving a packet in the mail which explains all of this in greater detail within the coming months entitled "Lafayette Computing Services 2006-2007", but until then, you'll have to rely on what I have outlined in this post.
Make sure to tell your daughter that I am very excited to hear she will be coming to Lafayette in the fall...she made a great choice, for sure!
J
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