Give your grad a laptop

It's become a rite of passage. When you graduate high school, you get a new laptop. This is especially true for anyone going to college.

So, if your graduate will be attending college, start at the school's site. It will list laptop requirements for its students. Check prices at the college bookstore. Often, these can be lower than big box electronic stores.

Next, you must choose an operating system. Windows is by far the most popular. But your graduate may prefer a Mac.

Remember that Macs can run Windows and its software, thanks to Boot Camp. Boot Camp is included with all new Macs. You must purchase a copy of Windows.

Windows laptops

You'll have many choices when it comes to Windows laptops. Because of the number of manufacturers, this spurs competition. So be sure to compare the price and specifications of at least three laptops. Expect to pay between $800 and $1200.

Look for a laptop with AMD's Turion or Intel's Core 2 Duo processor. These are powerful, dual-core, 64-bit processors. They will be good for years to come.