LibreOffice or OpenOffice can be had at no cost on popular computer operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Apple MacOS X, and Linux. There are also office-by-web from Google and Microsoft.
Having a computer whose OS matches that of the CS department’s computers can make it easier to do CS programming assignments when disconnected from the campus network.
Of course, she should think about backup strategy for important documents like term papers and the like.
You should thoroughly check the site of the college she will attend. Virginia Tech has a nice deal. If you buy your lap top through them they have 24 hour support and if your lap top needs repair they will give you a loaner for free, even if it’s in the middle of the night. I would imagine this is a great comfort at exam time.
My science majors have been using 13" MacBook Pros and finding them near perfect. They don’t use desktops and the 15" MacBooks are too big for classroom use. The flash storage makes setup for class lightning quick and the retina displays are excellent for images.
Just an FYI - MSFT Office 365 4 year subscription is offered at no charge by most schools, so check with yours.
Mac notebooks, including 15" macbook pros tend to weigh less than 5-6 pounds. My mother’s 2006 15" macbook pro weighs in at less than 5 pounds.
Macbook airs are around 1 pound, but are limited in terms of processing power.
Good for basic office apps, but one would need a ginormous reservoir of patience if he/she’s doing a lot of multimedia processing, video editing, crunching large data sets, compiling large computer programs, or anything else requiring tons of processing power.
Also, notebook batteries have come a long way from a decade or so ago. Most of the ones I see can hold a charge for 6-8 hours easily when brand new.
I understand where your concerns are coming from, however as I attended college when the average notebook weighed around 9-11 pounds and battery life maxed out at 2-3 hours if one was lucky.
Had 2 Ds , petite, undergrad stem majors. Both I let pick out their own. Both got through their college store discount. D1 got a 15 inch macbookpro for grad school for the architecture work. You never know what they will like or want or need. Really nice of you to get this gift. Token personal gift with it I second.
We are also giving D a new Mac laptop as part of our HS graduation gift to her. We figured she’ll need a new laptop in the Fall, her older Macbook is about 4 or 5 years old.
When speaking to D about what to get, she does NOT suggest getting a netbook, ipad, kindle, etc. for classroom work as the trackpads are either non-existent or very small.
The 13" MacBook Pros weigh in at 3.5 lbs. Compare that to the 13" MacBook AIr at 3.0 lbs. The weights are now down to where it just doesn’t matter much.
FCC…the newer laptops are not all that heavy. It’s amazing what they now pack into a lighter weight unit.
I agree…no surprise on this one. Schedule a computer shopping day. You can go and compare laptops.
We have them all in this house…and everyone is happy with what they have (Mac, HP, Dell).
You might also want to get her either a computer messenger bag or backpack. These have a padded section to protect the computer. Again…this is such a personal choice, I would ask her what she wants.
For a fun idea…find out from her exactly which case she wants (backpack or messenger). Buy that…and put in a chuck of either styrofoam or cardboard with a picture of a computer, and a note that says…“this includes the computer. Let’s go shopping!”
My students usually carry their laptops and I haven’t seen anyone bogged down by weight.
Here’s my message to everyone–be sure your student has Word, or has knowledge of how to convert to it. The online platform my school uses, through which I access and comment on student papers, does not accept Apple’s “Pages” documents. Students need to know how to convert to Word to upload, which seems to be a continual challenge for some, and doesn’t always format correctly (all of a sudden, margins may be too large, making the paper seem longer than it is, for instance.) I don’t believe this school gives free access to Office, as I have students, even with PCs, using Open Office or other ways around not buying Word.
for the record, the new 12" macbook (they have dropped the “air” designation) w/ retina display is supposed to weigh 2.03 lb., and the 13" macbook pro is listed at 3.48 lb.; both use flash storage, not hard drives, but the new macbook is supposed to be a fanless quiet machine. this is apparently largely due to using the lower-wattage intel core M “broadwell” processors. the broadwell uses a lower clock speed than the previous “haswell” chips, but it is the next generation and should have at least comparable performance despite the lower clock. they list for an identical $1299.
i shall not say anything here about the other gift i have in mind, because it is possible that she might come on CC and figure out who i am. 
but, i do have something else nice in mind for her that is not related to education.
Doesn’t each university recommend a computer setup that they’d like students to have? Once she knows where she’s going, I would check with that specific school and find out if they recommend one type of system or machine over another. Plus, they often have deals through the school so you would get it at a better price. We are also planning to get our son a laptop for graduation, but are waiting to find out where he’s going first!
I tend to agree with GMTPlus7 suggestion to get her an additional modest sentimental graduation gift along with the computer. While we got our D1 and will get D2 a mac for college, I consider it more part of the COA, since it is a necessity and we let D1 choose the laptop herself. While D was grateful and happy with her new laptop, the sentimental gift which was very modest but meaningful, was a surprise she didn’t expect.
We are letting D2 run down her old high school laptop to the ground so that she gets a fresh new one for college and should last four years or so. D2’s current high school laptop is actually D1’s hand me down from college, so it has lasted a while.
