August 15, 2002 Packing a Digital Bag on a Student Budget
By DAVID POGUE
Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company
This week a report from the InsightExpress research firm shed some fascinating light on the high-tech buying habits of the college-bound. These days, parents aren't as involved as you might expect in helping their teenagers decide which computer, MP3 player, digital camera or palmtop to buy. Up to 76 percent of the time, students decide which models to buy without parental help (or parental interference, depending on how you look at it). And 40 percent of the time, the students even pay for the stuff themselves.
Therefore, the remainder of this college buying-guide column is Rated T: no one beyond the teenage years is permitted. I'll wait here until your parents are out of the room.
All right. Now that it's just you and me: there's good news and bad news about buying electronics. The bad news is that power and coolness cost money. The good news is that if you shop for stuff that's only 10 percent less powerful and cool than top-of-the-line, you save half the price.
The Desktop Computer
According to that InsightExpress report, it's 90 percent likely that you already have a computer. Still, chances are 1 in 4 that you're shopping for a new PC anyway, maybe to replace that antique Pentium III machine that you got way back when "Seinfeld" was still on the air.
The first order of business is making sure whatever you buy meets the requirements of the college. You probably got these specs in the mail; if not, check the school's Web site. In any case, you'll be told whether both Macs and PC's are welcome; what kind of network the school offers (standard Ethernet or wireless Wi-Fi), so that you can buy the corresponding network card; and whether the school offers juicy student discounts. If so, you may be able to shelve this entire decision until you arrive on campus.
Otherwise, you'll discover that generic Windows PC's are dirt cheap these days. At the moment, for example, Gateway offers its sleek 500SE tower with a 1.8-gigahertz Pentium 4 chip, a 20-gigabyte hard drive and a 17-inch monitor all for $700 after rebate — a terrific deal. (Except where noted, all computers described in this article also include 128 megabytes of memory and a CD burner, which is practically a necessity these days. You can generally upgrade this drive to a combination CD burner and DVD player for another $200 or so.)
You might also consider the new eMac, which Apple designed partly with dorm rooms in mind. Its rugged one-piece, self-contained case consumes a small fraction of that Gateway's desk space and reduces cable clutter to almost nothing. Its experimental-looking shape suggests the space shuttle's nose cone done in white acrylic. Its $1,049 student price (available at www.apple.com/education/emac ) buys you a 17-inch screen, a 700-megahertz G4 chip and a 40-gigabyte hard drive; $300 more upgrades the CD burner to a drive that plays and records both CD's and DVD's. (The $50 tilt-and-swivel stand is a must.
If it's worth paying a little more for coolness and style, check out the new breed of one-piece flat-panel computers. Dispensing with the big beige box, they occupy about as much desk space as a personal pan pizza. And the flat-panel screen is bright, flicker-free, compact and energy-stingy. The 15- or 17-inch flat screen on the iMac, for example, floats in the air on an adjustable chrome stalk ($1,300 to $2,000). Windows fans can get the same advantages of compactness and clean design in Gateway's new Profile 4 ($1,000 to $2,000), which goes on sale next week.
The Laptop
Of course, if you have that much money to spend, you'll probably get a lot more joy out of a laptop — which not only gives you the space savings and the flat screen, but also lets you hang out anywhere.
Most Windows laptops are black, boxy and aesthetically challenged, but not all. MicronPC's new TransPort V1000 is all blues and silvers and has every connector on earth (including four U.S.B. ports, an S-video output and even a FireWire socket). A configuration with a Pentium 4 chip (1.6 gigahertz) and a 10-gigabyte hard drive goes for $1,360 at www.micronpc.com/whats_new. It weighs 7.5 pounds, but at least it won't blow away in the courtyard.
The shiny white iBook, on the other hand, may be the perfect student laptop. For $1,200, you get a great-looking machine with a 20-gigabyte hard drive and a CD-ROM drive. (Another $300 buys you more speed and a combination CD burner and DVD player.) It weighs only 4.9 pounds and gets five hours of battery life per charge, compared with three or less for Windows laptops.
The Music Player
If you're a music lover, going to college will probably feel like going to heaven; the MP3-file craze was practically born on college campuses.
One inexpensive way to do music is to buy a portable CD player. Many models, including the Sony D-CJ01 (about $130), can play CD's that you've filled with MP3 files from your computer. Presto: you've got a double-duty machine that plays both discs from the record store and MP3 files from your roommates. (Good thing no adults are reading this. Record company executives would be furious at that last line.)
If you prefer portability to economy, though, you need a true MP3 player, a more expensive proposition. The Pogo RipFlash, for example, is just over 2 by 3 inches but costs $179 (for the 128-megabyte model, at www.pogoproducts.com). Its killer feature is the ability to create MP3 files directly from any source, even your voice, without a PC.
Now, 128 megabytes of memory holds about two hours of music. Only $120 more, though, buys you the best-designed MP3 player on the market: Apple's sleek chrome-and-white iPod. The $300 five-gigabyte model holds 66 hours' worth of music, runs 12 hours per charge and is available in both Mac and Windows versions. (A FireWire connection on your PC is required.) More money buys you capacity up to 20 gigabytes, enough to play music continuously from now until Thanksgiving break.
The Digital Camera
Asking "What digital camera should I get?" is like asking "What kind of car should I get?" It's hard to answer without knowing a little more about what you're looking for.
But let's say you're fine with a two-megapixel model, which has enough resolution for superb 5-by-7 prints. You might favor models that accept Compact Flash storage cards, which are relatively inexpensive and available in huge capacities. Best, too, are cameras that accept AA-size batteries (including AA-size NiMH rechargeables, which you should also buy), so you're never caught cameraless because the proprietary battery isn't charged. And you can't go wrong with a camera that is fully automatic but offers manual controls just in case.
Canon's new PowerShot A200 fits all of these requirements, offers extras like a low-light focus-assist lamp and — oh, by the way — takes awesome pictures. At $175, it's even inexpensive. (That's partly because it has no optical zoom — a feature that adds another $100 or so to a digicam's price.)
The Palmtop
Before you buy a hand-held organizer, you must face the critical operating-system question: Palm or Pocket PC? Because Palm-compatibles have 90 percent of the market, most of the great software programs are available only for the Palm operating system, including the 400 programs listed in the College category at www.palmgear.com/software.
Sony's new if arbitrarily named PEG-SL10 Clié, which uses the Palm operating system, is a steal at $150. It is supersleek, has a thumbwheel for scrolling and offers four times the screen resolution of standard Palm organizers for extra-crisp text. Among color-screen models, the Palm 130 ($250) is an ideal choice, thanks to its superbright screen (indoors), break-resistant plastic screen and choice of interchangeable faceplates ranging from snakeskin to wood grain.
Both the Sony and the Palm come with Documents to Go, software that lets you edit Microsoft Office files right on the palmtop. You can use Word to write a letter to your parents — and Excel to show them how much money you saved on your gear.
