<p>My son started off college with a laptop but it rarely left the dorm room. With all his books he needed to study with, it rarely left the desk. When the laptop started to have some serious isues, he switched to a desktop machine. After a while he also got a tablet PC. I believe the tablet/desktop combination is the best. My daughter (a couple of years behind my son) started off with that combination and also finds it the best.</p>