[hunters]

After much research is still am not sure which laptop would be best to send my son off to college with. Any other parents out their that have had experiences with this?

[etaf]

whats you budget and whats he doing with the laptop - graphics or just word etc.

[peril0us]

None. Laptops are unnecessary and a waste of money/distraction.

[kiwiguy]

Sacrifice performance for lightness if you need to.

The lighter they are the more expensive, but weight would be the #1 consideration in my view.

Generally lighter (expensive) ones are well specified for such things as wireless etc as well.

[hunters]

the college that he is looking at is all wireless. I don't know how much to spend. Because he will have some access to the schools computer lab. But times to access the lab are limited and he will have curfew. (Private University). would a desktop be better? He will be about 12 hours and will probably fly home for all holidays.
I think that light is better. Macintosh or windows?

[etaf]

i would say windows - gives lots more choice of applications and software - games etc

agree laptop would be lighter and portable - esp as they have wireless - also nickable

most laptops have wireless inbuilt these days - you still havent said how much you want to spend

[itachi_leo]

Originally Posted by peril0us

None. Laptops are unnecessary and a waste of money/distraction.

I couldn't agree more..

[bosshogg151]

You will get far more computer for your money with a desktop, and they are harder for someone to walk away with when your son is busy looking at a cute coed.

[houston1981]

One thing to consider is that with lighter laptops they not only sacrifice performance but also battery life. The question is, will he be using it mostly on the go, or using it as a desktop replacement while occasionally having to take it out with him?

Also a lot of the ultra slim/light laptops have no CD / floppy drive built in and require an external job. As well as the fact that the screens are tiny (to me anyway) and the keyboard is cramped (generally speaking of course).

For what he is looking at i would look at the lightest desktop replacement you can find, not top of the line performance wise but enough grunt to make it worth it.

I would definetly recommend a Centrino based pentium M if he is going to be using wireless on the go, although i dont have much experience with the AMD equivelent, TURION is it?

[Tapeuup]

Originally Posted by peril0us

None. Laptops are unnecessary and a waste of money/distraction.

what a joke.

[linskyjack]

Just visited my daughter at college. It seems like the vast majority of the kids have laptops---mostly PC's but a liberal sprinkling of Macs. Very few have desktops. The concept is that kids like working in a variety of places on campus and the laptops are good for that. Most have electrical outlets to access so battery life is not an issue. Also, like most campuses, my daughters has wireless access throughout.

By the way, PerolOUS--how old are you?

[kevblah]

I would recommend a somewhat weighty but near top of the line performance. Assuming your son is attending the university for four years, buying a so-so laptop now is very unwise. By next year, the laptop will be outdated and not up to today's standards. As an 18/19 year old, a few extra pounds isn't going to kill them. Besides, they're not going to go out jogging with a laptop. I don't hold weight as a very large factor. For four years, performance will slowly dwindle, so try getting the best deal you can for a laptop. Also, the integrated wireless on laptops usually suck, at most 54mbp. If the campus has the speed at 108, try getting one of those wireless cards.

[Stoner]

Originally Posted by hunters

After much research is still am not sure which laptop would be best to send my son off to college with. Any other parents out their that have had experiences with this?

Look to see what your son is taking in courses and get a recomendation from the college or his advisor.
Some science and engineering courses are going to require more in the way of specs than, say, liberal arts courses.

[shadowman25]

As i am about to go to college myself, I would advise just a few things: first, look at the college, does it have any computer requirements?
I know that the university i will be going to REQUIRES a laptop format computer (specifically a tablet PC - ew), MAC in other depts. If it is a smaller college, it wouldn't hurt to email a department chair and see what they think would be an acceptable setup, then do more than that. What i mean is, and how others have pointed out, a student will be hoping to use this laptop for 4 years, so if it is a midrange laptop today, next year it will be lower range etc.
As for integrated wireless, I would perceive it to be no worse than regular wireless . Most campus' will not have greater speed than 802.11 g, which is 54 mbps.
Also, check through your college's website to see if they offer any discounts. I know at my university, they have worked out a deal with some major brands to get something like 10% off if you buy through the college's website.
Weight should be a factor, yes, but you want this laptop to survive for 4 years , so you may have to add a little weight (as sometimes the lighter notebooks sacrafice performance to be lighter) to get some longevity.
I would expect to spend anywhere from $1500-1800 for a solid notebook. I would recommend at least an 80GB harddrive, CD-R/W drive, integrated wireless, LAN port, 1GB RAM , and an Intel Core Duo processor. Some of these things may be expensive now as they are "new" technology, but remember, in 2,3,4 years, they will NOT be as "new" as they were when you bought them. Hope this helps!
edit: one more thing!!
wait as LONG as you can before your student goes to college to buy the laptop so you can be sure to get the most up-to-date components available! thats at least 2-3 extra months of "oldness" you can eliminate from the laptop

[keyser.soze]

As a small (convenient for travel), but powerful (suitable substitute for a desktop) piece of equipment, I have found the Dell 700M to be a terrific piece.

Granted, there are new models available all the time, and I would suggest checking them out, but for the money ... I have been very pleased.

Of course, you could cave in and get a MacBook Pro.