[rabscuttle385]

Get a Lenovo ThinkPad (the R, T, or X series--avoid the SLs and the non-ThinkPad Lenovos) with a six-cell or nine-cell battery that are explicitly designed for corporate environments, and make sure to get a four-year service contract. [If you go this route, call Lenovo's reps directly and ask them for discounts. You *might* also have luck buying one directly from Newegg--I got an R61i last year for about $600--and then extending the warranty, but don't count on it.]

Or, I will second the other poster here who suggested Apple notebooks. [If you go this route, make sure you get that service contract and look into academic discounts.]

Do not skimp on the service contract. If you can get accidental or theft damage coverage, go for that too, unless your renter's or homeowner's policy already covers those sorts of situations. Last year, my sister's notebook had "unexplainable" screen damage that rendered the notebook completely useless, and we had to pony up over a grand to buy her a new ThinkPad.

Oh, one more thing: if you have to buy Microsoft Office, your son can purchase a retail copy of Office '07 Ultimate directly from Microsoft through their Ultimate Steal promotion for about sixty bucks. [They also offer Vista Ultimate upgrades and copies of Visio.]

Congrats and good luck to your son!

[Netizen]

Ok, new questions. First question is 32 bit vs 64 bit?

Next, I’ve been told that a large Hard Drive, over 250GB, has a tendency to break and that I should avoid a 320GB and 500GB.

Any thoughts on this?

The system we are looking at has Windows EX Pro as the OS.