Prepping the Computer for College Life

don9992 · 08-19-2009, 06:01 AM

I got the kid a laptop she loves. Took advantage of SonyStyle's big sale and got her a pink one with an upgraded CPU, 4 GB of RAM, a 320GB drive, and Vista 64-bit Home Premium (with a free upgrade to Win 7).

I bought the box with MS Office Home & Student and the 3-year mail-in warranty (the drop 'n break warranty was just too pricy). I've now put Norton 360 with the 25gig offline backup option and Lojack for Laptops on the box and gotten a Kensington lock for her dorm room.

Does anybody see anything I'm missing?

OperaDad · 08-19-2009, 08:21 AM

external drive to backup (in addition to offline backup).

full size keyboard, mouse, monitor for use in the dorm.

printer?

don9992 · 08-19-2009, 08:48 AM

She has a wireless keyboard and mouse already and she's happy with the display. We're waiting to see what she has for space before going with a printer. She may just print to the dorm. I believe the email a lot of their assignments nowadays anyway.

LordMango · 08-22-2009, 01:23 AM

Perhaps a case?
and one can never have too many flash drives.

harvardlawviolin · 08-22-2009, 01:49 AM

Yeah, go to a place where they are selling cheap flash drives and pick a few up. A case would be good, as to not break or damage the laptop, definetly a printer (when you get the chance), a wireless mouse may be good also, but not nessicary. Basically you have everything. Oh, you do have Microsoft Office on the computer, becuase it would be pretty bad if you didn't.

don9992 · 08-22-2009, 08:19 AM

She has a slipcase so she can carry it around in her backpack. I got MS Office Home/Student with the computer. I thought it would be best if she had a legal copy.

A few thumb drives isn't a bad idea and they're stupid cheap nowadays.

collegebound41 · 08-28-2009, 04:46 PM

....you got norton...WHY!?

hate to break it to you..but its worthless. mcafee is the best. you can prob get a good deal on it too since you have a student.

zapakovex · 08-28-2009, 05:27 PM

I have one huge (32gb) flash drive and another small one (4gb). Honestly, I didn't need a 32gb one but I like to buy more than I need at the current time so it lasts a while and it was only $60 where I bought it (Micro Center, highly recommended for flash drives even if you have to buy online) which is definitely good for 32gb. God, it's amazing how far these things have come. My first one was a 32mb one and I thought it was huge because it could hold like 20 floppy disks worth of data. Now we're up to...let's see...almost 23,000 floppy disks.

Also, I like the slipcase so I can throw my laptop in a backpack or suitcase for a longer trip but it's not very practical for everyday usage. For that I like to use a well-padded messenger bag. The one I got is big enough for my laptop + accessories, a textbook, and maybe a notebook or some papers.

A mouse is highly recommended. I have a wireless, but it's kind of annoying because it eats batteries and the adapter is easy to lose. If your D's laptop has bluetooth, I'd recommend a bluetooth mouse. Better yet, a wired mouse is cheaper and doesn't need batteries.

A keyboard is only really necessary if your D is planning on setting up her laptop with an external screen.

Also +1 for the external back up drive, losing all your files and data is probably the worst thing that can happen to your computer. I know this, unfortunately, from experience. If you have a backup and your laptop is stolen, yeah, that sucks, but you can buy a new laptop. You can't exactly go to the store and buy your data back.

Psycho'78 · 08-28-2009, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by collegebound41

....you got norton...WHY!?

hate to break it to you..but its worthless. mcafee is the best. you can prob get a good deal on it too since you have a student.

I disagree. I would say Kaspersky offers one of the best. Norton and McAfee are decent to good. Of course, the best security will always be a smart user.

collegebound41 · 08-28-2009, 08:39 PM

^^hmmm i think i heard of that. anyway mcafee is usually bundled really cheap around school time.

Psycho'78 · 08-29-2009, 01:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by collegebound41

^^hmmm i think i heard of that. anyway mcafee is usually bundled really cheap around school time.

Yeah. One of the cons about Kaspersky is it's cost, but one license can be shared by 3 computers. So it you know folks who need it, you can just split the cost which at $79 total would come to about $27 per user. That's pretty good for a better than average security suite. Even better if you can find those online coupons!

collegebound41 · 08-29-2009, 01:38 PM

^^thats cheap lol. mcafee and norton run(with internet protecter lies and spysweeper) about 100$

don9992 · 09-03-2009, 05:39 AM

Norton 360 was the "Editor's Choice" suite per PC Magazine this year and got especially high marks for the low impact it had on performance. Here's their review: The Best Back-to-School Software - Norton 360 Version 3.0 - Full Review - Reviews by PC Magazine

I could run the free McAfee anti-virus that I get from Comcast, but the Norton has many more features and I could get a 3-box license for 65 bucks at Staples.

pyroza · 09-26-2009, 04:36 AM

Norton is junk. There are far better anti virus programs out there, such as AVG, Avast, Nod32, and Kaspersky. Or you could use the best anti virus program this year: Common Sense 2009

Pathetique · 09-26-2009, 04:47 AM

Quote:

Norton is junk. There are far better anti virus programs out there, such as AVG, Avast, Nod32, and Kaspersky.

What about Trend Micro? :B I never see it mentioned in any of the threads on this site. Makes me wonder about it a bit, honestly.