Yeah, its new today, but will it be 'history' tomorrow?

A lot of folks have gone out and spent good money on a laptop or desktop computer for their kid(s) to use at school; I hope they let their kids pick them out.

Well meaning parents, wanting desperately to keep the college costs under control skimp and buy under powered PC's/laptops only to later discover they've been penny wise and pound foolish. Take notes here, save a dime or two and avoid the 'instant obsolescence' trap:

1st: There is NO SUCH THING as TOO much RAM memory. RAM is a bad place to skimp; if you don't know what I'm talking about, just trust me and buy a machine with 2 GB of RAM.

2nd: Does the machine include the software the user needs for school? Probably better have them add Microsoft Office Basic, which includes most of what any student will need.

3rd: Ask for an Intel 'dual core 2' processor or better. Again, trust me...the Celeron processors suck; they just do. The ADM chips MAY be fine, but Intel is ALWAYS a safe bet.

4th: Yes, every college kid needs a WI-FI wireless card. No ifs, ands, or buts. Hi-School kids need 'em, too.

There's lots more to tell, but if you follow these 4 rules the rest will fall into place. If you disregard these rules you've just bought a machine that is yesterday's technology today.