A guide to buying a PC or laptop for your child's education

We seem to be seeing ‘back to school’ ads all over the shop lately which got me thinking many of you will be parents but may be a little technophobic. So I thought it would be helpful to put together a Spy’s guide to buying a computer for your kids, since I’m assuming you’ll be looking to purchase one soon before they head back to school (yay, happy days again!)

Desktop vs. Laptop

So the first thing you need to consider is whether to go for a desktop or a laptop. Both have their merits - it’s just working out what’s right for your little cherub. I would suggest laptops would be much more suitable to college and university life whereas school age students can get by better with desktop computer systems. You don’t want your clumsy, sticky fingered 12 year old running around with an expensive laptop, no matter how much you claim to love them.

Desktops have several key advantages to laptops, the biggest being the price - a massive consideration for students or parents on a budget. The other major advantage is the features and the longer lifespan since most desktops have more powerful components giving them a longer functional lifespan than a laptop computer. A high-end system will easily survive a full 4 years of university, however a budget system may need a replacement much sooner. An important consideration!

Laptops on the other hand are portable which is a major bonus if you’re a student and move around a lot studying at campus, home, libraries, friends, etc - such is the life of a modern day student.

Key Desktop Advantages:
Less Expensive
More Powerful Systems
Less Likely to Be Stolen from Dorm Rooms

Key Laptop Advantages:
Computer Can Be Taken Practically Anywhere
Increased Communication with Wireless Networks
Require Less Space At Uni

What About Netbooks?
You’ve probably seen a lot of advertisements for netbooks recently and wonder how they differ from laptops. Well they are a new class of ultra portable, low cost laptop computers. They sacrifice performance and features for portability and battery life. While these may make useful system for taking notes or working while on the road, they just lack too many features to make them really useful as a primary computer system for education.

They are simply an option for those that are looking to extend their education computing
beyond a desktop or larger laptop computer. Since performance doesn't vary greatly in this category of system, primary focus should be placed on portability, keyboards and battery life.

Try doing a search above to see if there are any special offers on site at the moment for laptops and PCs, and feel free to comment if you have any questions.

The Spy

Written by The Spy, 8 August, 2009 - 15:31