Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Saturday Morning News
Back to School on a Budget
Aired August 10, 2002 - 09:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Way back in the olden days when I was a kid, the only school supplies a student needed were paper and pens, and we had to walk a mile -- well, anyway, I won't even go into that. Today's kids, these kids today, often have high-tech items to help them with their schoolwork in the classroom or at home.
In the first part of our series of reports on Back to School on a Budget, CNN technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg is here to show us some of the gadgets.
Welcome.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Yes, I remember back in the days when a film projector was the most high-tech thing you can remember having in the classroom. You know, that seemed like...
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: No kidding.
SIEBERG: Nowadays, it seems like kids are practically born with a mouse in their hand.
COOPER: And are they any smarter, I ask you?
SIEBERG: They would argue yes. We would argue no.
WHITFIELD: But we've got to supply them with the tools.
COOPER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
SIEBERG: Right, exactly. And we've got here today a whole arrangement of different types of products that kids might be looking at buying either this year. They may be upgrading from something they even had last year. Or it may be sort of the higher-end products like a PDA or a personal digital assistant that they might need, just for themselves and to keep organized.
COOPER: Let's start with computers. What do we have?
SIEBERG: Yes, well, right over here is a laptop. I'm sure many kids either if they don't have one would like to have one. This happens to be from Toshiba. And it's got the kind of specs that you would want if you're probably more of a college student. It's got a lot of memory, a lot of capability to run a lot of programs at the same time, and it's got this wider screen on it. WHITFIELD: What are some of the basics? What do you look for when shopping for a PC?
SIEBERG: Yes, that's a good question. Shopping for a notebook or a laptop as opposed to a PC are a little different. Of course, the portability makes it a little more expensive. That's part of the appeal for someone who wants a laptop, but also that's going to increase the cost. So this Toshiba actually goes for about $1,200. There are comparable machines from Dell, IBM, and from Sony
COOPER: And then the PC, how much would the PC go for?
SIEBERG: This PC -- we've actually put together this package here of a monitor, the hard drive, and the printer for under $1,000. And the mouse and keyboard come with that. This is a real budget PC. It's an H-P or Hewlett-Packard Pavilion.
And there are other comparable machines out there on the market, from someone like Apple puts out, of course, a computer that people might be familiar with, a totally different operating system. Dell e- Machine, Gateway, IBM, Sony, all of them make a similar type of machine. A huge array, you know, difference in prices depending on what type of a(UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
COOPER: But you can get a whole package for under $1,000.
SIEBERG: You can get a whole package for under $1,000, which is important for a student, particularly on a budget.
WHITFIELD: Primarily what they're going to do is, they're going to do their papers, their homework, and they're going to maybe search for some research.
SIEBERG: Exactly, and download.
WHITFIELD: Yes, music.
COOPER: Whatever, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
WHITFIELD: Oh. Yes, but keep it simple.
SIEBERG: The crucial thing, people always ask me, you know, What should I look for when I'm buying a computer? And unfortunately, I end up giving questions back to them. I say, Well, what are you using it for? What do you need it for?
But there are basic specs that you want to look out for any time you're buying a computer, especially at the budget level. You want to have at least a Pentium III, a Celeron, or a Duron processor, 128 megabytes of memory, RAM, that means -- the number of programs you can run at the same time, roughly. A 10-gigabyte of hard drive, that's really important if you want to store a lot of documents.
I think back to the first computer I had. It was a VIC (ph) 20, which was 20 K. It's barely enough to run an icon.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
SIEBERG: On a computer nowadays. That's an enormous amount of memory.
COOPER: I had an Apple IIe.
SIEBERG: Right, so you -- there you go, you remember back when they didn't even have a hard drive on some of these computers. A CD- ROM drive may be a consideration for some people, or a DVD-ROM drive. A 15-inch monitor is pretty standard, or you can upgrade to a 17-inch monitor And then you want, of course, want a modem or a sound card or some speakers (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
COOPER: Now, you also have these little PDA devices, which I always thought was public displays of affection, but apparently...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: ... as an acronym.
SIEBERG: Yes, it does. We've got a few different PDAs here. We've got...
COOPER: Now, PDA stands for...
SIEBERG: Personal digital assistant. And they're, you know, an organizer, you can -- these days you can run all sorts of programs on (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
WHITFIELD: I can't believe (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
COOPER: Why would a high school student...
WHITFIELD: Well, maybe college kids.
(CROSSTALK)
SIEBERG: They're cool. They're cool, I think, is part of it. But, you know, for a...
WHITFIELD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) even information.
WHITFIELD: ... college student who's busy -- Yes, you know, that's definitely part of the attraction.
We've got a whole different range here. The one in the middle is the M-104 from Palm, it actually goes for under $100. It's this one right here. So if you were able to -- if you were really on a budget, you can get this for now for about $75 to $80.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
COOPER: And does that have on it? It's got address book, it's got...
SIEBERG: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) address book, it's got a date book or a calendar. It's monochrome, so you don't get the color or the fancy features, but it does work, you know, in a pinch if that's what you need.
On the right here...
WHITFIELD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) schedule.
SIEBERG: ... we've got the Sony Cleay (ph), which is a step up from the Palm M-105. It goes for about $250 to $300, more features, more memory, it's color, so you're able to see a little bit clearer picture on it. I can actually turn it on here.
COOPER: And you can send e-mail? I mean, I know nothing about this. You can send e-mail from these things?
SIEBERG: Some of them you can, some of them you can't. You may have to have to get...
WHITFIELD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
SIEBERG: ... a wireless adapter for it. Yes, the cheaper ones you can't, you would be restricted to just having it almost like an electronic notebook.
WHITFIELD: But there's a calculator on there.
SIEBERG: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
COOPER: Can you surf the Web on some of them?
SIEBERG: Some of them, yes, in the higher-end ones. And in fact, the higher-end one we've got is from Compaq, it's the iPaq. And this one here would actually go for more in the $500 to $600 range. So it's a much higher-end version. But again, more memory, this color screen, which allows you to see much more information on it. So there's a range, depending on what you need.
COOPER: Now, this looks like a very cheap one, down here.
SIEBERG: That is, yes, and very good eye, that's the very cheap one. That's more just like a Rolodex, an electronic one, but very basic.
WHITFIELD: OK.
SIEBERG: It actually goes for $20, though, so if you have...
WHITFIELD: Great.
SIEBERG: ... you know, no money at all, then that's what you want to (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
COOPER: Yes, $20, that's amazing.
WHITFIELD: All right, cool.
SIEBERG: Yes.
WHITFIELD: I know. Thank you, Dan. Appreciate it.
SIEBERG: Sure.
WHITFIELD: So kids are equipped and ready to go back to school with all these very cool gadgets.
SIEBERG: Yes, and they just have to fit them in their backpack, that's (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
WHITFIELD: Yes, well, nice backpack (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
COOPER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Well, this backpack is great, because it's got a little room for a computer and everything in it.
SIEBERG: That's right, this is other thing we brought along her was this backpack from Icon, and it goes for about $50. It actually comes with a mouse, it's got speakers, CDs, and it's got a bag for your laptop if you wanted to put...
WHITFIELD: OK.
SIEBERG: ... your laptop in there and...
WHITFIELD: OK.
SIEBERG: ... carry it around.
COOPER: Cool.
SIEBERG: And these are all on loan from Circuit City, (UNINTELLIGIBLE). But of course you can get them from...
WHITFIELD: Well, great.
SIEBERG: ... Best Buy or a lot of other...
WHITFIELD: All right.
SIEBERG: ... places. Thanks, David, appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
