Buying a Laptop

My family is very supportive of my writing.  That being said, I can say with near certainty that my children do not read my blog.  Perhaps if I talked about music or movie icons they might give it a look but for the most part they have no interest in the blog.  It is for that reason that I feel comfortable writing about my daughter who is graduating high school in less than two weeks.  It seems like just yesterday that she was an obstinate little girl lying in the doorway of her room coloring at 2AM screaming, “You told me to go to my room and I’m in my room.  You can’t make me sleep!”  She was a handful as a child.  I am happy to report that she mellowed quite a bit with age and has grown into a fine and honorable young lady.  I am so proud.  Her next phase of life is college and her mother and I decided in today’s era she needs a laptop.  So that is what we are getting her for graduation.  Sounds easy, doesn’t it?  I haven’t owned a laptop in 13 years and it would seem the features have changed.  I asked around to people I knew who had children go through college and received all sorts of advice.  Here is what I have discovered on my fact finding mission.  First of all, I want 1 laptop that will last 4 years without becoming too outdated to be useful.  I do not want the 17 inch screen because it is cumbersome in the classrooms.  It is better to go with the 15 inch screen.  I must buy a carrying bag or else it will fall out of normal book bags.  Then came the issue of RAM.  One person with a little older daughter said 4G of RAM saw her through all 4 years.  That was several years ago, however.  Computer years are like dog years.  If that was 3 years ago, that’s like 21 computer years.  Technology becomes outdated that fast.  Another situation had a person buying a 4G RAM computer for their son who is in their third year of school.  They are having problems with some programs not running on it.  That tells me I need more RAM.  I’ve settled on 8G.  That should give me breathing room for 4 years.  Then comes the processor speed.  I’m a little in the dark on this one but I do know the faster the processor, the better it runs programs.  I have looked on line at hundreds of computers and can’t determine a happy medium.  What’s worse, no one seems to be able to tell me more than I know already.  I might be at the mercy of the salesman on that one.  Then there’s options.  I want the DVD/CD burner in case she needs to make presentations.  Does she need a camera?  What about blue tooth?  Actually, what’s the point of blue tooth on a laptop anyway?  I have to buy the warranty because I have used mine 18 times already just for viruses and problems in just over a year.  It’s comprehensive service.  The last factor is cost.  Every option raises the price a little more.  In the end I usually go overboard but I wish I didn’t feel like this computer stuff was like reading a foreign language in which I only know every third word.