computer purchase for son leaving for school

cobrat
Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:04:55 +0000

sylvan8798:

Is it worth considering the possibility that we could get a less expensive desktop for the gaming AND a less expensive laptop for about the same total amount (PC + LT ~ $1300)?



Not unless the laptop is a real cheap low-end notebook that IMHO…no one in their right mind should buy due to greater possibilities of breakdowns, poor/nonexistent support, etc.

If the budget is such that one is limited to desktop for gaming/all needs or a notebook for portability…your son needs to choose ONE OR THE OTHER…not both unless he’s willing to pay most/all of the cost.

I’m also a bit skeptical of any college student’s “need” to have a gaming system in college as that from my observations tends to be common among students who fall into the trap of prioritizing gaming over academics/internships/ECs.

As a 17 year old college student, I actually had a heated argument with an aunt because SHE insisted I needed a TV in my dormroom whereas I knew myself well enough to know that it is a huge addictive timesink I could do without…especially when there’s new college students to meet, campus/town to explore, and more.



Deskpotato:

While computer shopping this weekend, we met three young people who had started out with bigger laptops (17" monitors, or even the 15.6" size) and traded down.

One young man is a computer science student who had a big, heavy laptop he kept on his desk and a netbook he carried around with him. I think if he’d realized he was going to be unhappy with the big laptop, he would have gone with a desktop + netbook setup.



Very interesting considering current 15-17 inch notebooks tend to be lighter than the notebooks my generation carried during our college days in the mid-late ‘90s. Have a 13" Toshiba Tecra from the late’ 90s and an early 2000s Dell Latitude which weighs in at around 9.5-11 pounds each.

Never had an issue carrying them in my backpack with adapter and other academic related things. When I carried my mother’s MBP 15" and someone else’s Panasonic 15" Toughbook in separate instances, they both weighed less combined than my Dell Latitude and around the same amount as the late '90s 15" Toshiba.