Buying a Used Laptop or Refurbished Laptop for Your College Student

As summer approaches and a new batch of high school student graduate and head for college, many parent struggle with whether or not to buy their college student a laptop or desktop computer. Of course, to the student, the question is not whether or not to buy a computer, but which kind am I going to get? Truth be told, everyone can be happy - new students can get a laptop and mom and dad can avoid breaking the bank - with used laptops or refurbished laptops. If you purchase a used laptop or refurbished laptop you have the opportunity of getting the computing power that you need at a fraction of the price. The only thing to consider is what your student will be doing with that computer and how much money you have to spend.

For instance, if you are considering budget, a new laptop will probably cost upwards of $700.00 by the time it gets to your home, and into their hands. Between the build costs, shipping, software and everything, the money adds up pretty quickly. If you have $500.00 or less to spend, you should consider a used laptop or a refurbished laptop computer for your college student.

As noted, the other issue to consider if what kind of computing power they really need. Here is a quick rundown of what they will probably need (and want) for their school laptop.

1. WiFi! Wireless networking is popping up on campuses across the country. What's better, after all, than allowing your students access to the internet across the entire campus? The good news is that even older laptops can be made WiFi compatible - all you need as wireless networking card, and at only $30.00, this is an easy upgrade to handle. You should make sure your computer also has an Ethernet adaptor for plug-in access to the network.

2. Battery Power! If your student loves to use their laptop on the run, they may not be happy with an older or used laptop that has a short battery life. You can purchase newer batteries that will be compatible, but they still only last 2 or 3 hours. In most cases, you student will have access to an outlet close by, and a 2-3 hour battery life will still help him or her watch their favorite DVD on the plane to and from school.

3. Memory! They will need sufficient memory to work with the applications they use most. For instance if you have an English major, they may only need about 8MG or RAM because they will mostly be using word processing programs like MS Word. However if they want to do a lot of internet browsing and research, you should upgrade the memory to at least 64MG. Finally, if your student is a future programmer and current gamer, you'll need to do a lot of hunting to keep your laptop at bargain prices since you'll probably need at least 2 GB RAM, a speedy CPU and a decent graphics chip to keep them happy. In fact, if you plan to use a lot of processing power, you may just want to go new!

Remember, you don't have to break the bank to provide your pride and joy with a proper computing tool at college. Think hard, with them, about what they really need and let them help you work within the budget to get them the most for the money. Not only will they know their machine and value the investment used laptops or refurbished laptops - you are also teaching them the most important lesson about being a college student - how to get a bargain!