Shopping for a College Computer
Now that you know what type of computer your college recommends,
and whether you are shopping for a laptop or desktop, it's time to enter
the computer shopping phase which starts out with deciding how much
you want to spend.
How much should you spend on a desktop or laptop??
I recommend buying a desktop or laptop computer in the
$1,000 range as long as it can meet all the requirements of the student's
college. Why?
1. Good desktops and laptops can be purchased in that
price range that can meet all the college's requirements.
2. Computers are subject to theft and breakage so sinking
all your money into one is risky.
3. In 3 years, no matter how much you spend, the computer
will be worth $600 or less.
High-performance desktops or laptops will require more
money to buy, so make sure you need, or want, the more powerful computer
before you spend the extra money for it.
Education discounts on hardware and software
Many hardware and software manufactures give discounts
to college students. Most colleges have cut deals with some of the larger
computer manufacturers including: Dell, IBM, Apple etc. to give you
discounts from 5% to 15% on new computers. The best place to find out
about discounted computers is probably at your college's bookstore,
bookstores can also be found online at universities' web sites.
Education discounts on software are available in college
bookstores and on the Internet. Software discounts to students are very
significant, sometimes resulting in a savings of 66% or more over the
usual retail price. Before buying any retail software I suggest you
look for an education version of the same product.
Shop around for hardware
Even though you receive a computer hardware discount in
your bookstore, I think it would be beneficial to you to shop around
before you buy. Compare the price you receive from your college bookstore
to prices in your local computer stores and to prices on the Internet.
Some shopping pages on our site that you may find useful
include:
1. Best Selling
Laptops and Notebooks - A collection of useful links to various
best selling sources for laptops and desktops.
2. Sunday Shopping Watch
- Appearing in our News and Rumors page every Sunday (except on major
holidays), details computer hardware and software sales in major computer
chain stores.
3. Computer Vendor List
- Our list of major computer manufacturers, chain stores, shopping search
engines, and other shopping sources.
Other Computer Information
We have many additional articles on our site that you
might want to browse while you're here. You will find them listed in
the right hand column.
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