Microsoft Office 2000 Professional, the standard suite of programs on many campuses for word processing and other tasks, consumes at least 390MB of space by itself. All those MP3 music files downloaded from the Web, each one several megabytes large, must be stored somewhere. Many schools have arranged with Compaq, Dell, Gateway, and other national brands to offer prepackaged systems at a discount. No matter where you buy, keep checking the price and description of the system every few days. They can change quickly.
Some students are perfectly happy with a no-frills machine.
We were willing to go a bit further, because our son is awash in music CDs. We upgraded the video card so that animated graphics and streaming video downloaded from the Web would be displayed smoothly. A laptop saves desk space and offers portability. At Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J., laptop users can plug into the campus network from a park bench. And a laptop costs more than a comparably equipped desktop because the LCD screens and rechargeable batteries are expensive and building them is demanding.