laptop for granddaughter

[shew]

My granddaughter will be attending college next fall and I 'm looking for her a dell or other brand laptop. I really don't know what all it needs and the price to pay for it.. Any ideas that can help!!!! I'm getting an early start as its to be a gift.

Thanks:) :)

Shew

[zzyzx]

There one for $499 posted on the home page

 

http://www.buy.com/retail/Product.asp?sku=203325922&adid=17662

[thogan]

You might consider waiting. At my son's college, some majors recommend PCs, while others recommend Apples. Also, at his school, they have an agreement with Apple and Lenovo, so if you have one of those brands, you get preferential tech support and/or service. We decided to hold off, and my son (a freshman) is still content using his desktop that he brought from home. When we do splurge for a laptop, it will probably be from the school store, since their prices are really good.

 

On the other hand, a great deal may come along that is too good to pass up! I am sure she will be thrilled to recieve such a generous gift.

[Gurnee Al]

Agree, you may be able to get a school discount, but you may not get it until she enrolls there. I suggest either a Dell (dell.com) or HP/Compaq (hpshopping.com). My mother-in-law did the same thing for my daughters when they went off to college. Most colleges publish their recommendations on the minimum specs/features the laptop should have. If you can get those, then you should start there, and raise the specs/features if you can afford to do so. The specs that the school may provide may not provide enough horsepower to play games, edit photos, store music files, etc. I ended up buying the laptops for my daughters, then my MIL just paid me back.

Feel free to PM me if you want more opinions. Good luck!