Notebook PCs
August 8, 2005
If you're a student on a strict budget and portability is a luxury you can do without, get a desktop. But if you can afford to spend a little more, buy a notebook—the proliferation of wireless hotspots on campuses and wireless networks at home have made portables that much more tantalizing, and a rash of rebates and other special deals means you can get a great machine for under a grand. The HP Special Edition L2000 series, adorned with Lance Armstrong's autograph and Live Strong slogan, features a 14-in. widescreen display and weighs 5.4 lbs. It starts at $899, and the base model is no slouch: it includes a 1.6Ghz AMD Turion processor, 60-gigabyte hard drive, 512 megabytes of RAM (most entry-level models start with 256 MB), a recordable CD drive with DVD playback and built-in Wi-Fi. For $50 more you can add a DVD burner (if shopping on HP's site, select the DVD+/-RW/R & CD-RW Combo). Bonus for your social conscience: For every sale, the company is donating $50 to the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
If you're partial to Macs, the iBook's durable design--the casing is a polycarbonate plastic, and a new sudden motion sensor protects the hard drive in the event of a nasty spill--makes it more suitable for the student life than the PowerBook. Apple also recently added this nifty new feature to its iBook line: a scrolling track pad that, with a two-finger touch, lets you move up, down or sideways. Apple's SuperDrive--a combination DVD/CD burner--comes standard in the $1,299 14-in. model. Deal Alert: Apple is giving away free Ipod Minis (or $179 toward the purchase of a more expensive iPod model) to students who buy a new iBook, PowerBook, iMac or Power Mac. Go to Apple's Website for details.
For Desktops
Do you have screen envy? Toshiba's new LCD TVs--including a gorgeous 23-in. model, the 23HLV85, for $1,300--double as PC monitors. If your computer lacks a DVD drive, don't fret: these sets have DVD built in (discs slide in from the side). The more affordable Audiovox FPE1505DV, a 15-in. LCD TV/monitor with built-in DVD that's similarly tucked out of the way, sells for $599, and has a handle for easy transfers from desktop to windowsill.
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