Back to School Guide 2009: Tips for Buying a Laptop

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Buying a laptop is essential for any college or university, and there’s a lot of things that you can consider in your purchase. Here are some tips you should follow when buying a laptop before you head off to college this fall.

1. If you already have a decent laptop that you can use in the interim, hold off on buying a new laptop until October when Windows 7, the successor to Windows Vista, is released. If you can’t wait, you might be able to upgrade for free, but check your manufacturer for details. Dell is offering free upgrades if you purchase a laptop between now and December 31, 2009. The same rule applies to Macs, except upgrading to Snow Leopard will cost $9.95 if you buy a new MacBook Pro today.

2. If you don’t need a full-fledged laptop (if you have a desktop in the dorm or at home), you’ll probably be fine with a netbook. A netbook is a mini notebook computer designed for web browsing, email, and taking notes. In this day and age of cloud computing, a netbook is great for the student. Battery life can last a whole lecture and then some, but you might want to play with one in a retail store to see if a miniaturized keyboard will work for you. A great choice is the Asus Eee PC 1005HA Seashell netbook with a stunning 10.5 hour battery life.

3. Don’t buy a desktop replacement laptop since you’ll be lugging around 7-8 pounds all day and you’ll probably regret it. Aim for a 13- or 14-inch widescreen instead which you can always hook up to a larger 20- or 24-inch display.

4. Get a laptop with 3 or 4GB of RAM, the more the memory the better. You’ll be able to have more than a few applications open at a time and run more complex programs such as Photoshop.

These are just a few tips to take into consideration when buying a laptop for college, and if anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to sound off in the comments below.