<p>Not brand or operating system. I am more thinking about laptop type. Ultralight or standard laptop, 13" screen or 15.5"? Do some use desktops instead of laptops? (I doubt it)</p>
<p>For my son’s HS graduation/Birthday I want to get him a laptop (he uses a desktop at home).</p>
<p>I was thinking a quality but small 13" -14" ultralight that would be easy to cart around campus and in the dorm room he could hook an external keyboard and monitor for easier working.</p>
<p>He said he might prefer a bigger (and more expensive) ultralight 15.5" so he wouldn’t need to bother with the external monitor and keyboard. This might make sense because he probably will be working on the laptop mostly out of the room so the built in bigger keyboard/monitor would come in handy. I remember back in the day I never studied or wrote papers in the room, had to get away from all the distractions and friends. </p>
<p>Anyway, those with a current or recent college student - any advice?</p>
<p>We just bought my son the 15" MacBook Pro. He went back and forth on screen size and decided the 13" is too small for his comfort. My D opted for the 13" Mac Air, so it is just a matter of personal preference along with considering what they will use it for</p>
<p>Most people I know have a laptop that’s around 13 or 14 inches. Maybe a few people have 11 or 15 inch. No one I know uses a desktop.</p>
<p>Regarding ultralight vs standard, it depends mostly on personal habits. People who want to play video games, use audio or video software, or other software that can take up more space tend to go for the standard.</p>
<p>S2 has an ultra light because he is required to bring it to almost every class. In his dorm room he has a larger flat screen monitor that hooks up to laptop.</p>
<p>Small and light enough to be EASY to carry across campus along all the other things he might be likely to carry. We made the mistake of buying a biggish laptop for our oldest. It was a pain. I have the same model and love it because of the size of the screen, but my laptop rarely travels farther than 25 feet from the table to the couch.</p>
<p>Our D just got a Mac 13". It replaces an older laptop that was bigger (and failing). She wanted something easy to carry around campus. Now searching for a case that opens on top, so she can just pull it out of her backpack. They aren’t hard to find, she’s just fussy.</p>
<p>Emerald…DS was a freshman in college in 2003. He (and many others) still used desktop computers at his university. He got his laptop in 2005 before leaving for a term abroad.</p>
<p>DD was a freshman in 2006. By then, no one schlepped a desktop computer to college.</p>
<p>Some colleges have a recommended package deal for all freshman. If he’s headed to college in the fall I suggest you find out what his school suggests.</p>
<p>Both of my kids were happy that I recommended the 15" macbook pro. The 15" allowed them to open several different files, including spreadsheets, and of course, the ever-required fb.</p>
<p>Just as a dissenter, I actually do know quite a few people that have desktops at college. However, they’re mostly hardcore gamers and graphic designers. They all have a cheap laptop to schlep around with them. </p>
<p>15" or less and light. Unless you’re going in to something which requires specific specs, a cheap laptop will probably be fine.</p>
<p>Personally, I tend to prefer notebooks ranging from 12.1" to 15". </p>
<p>Moreover, most current 15" notebooks are light to me considering the notebook I carried around during my undergrad days in the mid-late '90s weighed around 11 pounds with battery and adapter…and I carried it everywhere…including random walks of 2+ miles in length. </p>
<p>Only exception is a random large 16" Dell Inspiron notebook I picked up for extremely tiny peanuts as the previous owner thought it failed. And it’s not because of heaviness…but poor build quality combined with bulk…bad combination IMO. While the plastic casing on mine was fine, I’ve seen the plastic casing flake off on the same/similar models belonging to friends, colleagues, and random people in libraries, coffee shops, and bookstores. </p>
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<p>Agree on 15" or less part. </p>
<p>Disagree on going cheap as that increases the likelihood of poor QC or laptop falling apart prematurely due to poor build quality/substandard parts. That is, unless you don’t mind RMAing your notebook every few weeks during the first year of usage as dozens of friends/clients ended up doing with budget oriented consumer-line notebooks(i.e. Inspirons, Satellites, low-mid end Pavilions, etc).</p>
<p>That is…unless you don’t mind risking the notebook failing at the worst possible times.</p>
<p>Most of my friends managed to keep a cheap laptop alive for most of college. Certainly nothing happened “every few weeks”. </p>
<p>I just, IMO, think it’s unwise to pour a decent amount of money in to something that is likely going to be tossed around in a bag, left on beds, etc. To each his/her own.</p>
<p>Happykid has the 13 inch MacBook Pro. She went for the smaller size for weight reduction, and for Mac because of her design major. A lot of the software she uses only comes in a Mac version. So do have a chat with your kid about his major. That may resolve the Mac/Not-Mac issue for you.</p>
<p>13" MacBook Pro is the most convenient size for the backpack. They’ve never complained that it’s too small except sometimes when they watch movies on it (not as important).</p>
<p>I have an air for work (I travel quite a bit). My son still has the 4 year old 13" macbook pro he got as a high school freshman. He will replace it with a new pro before before he heads off to college this fall (combined birthday and graduation present).</p>
<p>Though birthday and graduation have both passed, we’re holding off a bit for a couple of reasons. First, we want to wait for the back-to-school offer, which usually means $100 credit for itunes/apps (it used to be a free ipod touch). We’re also waiting to see if they upgrade the retina screen models with the Haswell processor, which should improve battery life. If they don’t, he may opt for a souped up model of the older pro because of its lower cost, durability, and ethernet port. </p>
<p>If there is a chance that the computer will be used for photo or film editing, I would definitely go with a pro rather than an air. I’d also probably go with the 13" and get an external monitor and keyboard if needed. I used to have a 15.4" Sony that I could not use on planes because it was too big. Small is a virtue.</p>
<p>Depending on what the major is, a desktop of some kind may be a good idea. DD1 is going to be a Junior in Architecture in the fall and her trusty Lenovo T420 should last her thru this year. Following that, and as projects get more complex, I’d rather spend the money on a super high performance desktop (custom assembled by me of course). $1200-1500 or so gets you a truly high performance rendering machine with all the trimmings, or a decent high performance laptop like a MBP.</p>
<p>Find out what use the laptop is going to get, and consider the best option might be an 11" - 12" ultrabook + super desktop if your student will have his/her own room. Depends on major of course but I don’t see myself lugging a laptop to every class.</p>