If we want to give our turning 17yodd a laptop for her birthday

[Jodi-FL]

what would you recommend? should we try to get one good enough to take to college with her in a year and a half? or would a basic, bottom line one do until then? we really need access to another computer with 5 kids doing school on the one we have, and this particular daughter is very computer savvy.

company and model recommendations? thanks

[sdWTMer]

but, I'm a loyal fan! To us, there are no other computers to get! We rarely have issues w/ our computers here!

I would definitely get one for her to take to college as they are a necessity these days!

[Cadam]

I would get one of the newer Macs. It will last a long time, great customer service, you can get an educator's discount or get a refurbished one with a great warrantee (it's called applecare).

I always advise people to give themselves a couple of months to get use to a new operating system but frankly if you can get use to (and put up with ) Vista, the mac os shouldn't really be a problem. With the newer ones you can get a program called Parallels and run Windows on it if you need to.

[Karen in CO]

I would get one that could go to college with her unless you plan to buy another one next year. Some of the college we looked at had minimum requirements for the laptops - such as at least this fast and this much memory and this kind of networking and this software.

Our plan is to give our current mac laptop (it meets the requirements of the two schools he applied to) to our ds when he goes to college and get a new one for us. I can't see sending a very expensive computer to live in a freshman dorm.

[sdWTMer]

I would get one of the newer Macs. It will last a long time, great customer service, you can get an educator's discount or get a refurbished one with a great warrantee (it's called applecare).

I always advise people to give themselves a couple of months to get use to a new operating system but frankly if you can get use to (and put up with ) Vista, the mac os shouldn't really be a problem. With the newer ones you can get a program called Parallels and run Windows on it if you need to.
I always forget to add the discount for education! I also forget the fact that our laptop has Vista on it! Hrmph.

[readwithem]

Another vote for a Mac. We have 3 of them and they are great. Super easy to use. My dd *loves* Ilife 08

[GothicGyrl]

Blech Macs... :) I am a Dell girl. But either way, I would get one that can last her, which means, at least:

2 gig Memory
80 gig harddrive
high end video/sound card
3-4 year warranty
WIFI access availability or DSL/Cable but NOT phone line.

Basically, I'd just go as high as I could feasibly afford and tell her to take it to college.

[OnTheBrink]

I'm in the Mac camp. If you get Parallels, it'll run anything she'd ever need. As for the price, well, you get what you pay for with a Mac. :)

[StaceyinLA]

We have a total of 5 Macs here, and they have been SUPER! With the MacBooks, it's great because you can run Windows if need be (though we never do).

Apple offers refurbs (and they look like brand new) with full warranties, and of course you can buy new with home school discounts. I have had nothing but great experiences with them thus far.

[Sandy in Indy]

I have a Mac powerbook and an HP laptop, and I like both. BUT, the new macs can run the latest Apple OS and the latest Windows OS and are so much more versatile. At any rate, I'd purchase the best model you can since the technology changes so rapidly.

Another consideration...some colleges/universities include a laptop for freshman. (As does my ds's #1 pick.) You might want to check with any schools she's interested in before spending lots of $$.

[momtolgd]

I would get the best you can afford to get, preferably one she can use when she goes to college.

[ustasmom]

My college girls would LOVE Macs. But they can buy those on their own dimes, KWIM?

The best time to get a laptop is July/August in the back to school sales. I bought a nice HP for $400 a couple of years ago. It came with the wireless card, Internet security, printer and a carrying case, too.

My school laptop that I just bought this past August was around $440.