Laptop shopping for socially conscious students

(NC)—September marks a fresh start for students with new classes, teachers and routines. As summer winds down, Maria Davis is preparing to embark on dorm room life and begin her studies at the University of British Columbia. While her shopping list for the big move is limited, a new laptop is right at the top. Shoppers like Maria are not only looking for the hottest items and the best value – they are also socially conscious.

"I need a powerful and reliable laptop for school work," said Maria. "The laptop will be crucial for assignments and it will be a centre for entertainment as well. I want something that I can take to class and also use to listen to music, watch movies and stay in touch with friends using a web cam and Skype when I'm at home."

Maria contacted her university and learned that many of the buildings on campus have wireless networks – including her residence. Notes and PowerPoint presentations for her online course will be available for download. After assessing her needs, Maria began to look at the models available on the market.

"There's a great range of options out there and the Toshiba Satellite A300 has the extras I want and need," said Maria. "Features like a wide screen display, web cam and wireless capabilities are all must-haves for me. The mercury silver casing looks really cool and it also has great energy efficiency, which is good for the environment, and that is very important to me."

Toshiba's Satellite A300 fit the bill for Maria. It comes equipped with a 15.4-inch display, 3 GB of built-in memory, an Intel Core 2 Duo T5750 processor, built-in wireless, a DVD supermulti disk drive, built-in webcam and Windows Vista Premium, all for $949. It also includes a sleep n' charge mode that allows students to charge devices like MP3 players, cell phones and digital cameras while the computer is turned off.

"Our mobile laptops this season come fully loaded with the technology that students demand, the quality they expect and are designed to reflect their individual needs, tastes and budgets," says Mini Saluja, Toshiba product manager.

When shopping for a laptop for the new school year Toshiba product manager Mini Saluja offers the following tips:

• Create a list of must-have and nice-to-have features.

• Consider purchasing an additional battery if you plan to use your laptop in class or around campus.

• Look for a system with plenty of HDD space if your laptop will be used for downloading music and videos and storing lots of photos.

• Is gaming a priority? Be sure to look for a laptop with lots of processing power and RAM as well as a powerful graphics card with dedicated video memory.

• Bundle your technology: many laptops can function as TVs, DVD players, stereo systems and have built-in webcams. A full-featured system might reduce your electronics purchases.

• Check with your instructors about your course software needs. Toshiba laptops come pre-installed with Microsoft Windows Vista and include offers for software such as Microsoft Office 2007 and Norton 360.

• Look for the Energy Star symbol and check if your laptop is a registered manufacturer with Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) to ensure your laptop is energy efficient and made of environmentally safe products.

- News Canada