| ps are the perfect educational tool for students. | | | | whether or not you want to use your notebook for |
| They can handle an innumerable amount of tasks and | | | | any extra curricular activities, such as gaming or |
| serve many different functions that allow students | | | | multimedia production. |
| to consolidate all of their class assignments and home | | | | Unless you intend to do higher-level networking, or |
| studies into one convenient location, which simplifies | | | | unless your school requires domain-based |
| workflow and increases productivity. | | | | authentication to access the school network (check |
| The two most important things to look for in a | | | | with your IT department), Windows XP Home Edition |
| student laptop are portability and battery life. This | | | | should more than meet your needs for an Operating |
| laptop will likely be carried in a backpack or shoulder | | | | System. |
| bag from class to class, so you will definitely want a | | | | Lastly, you will need some office suite software to |
| system that is light and easy to transport. There is | | | | process and edit your reports and class assignments. |
| also no guarantee that you will have access to an | | | | Microsoft Office Basic will be able to handle most of |
| auxiliary power supply in your classroom or on | | | | your needs, however, if you plan on doing any |
| campus, so you will most likely want a battery that | | | | slide-show presentations or website creation, you will |
| lasts up to several hours per charge. | | | | want to go with Office Pro. |
| Desktop real estate can be limited in your class, so | | | | These are the main things you need to know and |
| you want to make sure your laptop is compact and | | | | consider before purchasing a student laptop. This is |
| economical in size, preferably around 14" X 10" in | | | | just a general outline. Feel free to make additional |
| general dimensions. | | | | customizations if you have specific requirements for |
| As far as individual specifications, you can get by | | | | school. |
| with most base configurations. A 1.66GHz processor, | | | | This article may be republished freely as long as this |
| 512MB of RAM, a 40GB hard drive, and a standard | | | | copyright notice and box of resource links are |
| DVD/CDRW drive should suffice, but you may wish | | | | included at the bottom. |
| to upgrade certain components depending on | | | | |