BY ALEX CANTATORE
Staff Reporter

Well, it’s just about that time of year again. The leaves are turning, the weather’s cooling, and the nation’s schools are set to open their doors on yet another year of education.

And, of course, along with school comes back to school shopping.

It used to be that back to school shopping consisted of clothes (my cohort Fiona’s specialty), office supplies, and a backpack, but nowadays modern technology is almost a must-have in order to have any chance at success.

But how does one navigate the oftentimes intimidating aisles of Circuit City, Best Buy, or any of the myriad other electronics dealers in town to determine what is really needed? Fortunately, you have me, a self-professed member of the technorati, to guide you through the must-haves for this school season.

In short, the two items that every student absolutely must have are a computer and a cell phone.

Unfortunately for shoppers, this is, in fact, one of the worst times of year to buy new technology if you are hoping to be cutting edge.

Tech companies generally view back to school as a chance to clear inventory before preparing for the Christmas shopping season. The positive here is that there are some definite deals to be found as stores struggle to make space for the new models that will soon be arriving on their shelves.

As we work our way through the shopping guide here, keep in mind that, come fall, a newer model will likely replace anything you can buy now. If you can possibly wait until new models come out, it’s something to think about, but you’re going to be paying a lot more for what may amount to a slight bump in performance.

Like everything in technology, it is a tradeoff.

Should you make just one tech purchase for back to school, the single most important thing a student can have is a computer. From the countless papers that need to be typed to syllabi, readings, and research that must be done on the Internet, it is nearly impossible to succeed as a student without a computer.

Of course, simply saying you need a computer is not enough with the field as diverse as it is today. There are hundreds of choices, so how do find the computer for you?

It’s simple: Take one step at a time.

The first decision you need to make is whether you would like a desktop or a notebook computer.

Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Desktops are more “future proof,” as they are able to be upgraded easily by tech-savvy students or professionals, whereas notebooks are pretty much how they are when you buy them and unable to be upgraded.

Desktops are generally faster, dollar for dollar, than their notebook counterparts and feature larger hard drives to store movies, music, and pictures. Desktops are also the only real choice for the video game playing populace due to their ability to power the latest and greatest video cards.

All this being said, for most students, a notebook is the right choice to make.

Notebooks have one advantage over desktops, and that advantage is portability. It is such an incredible advantage that, for anyone not pursuing a degree in computer science or engineering that may require a speedy computer, a notebook is almost undeniably the way to go.

Until you own a notebook, you can’t imagine how useful it is to simply be able to grab your computer and take it to class, a study group, or to write a paper at the library away from your noisy roommates. Most students I’ve known who own desktops also own a notebook, just for the sheer convenience factor.

If you do need the speed and storage and choose to go with a desktop, one of the best deals in tech right now is the Dell Inspiron 530, which you can find online with an Intel Q6600 Core 2 Quad processor, 3 gigabytes of ram, and a 500 gigabyte hard drive for only $499.

Of course, you’ll need to add a monitor unless you own one already, and you also will want to add a graphics card if you plan on playing games, perhaps something like an Nvidia GeForce 8800GT, available for about $130 online, but this computer is a well-built powerhouse that will take anything you can throw at it right now.

If you’ve made the decision that you don’t need the extra power and want to go with a notebook, it’s time to make some more decisions.

First off, you have to decide among the many different form factors available for notebooks these days.

To summarize, there are four main variables when it comes to notebooks: Speed, size, price, and battery life. Every offering on the market is trying to navigate some sort of balance between these four poles, and some do so more successfully than others.

The smallest class of notebooks, known as netbooks and best represented by the Asus eeePC line of computers, are downright miniscule. They feature screens between 8 and 10 inches across are extremely portable and, as the name suggests, primarily intended for browsing the Net.

While these computers are very inexpensive, starting at just $300 in some cases for a full-fledged laptop, I find it very difficult to recommend a student rely upon a netbook as their only computer.

The other major subclass of notebooks is the tablet PC. Tablets are notable for their touch-sensitive screens which allows users to literally write their notes on the screen with an included digitizer pen.

The tablet PC is most popular among digital artists, who can draw on screen, and those who like to take hand-written notes but keep them organized digitally. Tablets are also extremely useful for students who read a lot on their computers, with the flat tablet shape allowing for comfortable reading of PDF books and scripts that teachers often like to post online.

Of course, like anything, the tablet PC has a few drawbacks. Most suffer from a relatively limited battery life and a high price to performance ratio when compared to regular notebooks due to the cost of the screen.

If you are considering a tablet, take a look at the Dell Latitude XT or the Lenovo Thinkpad X60 Tablet for as topmodels.

If you’ve decided that a netbook or a tablet is not for you, you’re probably best off with a regular sort of notebook.

The sweet spot right now for consumer notebooks is between 13 and 14-inch screens. Larger screens, while nice for watching movies, will lead to low battery lives and make the computer a pain to lug around.

In my informed opinion, there are two brands of consumer laptops that stand out above all the rest: Apple and Lenovo.

The best choice for most people, will be the well-rounded Lenovo T-Series of laptop. With the amazing deals going on at their Web site right now, you can get a phenomenal T61 for less than $700 on their education site, one of the best deals in computing.

If you want a laptop that is primarily Windows-based and don’t want to pony up the cash for a Thinkpad, you’re probably best off taking a look at Dell’s offerings. For around $500, you can get a reasonably equipped Inspiron 1525 that may not be as well built as the Thinkpad, but will likely be a passable computer that will get the job done for a few years.

