Cool Laptops for School

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming with the following special bulletin: A man has just purchased an overpriced, underpowered, overweight, poorly equipped, and altogether wrong laptop computer for his daughter's first year in college.

We turn now to Mobile Computing expert James A. Martin for more on this breaking story.

"The father spent way too much money on this machine--money his daughter could have used for more important things, like concert tickets," Martin reports. "To make matters worse, this poor young woman will be forced into regular chiropractor visits because of the laptop's excessive weight."

And the laptop's battery life? "It'll last about as long as a caramel frappuccino on a hot afternoon," adds Martin.

We've asked Martin to spare parents and students from making the same tragic mistakes as this well-meaning but woefully misinformed father. (The father declined to reveal the brand of computer or the price he paid.)

Check out Martin's advice on the five key things you should consider before investing in a laptop for high school or college students. Martin tackles price, weight, battery life, and wireless capabilities--along with options for fun and games.