Good idea. I chose an Acer for myself and my kid who's just finished second year at the U of Ottawa. So far she's thrilled with hers as I am with mine. AMD Turion 64x2 (1.6 GHz, 2x256KB L2 cache)

Get the best and most applicable you can afford. Like cars, they're obsolete before the bank accepts the cheque, but the student needs good, not adequate.

Peace, Mooh.