He will be living in a private dorm. My question concerns buying a notebook vs. a desktop. Unless something's changed dramatically since I went to college, dorm rooms are tiny. Space is at a premium, and a notebook computer can come in handy when there's not much room. Unfortunately, you're going to pay a price.
Notebook computers remain more expensive than their desktop counterparts.
A similarly equipped desktop machine is going to be half that, or less. You can't lug a desktop unit to class, though, if you want to take notes on a computer. And it's a pain to drag it home on the holidays to get work done. However, a desktop machine is much easier to upgrade. Maybe Computing columnist Dwight Silverman can help.