We used the Applecare a couple of times, since we actually got a lemon for D1. It kept crashing and it did upset me that Apple would not just replace the thing. I digress, but she was able to take it to the local Apple store near her school for service.
Though some schools lend out laptops and have labs, it is more convenient to have your own. As some have already mentioned, check the school recommendation. I found most lean towards Apple products, but it is best to wait.
I brought my D1 a sturdy well fitting backpack to help her carry it around. She carried it everywhere. She is a very petite girl but she had no problems with it. Now they have the rolling lapttop bags, which I use for my travels, but I am not sure if that is cool in the college scene : ).
^Schools have deals with Apple to sell their computers at a discount. That’s not the same thing as preference. I’ve never worked at a college, nor have my kids attended any, that intrinsically had a preference for which type.
I make this comment because, even with discounts, Apple costs far more than most PC laptops. I have many low or middle income students who can barely pay tuition but bought Apples because they thought they were “supposed to.” I wouldn’t discourage anyone from getting one who would rather, but the 1000+ dollars they cost is a lot of money that could go toward tuition (and as far as ease of use–most of my students have Apples, and they are constantly having data losses, crashes, etc. That is not a knock on Apple–PC users have many problems, too-- but on the fact that this digital generation is not very savvy when it comes to computer maintenance, security, and general best practices in computer ownership. Not all, but many, from my observation semester after semester.)
While Apples do cost more than many PC notebooks, especially the consumer-grade ones available in bigbox stores like Bestbuy, keep in mind that Apple doesn’t really have products comparable to the consumer-grade or even lower-end corporate-line notebooks from PC OEMs.
If one considers build quality and technical specifications, Apple notebooks when compared with mid-end and above corporate-line PC notebooks and technical specs, the premium isn’t actually that much more or sometimes even non-existent contrary to popular belief.
When making the comparison between Apple and PC notebook and focusing on pricing, I’ve often found they were comparing consumer-grade/lower-end corporate line notebooks on sale costing 500 or less with lower tech specs, more flimsy build quality, and sometimes very poorly thought out cooling design(cough HP cough).
That’s not to say Apple products are perfect or free of problems. However, nearly every notebook manufacturer has been cutting corners in build quality and other factors to increase their razor-thin profit margins within the last 15 or so years.
Especially on consumer-grade notebooks where the profit margins are exceedingly thin with very limited warranties and the expectation the notebooks will be replaced in as little as two years even when users are only using basic internet and office applications.
Even a decade ago, consumer-grade notebook lines such as the Compaq/HP presario, Dell Inspiron, and more were known among computer techs and IT departments with miserly budgets as machines which were hit-or-miss and not likely to last very long even with nominal usage due to flaky QC on hardware/build quality and other issues.
It was a reason why after experiencing an example of this flakiness in the first notebook gifted to me in college*, I made it a point to get corporate line notebooks if I was paying good money for them…especially if I needed it for work.
Correction to my previous post: apparently both the new macbook (12" air) and the 13" macbook pro will have the intel core M “broadwell” processors. I’m not clear on whether the 13" macbook pro is supposed to have any performance advantage, with the new broadwell chips being used in all their laptops except the 15" (for now, because the 15" doesn’t have the new class chip available yet).
I’m eager to see the new MacBook 12". Apparently the gripe is there’s only one port - from ArsTechnica: “It also has just one type of port: a USB Type C port on one side that will handle power, data, and everything else. This makes it the first Mac laptop in many years to not have a MagSafe connector for power. While the MacBook includes Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11ac for wireless connectivity, it’s hard to see the scarcity of plugs as a good thing for customers who might have even a single peripheral they want to connect—once you plug in the power adapter, you’re out of plugs.” And in reading more, you can buy an adapter - for $80. Yikes.
Are iPads still such that you can only have one window open at a time? If so that seems much more of a hindrance and annoyance than a pound or two of weight, especially if she has to deal with data from multiple sources. I did try to do what you’re talking about years ago and it was awful. So unless iPads have come a very long way I’d look more closely at one of the MacBooks.
Cobrat–my point was, make the choice on the basis of what works best for the student and family; not on what might be being pushed through the college through discounts–many students in any college will have each type of computer; there isn’t a right or wrong one except maybe in a specialty major like graphic design.
@garland And my point is IME as someone who works with computers, the comparisons most folks make when comparing PCs to Mac notebooks is not comparing apples to apples, but more comparing apples to durians.
I’ve also had the dubious honor of working on many consumer-grade/lower-end corporate models after failing for a short period(1-2 years) because of flaky defective hardware due to poor QC and/or flimsy build quality in one startup where the owner was very much “pennywise and pound foolish”. There’s also a reason why many PC notebooks in the consumer/lower-end corporate models are known as “craptops” by some computer techs.
IME, if a family wants a notebook which will last 3+ years, they’re better off paying more for a better quality corporate model which also comes with better warranties and support.