It’s almost the end of the financial year so many parents with school age children are thinking about making the most of the Federal Government’s Education Tax Refund and wondering what their children will need in their backpack for the next year. For anyone thinking of using this money for a computer, Intel has some tips on how to pick the best one for your child’s needs. The processor, also known as the ‘chip’ or ‘cpu’ is the ‘brain’ of the computer; it controls everything the computer does. The processor is the single most important contributor to a computer’s overall performance. Even if your computer has other great features, such as a lot of RAM (think of RAM as a computer’s short term memory) or a good graphics card, you won’t see much performance improvement if you don’t have a good processor to start with.
 
Netbooks are a great option for younger children. They are small and light so will fit easily into their backpack and won’t tire young shoulders. Netbooks can do the basic tasks that your child will need including writing reports in Word and researching on the web and they won’t break the bank. They also use Intel Atom processors which are energy efficient and will allow the battery to last longer.
 
When buying for an older student, it is worth purchasing the best notebook you can reasonably afford so that it will last all the way through school, or even into your child’s university years. The way we use computers is continually changing as we do more and more with them. Getting a computer with more top-notch features will mean that it will still be able to run really well in a few years’ time.
 
The refund is generally available to parents and guardians of children in primary or secondary school who receive Family Tax Benefit A[i] and offers a refund of up to 50 per cent of the cost of certain education expenses, including notebooks and PCs[ii]. Parents can receive a refund of up to $397 for every child at primary school, and up to $794 for every child at secondary school, in the 2010-2011 tax year.
i For further clarification and special conditions view the Federal Government website
ii For the full list of eligible education expenses visit the Federal Government website