laptop for college...?

Depends on how much you want to spend. I'd say go for a newer Dell if she's had good luck with it, preferably with a Core i5 CPU + 4 GB of RAM. Or, I'd browse Newegg which has a good lower priced inventory of many different brands. ASUS & Toshiba are very reliable brands

EDIT: 'notebook' and 'laptop' are used pretty much interchangeably. The 'netbook' is the smaller and lower powered one

(Netbooks are computers under a screen size of 12" inches). I would prefer a Toshiba or Acer. The best thing would, to buy a 4GB and over 250Hardrive. I would have one with Windows 7 and an Intel Processor. The Christmas Sales are soon so read sales papers and check websites for some good deals.

If she wants a dell again, I'd get something out of the Inspiron, or Studio series. If she's looking for something with quiet a bit of processing power, or graphics, I would get an XPS series laptop. If she wants an Inspiron again, I would get the Inspiron 15R or 17R. If you're not going to customize the laptop and just order it as is, I would recommend ordering one of the more expensive options. They are better built, will have better performance, and last you longer. Hope this helps a bit!!

One thing not to get (I made the mistake and recently returned it) is any Mini Netbook with the Windows CE platform. It's highly inadequate. Any other Netbook over 10" screen with Celeron and above is

A-OK. If money an issue, I recommend this:

Item #: F12-150020

COMPARE Fujitsu LifeBook E8110 Laptop Computer - Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 1.83GHz, 1GB DDR2, 60GB HDD, Combo, 15" XGA, Windows XP Pro (Off-Lease)

The Off-Lease Fujitsu LifeBook E8110 is the perfect slim, lightweight and powerful business laptop for any professional on the go.

$329.99

In Stock (www.tigerdirect.com)

Manufacturer: Fujitsu.

There are so many good products in the market its really difficult to choose one but I made up my mind to choose this and guess what I am very much satisfied

Toshiba Satellite L675-S7048 17.3-Inch LED Laptop - Fusion Finish in Helios Grey

*Intel Core i3-370M Processor 2.40 GHz, 3MB Cache

Configured with 4GB DDR3 1066MHz (max 8GB)

*500GB (5400 RPM); Serial ATA hard disk drive with TOSHIBA Hard Drive Impact Sensor (3D sensor), DVD SuperMulti drive with Labelflash supporting 11 formats

17.3" diagonal widescreen TruBrite TFT display at 1600 x 900 native resolution (HD+) with native support for 720p content and LED backlit, Mobile Intel HD Graphics with 64MB-1696MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory

*Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit with a 6 cell/48Wh Lithium Ion battery pack; Battery Life (measured by MobileMark 2007): 4 hours, 32 minutes

As a vet tech, she shouldn't need anything too fancy . . . unless she wants to take some art or photography classes on the side, or she might change majors to engineering, architecture, or something computer-driven.

I am a university computer technician who has also worked computer retail in the past. If this were my daughter going to college, I would get her set up with a lightweight laptop with a screen and keyboard that she likes. She's going to type for hours and hours on this thing: let's not make those papers any more miserable than they need to be! Generally the school provides antivirus and a discount on Office software, but I'd make sure she knows the potential ramifications of downloading copywritten material illegally. They're getting harsher with penalties, and no one wants a nasty virus on their laptop during finals week.

I'd also set her up with an automated online backup unless she's hyper responsible and will remember to always save to her online file space. I worked IT in college, too, and EVERY SINGLE SEMESTER I walked around saying "save your work, save your work, save your work . . . " but every midterm and finals period, EVERY ONE, I had a girl in my lab sobbing because she had been up all night working on a paper, she only saved to the hard drive, and the computer crashed. Every time. My current job has nothing to do with data recovery and I *still* get monthly pleas for it. It's expensive and often takes more time than a student has before their due date.

I set my parents up with Carbonite so they keep the contacts and information pertinent to their business even in case of a fire. I am not a student, and only have a handful of resumes and photos to save, so I use a local backup as well as a few free (read: not automatic or secure) ones online.

Oh, right, you'd asked about the computer itself. Sorry! Consumer Reports says most laptops need repair or replacement by year 3, so you're better off spending a little less now and spending it again in 2-3 years. Really. Now, if she gets into graphic design, gaming, engineering, computational simulations, or photography, I will reverse my advice on that instantly. For a vet tech student, though? Make sure she has a machine she likes that isn't too heavy, has a good automated backup, secure it as much as you can, and make sure she has access to a good swift repair shop nearby. Those are somewhat mythical, so you may want to see if her school offers rentals or set aside an emergency "my roommate spilled beer on it right before finals" fund. Accidental damage plans are pricey, so consider the habits of your daughter and her roommate before investing. Computers DO fail, and not every failure is preventable, so be prepared with a backup and a plan.

Oh, also? K-lock. It doesn't make it un-steal-able, but might hold the thing down for 5 minutes so she doesn't have to pack it up before going to the bathroom. She should also encrypt the hard drive (I KNOW it sounds foolish, but I date the CISO of a prominent university and trust me, it's necessary!) and have her keep it locked in her dorm room. Dorm room, gym, dining hall, and library theft are rampant here, and it's a religious college!

Tell her good luck in school. :) It's hard to pay for longevity in a laptop; you're usually just paying for features. More ram is better. More hard drive space is completely unnecessary for what she's studying, but would come in handy for her photos and (legally downloaded, please!) movies.