Any new PC laptop you buy will run Windows Vista, which is certainly not as bad as Apple’s advertisements make it out to be. It’s an improvement over XP in most ways, and it’s more than capable at handling any task you throw its way.

However, it’s still lagging behind Apple’s OS X Leopard in many ways. The most notable is Apple’s Exposé feature, which I consider absolutely essential to make the most of a laptop’s screen real estate.

As such, I have made the decision that I will never buy a non-Apple laptop again.

Now, this isn’t to say that Apples are without fault. While the computers are extremely well built and durable, odd hardware problems arise in surprisingly large percentages of Macs.

In the past, however, Apple has stood behind their hardware and fixed any problems endemic to a line.

The other common criticism leveled on Apple is that their computers are usually seen as being more expensive than equivalent Windows PCs. This is primarily because Apple does not offer a budget PC, and so their low-end is similar to most companies’ mid-range computer.

Macs are actually quite cost competitive, when compared apples for apples.

As one last concern, it is all but confirmed that a new line of Macs will hit the stores in September or October. The rumors don’t include specific details at this point, but it’s expected to be a pretty significant redesign that changes both the look of all the MacBooks as well as capabilities, possibly adding a tablet PC-style touchscreen to some models.

Apple currently offers three notebook choices, the MacBook, the MacBook Air, and the MacBook Pro. And to sweeten the deal and clear out stock before the new models arrive as part of their back to school special, Apple is including a free $300 8GB iPod Touch and a $100 rebate on certain Samsung, HP, Canon and Epson printers, with any new computer.

For most students, that means the MacBook is the best laptop money can buy. For $999 with the student discount, the MacBook is a laptop more than capable of doing any basic tasks along with a lot of the fun stuff they’ll want to do like music and movies.

As an added bonus, the graphics card is too slow to play any modern computer games, making sure they’ll do their work.

The MacBook is, in my opinion, the perfect blend of price, performance, battery life, and size.

Now that we’ve covered everything you could possibly want to know about buying a computer for back to school, it’s time to cover that other essential, the cell phone.

Cell phones are crucial for calling home, of course, and for safety in times of emergency. If you’re lost or otherwise in a bad situation, you absolutely need to be able to call for help.

For this purpose, any cell phone on the market will do. But many cell phones nowadays offer a lot of other features that are helpful to students.

Let’s say you’re stuck on campus all day, but your professor e-mailed to say class was canceled. If you have e-mail on your phone, you’d see that. If a groupmate e-mailed to change a meeting time, you’d have that.

Constant e-mail access is becoming an absolute necessity.

Additionally, new cell phones offer advanced calendaring features. Forget when class is? Check your calendar right on your cell phone.

Integrated MP3 players eliminate the need to carry a separate iPod, And, for the eternally lost who are trying to navigate a new city, many phones now have built in GPS mapping to offer turn-by-turn directions, or at least a rough idea of where you are and how to get where you want to go.

Of course, for all these extremely useful features, you’re going to have to pay. The current king of the cell phone world is the iPhone 3G, available only on AT&T. For $199, you can own a phone that packs in everything but the kitchen sink - or a keyboard.

The iPhone has the best screen, the best Web browser, the best MP3 player, and a vibrant developer community making outstanding applications for the phone. It’s a pretty solid package, but it is expensive.

While the iPhone itself is not exorbitantly priced, the costs really add up in monthly fees.

iPhone plans start at $70 a month for 450 anytime minutes and unlimited data, though they quickly jump to $90 with unlimited text messaging. Add in the hassle of typing on the onscreen keyboard, and the iPhone might begin to look slightly less appealing to frequent texters and e-mailers.

The top alternative to the iPhone is currently a Blackberry, be it a Curve, Pearl, or the Bold, which is expected later this month.

The Blackberries beat the iPhone when it comes to e-mail and texting, especially with the physical keyboard, though they do lag a bit behind in Web browsing. While they’re not as trendy as the iPhone, they are outstanding phones nonetheless and have been more than proven in the business world.

The other benefit of the Blackberry is the potential savings.

A Blackberry on T-Mobile can be had for free at some online retailers, such as Amazon.com, and unlimited data, text, e-mail, and 1000 anytime minutes will run just $60 a month. For $10 a month extra, T-Mobile users can make use of Wi-Fi signals to place calls that don’t count against their monthly limits, making the T-Mobile Blackberry a very effective choice for an only phone, especially for big talkers or those with homes who otherwise don’t have good service.

The drawback to T-Mobile is their antiquated EDGE data network, meaning that whenever you are not within Wi-Fi range Web browsing can be painfully slow.

Sprint also offers Blackberries on their faster 3G data network for $60 a month including 500 anytime minutes and unlimited everything else, but the catch is that you can only find the deal hidden on their Web site at sprint.com/sero and you need an employee’s ID number, which shouldn’t be too hard to weasel out of a store worker.

Other options include the plethora of capable Windows Mobile-based phones, though the two major WinMo phones everyone is talking about, the Touch Pro and the Xperia X1, aren’t due until September at the earliest. The Palm OS is lagging far behind at this point, and should probably be avoided.

Really, though, the most important thing for a student’s cell phone is e-mail. As long as your phone can handle voice and e-mail and you can afford the plan, you should be good to go.

So get shopping, and get ready for school! With just your computer and a cell phone, you too can be ready to take on whatever your instructors throw your way.

To contact Alex Cantatore, e-mail acantatore@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2005.

Originally published in the Turlock Journal 8/6/2008.
Retrieved from the Turlock Journal Web site.