Gadgets Back in Force at Schools
By Pete Bach, The Post-Crescent, Appleton, Wis.
Aug. 22–Natalie Demski is headed for her senior year at Appleton West High School this semester without her own laptop computer.
Not that she hasn’t thought about it.
“I want to get it as a graduation present next year,” she said.
Demski said the school computer lab is a big boost. She can prepare reports on the family computer at home, download the results onto a jump drive, then upload the information at the school for editing and printing.
Prices at electronic retailers start at about $350 for basic notebooks, and laptops with a full range of features can be had for $599 and up.
Demski was among the shoppers out Saturday pricing goods at Circuit City, 4635 W. College Ave., Grand Chute.
“The back to school traffic this year is even better than years past,” said Chris Stutzman, assistant store manager. “For one, the prices on notebooks have dropped quite a bit. We’re got different charts. We called all the different schools earlier and basically found out their requirements, what kind of software they recommend and what kind of computer specs they need.”
Shoppers should check to see if an electronics retailer offers specials on computer service.
“Laptops are good things for students,” said Tom Frantz, director of information technology at the University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley in Menasha. “They can take their work with them. (And) most places have wireless now, which makes laptops a little more attractive than desktops.”
That being said, a desktop computer at home is sufficient for most student needs when coupled with computer labs and school libraries. And thumb drives, slim plug-in devices that have made floppy disks all but obsolete, can be found for $25 on sale.
“We encourage all users to have a thumb drive,” said Frantz. “You can store a lot more data on a thumb drive than you can on a zip drive or some other type of storage device.”
Frantz said students should check if their college is one that offers special discount deals on software or hardware.
April Kain-Breese, the library director at UW-Fox Valley, said students should consider investing in an audio digital recorder which captures sound better than the old cassette tape recorders. But they need to check first whether individual faculty members will allow recording of lectures.
AT A GLANCE
–Students and their parents will spend a combined average of $957 on back to college merchandise this year, up 9 percent from a year ago to $879.
–Spending on electronics, paced by sales of laptop computers, will hit $12.8 billion.
Source: National Retail Federation
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Post-Crescent, Appleton, Wis.
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