The Perfect Dorm PC: Some Rules of Thumb

You want them to write a killer paper and email home; they'd like to take in an in-dorm movie, work on their Facebook pages, and listen to music. Here's a checklist for this year's back-to-dorm features that will bring inter-generational peace and harmony.

1. They really do need their own PC at school. Despite the fact that schools tend have lots of computers in public spaces like labs, libraries, student study centers, and dorm common rooms, most college students (90 percent according to Fairfield University) bring their own computers. Burden as it may be, one dean from Purchase College put it this way: Students study, write, create, chat, research, shop—you name it—at all hours of the day, not just when computer labs are staffed and opened.
2. Don't give them your old hand-me-down or an old PC you have around the house. This machine will be their lifeline, studyline, and entertainment line for the next four years.
3. You probably want a notebook PC rather than a desktop. Notebooks are more versatile and they travel home with ease. There used to be a huge price difference between notebooks and desktops, so notebooks were really a strain on the pocketbook, but not today.
4. Mac or PC? Definitely visit the college web site and get a sense for what they recommend and support. While no campus will say "no" to bringing one brand versus another, they do show favoritism. They might offer some services (anti-virus and other utilities, tech support, and so on) more universally for their favored platform. It's a good idea to go with the flow on the school's bias, because you're bound to get better service.
5. Buying from the bookstore? Sometimes the college campuses have great educational discounts on certain PCs. Typically, if they carry them in the store they're likely to have some sort of tech support or coverage. You can often do as well, or nearly as well, buying online, but the convenience of having a store to deal with may be worth it.
6. You want a good wireless connection. That means built-in 802.11g Wi-Fi (which comes standard on virtually all current laptops). The majority of campuses now have large portions that are wireless "hot spots." Bluetooth and infrared are both nice extras, but not as essential.
7. A roomy keyboard. This is one place you shouldn't skimp, and you probably don't want an ultra-portable notebook, even though it's really lightweight. For the next four years your student is going to be typing quite a bit and a full sized roomy keyboard makes a difference.
8. Battery. Not as essential on campus as other places because there are plenty of outlets, but if they're taking the computer to campus all day and have lots of those two or three-hour labs, long battery life might be a consideration.
9. Mouse vs. touch pad. Since college students are often working on small desks I like to see them using built in touch pads. External mice are one more thing to cart around and potentially lose.
10. USB ports. They'll want at least two or three of these for plugging in peripherals like digital cameras, flash disks, and so on.
11. DVD/CD-RW. The ability to read DVDs and burn CDs is the baseline you'll want.
12. Screen size. These kids can carry a bit of weight (they're young) so a notebook with a large screen—say 15 inches—is probably a good idea. The more they can see of the "larger picture" as they work, the better off they'll be.
13. Decent sound and fast graphics. For many students the computer doubles as their entertainment system to watch a DVD or stream music.
14. Backup and storage. Not as essential as you might think for students who are given generous amounts of space on campus. If they're not watching digital movies streamed from their hard drive, 60GB should do the trick. But of course, bigger is better.
15. Processor. Again, unless they are crunching numbers, doing lots of graphics-intensive things like art or architecture, or playing Halo tournaments by night, you can skimp a bit here.