<p>As others have said, most people do have laptops, with (I’d say) a slight predominance of macs. I’d highly recommend having one. One benefit that hasn’t been mentioned: having a laptop would enable your student to bring schoolwork along when he/she visits home.</p>
<p>Also, it’s a good idea to get one that can be easily carried in a backpack. When I got mine, I sacrificed that for a bigger screen size, and I wish I hadn’t.</p>