By Randall Hull
Get your graduate a great PC to go - here are some suggestions
Q: This spring our son will graduate from high school and our daughter from college. What technology should we consider as graduation gifts for both?
A: PCs are a great starting point since you will want to give your children the best for their new work - be it on the job or in school. Notebooks have become desktop replacements with the added benefit of portability and small footprint - the latter important in a dorm environment or in class.
Let’s start with laptops for higher learning.
If you’re budget-conscious it is hard to beat the Dell Inspiron 2600. For $999 you get a 1.06GHz-M Celeron CPU, 20GB hard drive, 128MB SDRAM, Intel graphics subsystem with shared memory, 14.1-inch XGA display, 56K modem, CD-ROM drive, fixed floppy drive and Windows XP Home Edition. It has the speed and battery life of a high-end unit but loses a gold star for weight.
Of course your next question will be, What does the Dell Dude use? (That’s Ben Curtis - “Steven” in the Dell ads - who is attending New York University.) He has a $1,779 Dell Inspiron 4100 which sports a 1GHz Pentium III-M CPU, 20GB drive, 256MB SDRAM, 14.1-inch XGA TFT display, 56K modem and CD-RW/DVD combination drive in the versatile media bay that will also accept a zip or floppy drive and XP Home. This is a powerful notebook, good for carrying to class or traveling on business. A gold star!
For an eye-catching model, thinner and lighter than Kate Moss, look at the Toshiba Portégé 2000, just 0.73 inches thick and 2.6 pounds. For $2,199 you get a 750MHz Pentium III-M CPU, 20GB drive, 256MB SDRAM, 12.1-inch XGA TFT display, 56K modem and built-in Wi-Fi for wireless networking, Type II PC card slot and XP Pro. It loses half a gold star - slow speed but superb portability.
The HP Pavilion ZT1190 combines cool features with full size. The $2,200 model has a 1.2GHz mobile Pentium III-M CPU, 40GB drive, 512MB SDRAM, 15-inch TFT LCD display, combo DVD/CD-RW drive that plays movies and burns CDs, FireWire and S-Video ports, 56K modem and built-in Wi-Fi for wireless networking, Type II/Type III PC card slot and XP Home with a load of software. But, half a gold star for heft.
If you only speak Mac, check out Apple’s higher-end iBook - portable, powerful and long winded for $1,799. Under the hood is a 600MHz G3 CPU, 20GB drive, 56MB SDRAM, 14.1-inch TFT display, 56K modem and CD-RW/DVD combination drive, and MacOS 10 with a handful of software. If you own a digital camera you’ll love the iBook; it is just plug and play. A gold star!
Please keep questions to 100 words or less. Send to: Tech Talk, Town Crier, 138 Main St., Los Altos 94022 or e-mail: techtalk@latc.com. Randall Hull is a Los Altos resident and owner of The Br@nd Ranch, a marketing firm.
