The Well-Equipped Student: Best High-Tech Gear

To see and be seen. To hear and be heard. To be connected wherever and whenever possible. If you're shopping for back-to-school PC gear, keep these mantras in mind.

Every student needs a PC or laptop for schoolwork and playtime. To appease today's multimedia-focused students--or if you want to go high-end--look for PCs with the Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition operating system. The Media Center OS makes it easy to capture, organize, manipulate, and display all kinds of digital content. For instance, you can play DVD movies and music, or record your fave TV shows. See "The Entertainers" for PC World's review of six home theater systems.

ABS and Gateway, for example, offer PC systems that combine the capabilities of TV, stereo, and home theater in one package. Both the ABS and Gateway models we reviewed sport 120GB hard drives, which give users plenty of room to store big files. (When we tested them, the ABS and Gateway units were priced at $1799 and $2114, respectively; Gateway's price tag includes a monitor, a required component.)

On the budget PC front, sound mavens will appreciate the terrific set of Logitech Z-340 speakers that were bundled with the $1139 ABS Bravado 2280 we tested. This configuration of the Bravado 2280 also comes with a DVD+R/RW drive and a 17-inch CRT, which displays sharp images. You also get a useful Microsoft keyboard, complete with hot-keys for launching Internet applications, tweaking volume settings, and moving through CD tracks and DVD scenes.

Check out PC World's latest Top 15 Desktops chart (scroll down to find the Value PCs chart).

If you're thinking of purchasing a laptop, the IBM ThinkPad T40 is a solid choice. The model we tested came with a 14.1-inch screen, a 1.6-GHz processor, and an 80GB hard drive. The T40 is robust enough to handle demanding computing chores--and light enough, at 5.4 pounds, to carry around from class to class. The T40 also supports 802.11b and 802.11a Wi-Fi standards, along with Bluetooth. The T40 we reviewed was priced at $3249. A T40 configured with a 1.5-GHz processor and a 40GB hard drive, for example, costs considerably less--$2099.

For budget-conscious buyers, the Compaq Presario 2100Z, in a configuration costing just over $1000, gets high marks for its performance, combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive, documentation, and its inclusion of Microsoft Office XP Small Business Edition.

Check out PC World's latest Top 15 Notebook PCs chart.

A handy accessory for anyone lugging a laptop is a sturdy bag. The $80 Kensington Liberator offers lots of different compartments and gives you more than one way to carry a notebook around.

Not interested in buying a PC? If you happen to have an old machine sitting around--and you'd like to turn it into a useful PC for school-goers--you might want to think about upgrading it. For decision-making advice and upgrade suggestions, check out "The Upgrade Path to a Perfect Student PC."