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Getting a laptop for your university-bound son or daughter this fall has become a slightly more complicated process than in years past, though it can also be more rewarding.

The arrival of so-called "netbook" computers, which appear to be cheaper versions of laptops or notebooks, have added a whole new genre of computers from which to choose. Add those to your basic notebooks, Tablet PCs and the monster desktop replacement computers and you'll discover that picking the right one for your kid is no easy task.

Netbook laptops, for example, may look like a great fit because they are slim and light and seem perfect for take notes in class. But when it comes to students' needs, this is a little misleading. Netbooks have been optimized for surfing the Internet, usually for business purposes, and not really for developing projects, such as amassing and processing research material for term papers and such.

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They also have a hidden cost: They have no optical (CD or DVD) drive. Students collect an amazing amount of material, especially multimedia content, and they need an optical drive for backups, in addition to the space they are offered on the university's computer system; they will also need an optical drive to load new programs as their needs arise, or watch movies or even do research on material that comes only on DVDs.

A full laptop might be a little heavier, but it will also be a bit wiser too, says Cassey Tan of Intel Canada. These days, laptops are being made with much lighter with more energy-saving components (such as the new Intel Core 2 Duo series of processors), which puts them closer to netbooks than before.

A great example of this is Apple's new MacBook Air , which is a full laptop except for its lack of an optical drive; this makes it one of the lightest available too. A student can leave the optical drive in the dorm room, and use it only when needed.

There are also a number of notebook computers in between netbooks and full laptops. They are officially laptops, but they have screens as small as 11 inches as well as optical drives, and are a nice compromise between portability and features.

Portability is of immense importance for students, who usually have to carry a bunch of books and resent adding an unnecessarily heavy computer to the mix. One art student I know opted for a lighter computer with a smaller screen even though she was studying computer art — she had no problem drawing on an 11-inch screen.

Manufacturers understand this. Intel, for instance, says the important thing is to be able to bring a computer to a lecture hall, a study session in the library or to work around the home or dorm room.

Intel also suggests getting a computer that will meet future needs, which forces the students and their parents to peer into their crystal balls a little more carefully.

"Students use their computers for much more than just writing papers and research," says Intel's Cassey Tan. "It's a way to stay connected with family and friends, watch movies, listen to music, play games and more. All these applications, many of which will be used simultaneously, generate a lot of demand for computing power so they need a lot of RAM, a substantial hard drive and the fastest processor available. And they need to be mobile. The device needs to be light, small enough to fit in the classroom and able to run on battery power for several hours."

Avoid big screens, such as a 17-inch model, he says, because big screens require more power and are a much bigger drain on battery life.

Things that students look for, says Hewlett-Packard , maker of many notebook computers. According to thier research (and advertising), "sophisticated elegant design is [the] number one priority among students."

They are also looking for accessories to go along with their notebooks, such as a media docking station, wireless Bluetooth stereo headphones and Bluetooth wireless laser Mice, HP says.

One thing that doesn't take much discussion is Wi-Fi. If portability is important, it is just as important to be able to use the computer in the dorm lounge, where there is no Ethernet cable, as it is to use it in the dorm room. Most campuses are completely covered by Wi-Fi.

Any computer based on Intel's newest Intel Core 2 Duo processor also has the latest and fastest Wi-Fi built into it (the newest is called 802.11N).

Another item being promoted heavily is instant messaging (IM). Students often carry on two or three conversations at once, but that's usually just a matter of installing free software (Canadians seem to prefer Microsoft Live Messenger; U.S. students tend to go for Yahoo IM).

However, manufacturers say it's a great way to keep in touch with parents, so their pitch to parents is a web camera with a microphone.

Toshiba, for instance, has integrated webcams and microphones in its Satellite series , although webcams tend to be more attractive to parents than students, whose cramped communal life in a dorm forces them to quickly develop a strong sense of privacy.

Toshiba has added two new features to its machines that could be attractive to students: Face-recognition software that will allow a person to log onto a computer without using a password; another is the "sleep-and-charge" feature that allows students to plug their iPods into the computer's USB port to charge overnight, even while the computer is turned off.

Many students play games, and that complicates the decision about which computer to buy; a student concerned with games will require more computing power than a student whose priority is schoolwork.

To accommodate that, says Dell Canada consumer brand manager Dave Hambly, a budget-conscious student would want to add as much random-assess memory (RAM) as possible, which will go a long way to improving performance. Hambly also recommends upgrading a notebook's video card (not just for gaming, but for viewing the increasing number of multimedia things online, notably on YouTube) and a smaller screen — notebooks with 15-inch screens are Dell's hottest sellers.

Ultimately, Hambly suggests the new Dell Hybrid line of computers, although these fall somewhere between laptops and full desktops. Essentially a laptop within a desktop, the Hybrid series is a cute little box that has the power and size of a good-sized laptop but has no screen, mouse or keyboard. This computer is designed for those who want to minimize desk space for entertainment and social computing.

But Ashik Iqbal, product expert at Future Shop in Toronto, says most students don't ask for a powerful graphics card; his customers demand a good DVD burner, which is not always installed in an average or budget laptop.

Students tend not to want anything involving Bluetooth, he says, nor are they asking for webcams — but then most laptops have webcams already built in.

And if asked what he would recommend, he says a big hard drive (250 gigabytes or larger), an Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 802.11N Wi-Fi, and 3GB or even 4GB of RAM.

Most notebooks aimed at students sell for less than $1,000, and offer smaller screens, such as 14-inch or 13-inch models. As a general rule, the more multimedia features, the more expensive the notebook — but then most students spend a lot of time sharing files, and they require good sound systems and video screens.