<p>I’ve been asked to help with purchasing prizes for my son’s ProjectGraduation (ProGrad) lockin. We have around $30,000 to spend on prizes which will mainly include TV’s, Ipods, printers, dorm furnishings and giftcards. We normally buy a few laptops, but this year we are considering netbooks.</p>
<p>How useful would a netbook be to a college freshman? I haven’t really looked into them, but initially considered them “toys” for sofa-surfing.</p>
<p>Please let me know if we’d be wasting our money here and should just buy laptops.</p>
<p>All the college students I know who have netbooks are “geeks” who also have a desktop computer. Most students will want a single machine that is portable and full-functioned enough to do everything they need. I would recommend sticking with laptops.</p>
<p><em>I</em> have a netbook and I love it. My kids love it too. If they were heading to college now…DD would have a netbook instead of her heavier laptop. My netbook is more powerful and has a 10 hour battery life. And it’s a lot easier to tote around. I would think this would be a wonderful prize for a Project Graduation door prize. </p>
<p>Netbooks are only now becoming more "mainstream’’ meaning more folks are buying them and using them. Their power usage has increased substantially.</p>
<p>My daughter has a netbook as her only computer and she is quite happy with it. She is just completing her senior thesis – major project – all done on the netbook.</p>
<p>She did not start with the netbook, but the laptop she had when she went off to college died in her junior year – she needed to replace it and didn’t have a lot of money, plus she travels a lot. She had just returned from a summer traveling & working in Europe & India, and after schlepping a regular laptop around, really liked the idea of something small enough to fit into her purse. Last summer she backpacked & hosteled all through Europe with the netbook.</p>
<p>In fact, she likes her netbook so much that I opted to buy one for myself, though my netbook is not my primary computer. </p>
<p>I would note that my daughter has small hands and skinny fingers – I find her netbook’s keyboard too small for comfort. My own netbook is a different model with a slightly larger keyboard, but still smaller than a regular laptop. </p>
<p>I think a netbook would be a great prize. One very nice thing about a netbook is the long battery life. A netbook really can be carried around in a backpack all day, going from class to class, and will still be working at the end of the day. Laptops do not really live up to that promise - they are heavier to carry and need much more frequent recharging. </p>
<p>Whether it becomes the primary computer for its owner or not probably depends on individual preference. But I think its portability makes it a very good fit for a college student – and a good way to invest your $$ to be able to increase the number of prizes you have to give.</p>
<p>Another thing about a netbook…mine is hooked to my large flat screen monitor and a regular keyboard for use in my home office (like right now). BUT it is so nice to be able to fit it into my purse or bag when I travel or take it to work. I have a 3/4 size keyboard (and small hands) and have no trouble at all using my netbook. Agreed with Calmom…the LONG battery life is a huge plus. I take it to work in the morning and use it all day…and it still isn’t dead when I get home at night. MUCH better than my old laptop.</p>
<p>My primary computer is my 12" Fujitsu lifebook tablet laptop that I LOVE. It was not cheap but has held strong and fast for 2 years. I tried out a netbook and was not happy with the screen size even though it was only 2" smaller than my current and I do use my iPhone for a lot of things as well. The main thing that bugged me though was not being able to push the screen back like I can on my tablet (since I can flip the screen around to make it a tablet) - I think if I hadn’t been spoiled by my current laptop I would have jumped on a netbook and for many they will love them but I think one of the 13" laptops that has more features may be a better choice.</p>
<p>If this discussion were about an individual shopping for a computer, I’d have some different comments. The discussion is about choosing prizes, and I think that any kid would be happy to win a netbook and would be able to either put it to great use or sell or trade their prize to someone else who would definitely appreciate it. Cost-wise, I think its a better investment of the prize budget – more netbooks can be purchased, and some of the money saved could be used to buy iPads, which given the hype, would probably be a very popular prize as well. </p>
<p>In other words, the question isn’t so much “which would your kid rather have” as much as “which would your kid rather receive as a gift”. The prize of a full-size PC Laptop might not be appreciated by a kid who wants a Mac. I think that some kids would love a netbook as their primary computer – but the kids who wanted more probably wouldn’t see ownership of a netbook as limiting their choices, since they would view it as an accessory rather than their main computer.</p>
<p>Y’all have been SO helpful. Yes, the “big” prizes this year are two 32" tv’s and one iPAD. I think you’ve convinced me to agree to the netbooks. </p>
<p>My S (now senior in college–EE) also loves his netbook and I think they’re actually more useful (& portable) than 32" TVs. My S won a TV just before he went off to college, so it sits in his room gathering dust for the most part. There was no way we were going to send it 2500 miles on the plane with him. If you have a lot of kids who may be flying away to school or even driving long distances, you may want to think about the portability of your prizes.</p>
<p>S initially had a laptop, but when it died after 2.5 years. he switched to a netbook & desktop (both connected to dual screens at his desk) & he likes that best. He basically uses the netbook as a portable hard drive with viewability. :)</p>