The Ultimate Student Computer

My children--the mermals as we call them--have reached college age. One of the many decisions that have to be made when sending your kids off to college is what kind of computer to buy. A colleague of mine suggested what I think is the ultimate solution for most college students. Buy a netbook and a desktop at the same time. The netbook is small, portable, and adequate for most tasks away from the dorm, such as taking notes, checking e-mail, web surfing, and reading. It is small enough that it can be tucked into a backpack or satchel and carried around campus. It's not powerful enough to do more intensive work; this is where the desktop comes in. The desktop can be the workhorse for more computationally intensive work, with a better processor and more hard drive storage. Because it is a desktop, it is less easily stolen. Similarly, because netbooks are cheaper they are less often stolen and easier to replace if they are stolen.