[MRM]

It is a life-changing event. Number one son is going to college at the end of this month (at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota). While mom and dad mourn the passage of their youth and wonder where is the toddler they used to walk around the block in the Little Red Wagon and what is the giant six-footer doing in Alex's room, Junior is wondering what computer he will be taking with him to school. Since his question seems to be more practical than mum and dad's I thought I would pose it to the Pelican Parts Braintrust: what is the best laptop for a young man just embarking on his college education?

He is attending a liberal arts school and is interested in a degree in economics in the College of Liberal Arts, rather than the College of Business. He will do some math. specifically calculus, and spreadsheets, but he'll mostly be taking notes and word processing. And gaming, but that's just a secondary benefit; he needs to computer to do schoolwork.

We're looking for something that will last his four (hopefully!) years without getting too clunky but isn't too cost-prohibitive. We would pay more to receive real value, so something in the $1,000 range isn't out of the question.

I know almost nothing of computers and my IT department assigns me my laptop, so any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. My last desktop was purchased on Tigerdirect and then customized by my local computer wiz. It's lasted close to five years, so I'm not adverse to a little local customization if it makes sense.

I think we're looking for a Windows machine. While I like Apple, Windows remains the language of business and commerce.

What suggestions do you have?