Back To School
By Amanda Plotkin

(MONEY Magazine) – $1,399 A decent notebook computer sold for $3,000 just a few years ago. Today you can spend less than half that for a Toshiba Satellite 2505CDS, a first-rate combination of price and performance. Oh, yes: The speckled, black-and-white note- books you grew up with now cost $2, up 14% since 1992.

$14.95 How to Help Your Child with Homework is a book filled with sound advice. Among the topics: setting up a homework schedule and using technology wisely.

$74.95 Hardcover encyclopedias are passe. The best digital one is Microsoft's Encarta Reference Suite 99, which also includes a virtual globe and thesaurus. The encyclopedia alone comes bundled in many new PCs.

$7 Can you keep track of your kids? Sending coded messages via pager can help. (222 means pick me up from school.) National provider PageNet offers a great deal on local numeric service: $7 to $10 a month; a basic pager will run you $40 to $70.

7.46% Students who borrowed from the federal government can consolidate loans through the Department of Education for 79 basis points less than bank rates. But act now. The discount may end by Oct. 1.

--Amanda Plotkin