Smart Steps To Buying A Student's PC

Thursday, March 1, 2001

.: SmartSeen To oO S Yon etn cy wi = = me ON apAINY _ as. oy ELLE ng with ‘ace Dn oO ep uw heheval “ wre he sey Wednell ase e suction Nye and a Mill apedon vi ae aud) ce a tea oan ane in ie te fer Buying A Student’s PC (NAPSA)Fortoday’s students, the PCis an indispensablepartof learning, but Morn and Dad don’t have to go backto school for a lesson on making smart technology choices. Six simple steps will help parents select the right desktop or laptop PC for their family or the college-hound student. 1. Get a big brainTeenagers are the most demanding PC users on the planet. They push the multimedia edge on and off the Web, and they use the PC as a home movie editing machine and a digital jukebox. Since these powerhungry applications require a PC with a big brain, go for the most powerful brain--or processor- offs a C you ean afford. For laptops, that means an Intel Pentium Hf processor with a high “hertz” mumber (that’s the number computer nerds use to measure the power of a PC’s brain). One Gigahertz is currently the top end for laptop PCs. For desktop PCs, your best bet is an Intel Pentium? 4 processor-based system at 1.7 Gigahertz or faster. 2. Remember memory-The techno buzz word here is RAM(for Random Access Memory), which works with the PC’s brain to make your programs run more smoothly. Go for at least 128 megahytes of RAMfor a laptop or desktop PC. And make sure youhave the option te add more as your needs grow. 3. Don't serimp on storage The trend in software is for bigger prograras, so get a big hard disk (that’s the PC’s “filing cabinet”). For a laptop, look for at least 10 gigabytes (that’s 10 billion bytes of storage capacity), and 40 or more gigahytes for a desktop. And if recording data or music on CDs is K Teday’s students use the powerful home PC as study tool, home movie editing machine and digital jukebox, on your student’s check list, be sure to get what the kids call a “burner” (that’s slang for a CD recorder) and a DVD movie player. 4. Get connectedNot long ago a simple “modem” was all you needed to use a regular telephone line anddial up the Internet. Desktops and laptops today come equipped with a standard modem, so youre covered on thatfront. But many colleges today also offer studenis the option to cormect using a high-speed digital link. A smart move is to ask ‘for a desktop with a “Network Interface Card” or connector designed to connect to a campus’ high-speed network or cable or DSL modem. For laptops, you may need to buy a special mink card and adapter to connect. & Think weight and battery life-For laptops, look for a model with Intel SpeedStep™technology to boost the running time when operating via the battery. And bring a backpack with you to the store to “test drive” the weight of a candidate laptop. 6. Set a clear budgetlinsetting your budget, ask yourself how long you expect toe keep the PC and what you want the PC to do today and tomorrow. If you want a system that has room to grow and can support the latest and greatest software, invest in a performance PC. Tt will last longer and do more for you. Top periforming laptops range in price fram $1,706 to $3,000. Desktop PCs with an Intel Pentium 4 processor start at about $1,060. For a system with the latest multimedia beHs and whistles, plan to spend about $2,000 to 2,500. For more information on how to find the laptop or desktop PC that’s right for your student, check out wow. intel. com / home.

--- PHOTOS ---

File: 20190731-133226-20190731-133222-50723.pdf.jpg

--- FILES ---

File: 20190731-133222-50723.pdf