Dorm-Room Computers 101 You don't have to bust the trust fund to get a decent PC for your collegian. Here's our cheat sheet for the best back-to-school machines.
By Peter Lewis

(FORTUNE Magazine) – In his book world Brain, the science fiction novelist H.G. Wells predicted that, thanks to advances in modern technology, students would soon have access to a global network that transmitted a "complete planetary memory for all mankind, a new world organ for the collection, indexing, summarizing, and release of knowledge." Writing in 1937, the author of The Time Machine predicted that this library of human knowledge could be "summoned to any properly prepared spot" and "thrown upon the screen so that the student may study it in every detail."

Wells was enthralled with this new technology, called microfilm, which could be delivered swiftly by "aeroplane" and augmented by radio and photography.

We know now, of course, that he was imagining the World Wide Web, and that the "properly prepared spot" would not be a film screen in the campus library but rather a computer screen on a student's desk. Perhaps it's best that Wells never actually got to use a time machine, which would have revealed, 67 years into the future, that "the rarest visions and the most recondite matters" he expected to flow over his global student network would actually consist of spam, viruses, porn, and bootleg music files.

But the Internet is, in fact, the "world brain" that Wells envisioned, and it is the most powerful learning tool for students everywhere. All a modern scholar needs to tap into it is that properly prepared spot.

In The Time Machine, Wells imagined young people in the year A.D. 802,701 to be indolent hippies, uninterested in learning. The best way to avoid that fate and save mankind, then, is to make sure our young people today have access to the wonders of the Internet. And so, here's a quick guide to choosing the proper back-to-school equipment for your favorite student.

If you want to buy a new computer that will last more than a few semesters, look for a midrange or higher system. Intel is changing the naming scheme for its chips this year, and basically any Pentium 500-series chip is fine for desktops, or Pentium M 700-series for notebooks. Or consider rival AMD's equivalent Athlon XP 2800 (or higher) chips and their mobile equivalents. For Macs, any G4 or G5 system will do.

Don't cheat on memory: 256 megabytes of system memory (RAM) is the passing grade, and 512 MB gets extra credit. As for the hard disk, don't get fewer than 40 gigabytes. A floppy drive is optional, but a CD-RW drive is mandatory.

Here's the rest of my cheat sheet:

Don't buy anything before checking with the college's admissions department to see if it recommends a specific computer or offers special deals. Many schools have a strong preference for certain configurations. Besides, the school may offer significant discounts on computers and software that can save you hundreds of dollars. Example: If you buy a Dell Latitude D800 notebook computer through Yale's computer store, it costs $1,870 plus tax. The same computer purchased directly from dell.com costs $2,413.

If your budget allows, get a laptop or notebook computer instead of a desktop machine. Today's laptops have more than enough power for all the essential college chores, like word-processing, e-mail, and doing research on the Internet to find cheap air tickets to Cancun. Portables can be toted to class or to the library. Best of all, they take up minimal space on the Lilliputian desks found in most dorm rooms, compared with a desktop PC and monitor. Just be sure to buy a cable lock for the laptop; the one I recommend is Kensington's MicroSaver Cable ($45).

Although your student will insist that nothing less than a top-of-the-line computer will do, basically any new computer will be adequate as long as it meets the minimum specifications above. The more money you spend, in general, the more entertaining the computer becomes in terms of sound, video, and gaming. But the less money you spend, in general, the shorter the useful life span of the computer. If you want to make your student deliriously happy, get him or her either an Apple PowerBook G4 ($2,499) or a Toshiba Satellite P25-S676 ($2,800). Both can play DVD movies and pump out decent stereo sound, but the Toshiba comes with a built-in TV tuner.

Invest in a multiyear on-site warranty (three years is best). At today's colleges computers are used to communicate with students, make classroom assignments, submit papers, and even register for classes. If the computer goes haywire your student will have no choice but to go party. With an on-site warranty the computer is generally fixed or replaced within a day or two. Dell, for example, includes three years of next-day, on-site service in the cost of the computer. Good news: It covers accidental damage like spilling beer on the keyboard.

Check whether your home-insurance policy covers the loss of a computer at school. If not, strongly consider getting computer insurance. My favorite is SafeWare (www.safeware.com), which covers computers for theft, being hurled from a dorm window, and natural disasters like being drowned when the waterbed ruptures. A $2,000 laptop can be covered for $120 a year.

True to the spirit of H.G. Wells, any computer must have Ethernet capabilities for connecting to the World Brain. (Some schools don't offer in-room Ethernet, so a dial-up modem is the minimum.) Be sure to bring along a 25-foot CAT5 Ethernet patch cable, just in case your student's desk is on the other side of the room from the Ethernet jack. Oh, and don't forget a surge protector, preferably one with an eight-or ten-foot cord.

Laptops and notebooks must have wireless networking capabilities, especially Wi-Fi, also known as 802.11b or 802.11g. Newer laptops typically have built-in Wi-Fi, but others use wireless adapter cards. Coffee shops, fast-food joints, and other student haunts are now offering wireless access to the Internet.

Don't leave home without a new, or at least freshly updated, antivirus program. No computer these days should be allowed on the Net without some sort of protection against viruses, worms, and spyware. My pick: Symantec's Norton Internet Security 2004 package for Windows ($70) or Internet Security 3.0 for Macintosh ($100).

A portable, keychain-sized USB flash drive is handy for backing up important files, as an alternative to transferring files via CD or floppy, and for downloading bootleg music files from a friend's computer. I'm fond of the 512MB Cruzer Titanium flash drive from SanDisk ($200), but cheaper alternatives are plentiful.

Windows vs. Mac? These days I'd definitely vote for the Mac OS, which is less susceptible to crashes and viruses. Windows is more popu-lar, but seems perpetually to be on orange alert. You don't want to hear, "A virus ate my term paper."

By the way, H.G. Wells believed that the Global Brain would bring about not just universal knowledge but also peace and understanding in "this uncertain world where destruction becomes continually more frequent and unpredictable." Let's hope he'll be right about that too.