Computer-product choices for students and other users

Reader mail fills the box today. School is back in session for many kids, and the letters are pouring in.

Answer: I would get a 512 MB or a couple of 256s. They are cheap and plentiful now. A trade show I attended recently had booths giving away 64MB sticks by the handful. Get one with a sturdy keychain hook on it and put it on his house keys or on a ring in his backpack. Also put his name on it with a permanent marker so the teacher will know which kid left it in the drive (and he will.) Don't get a large USB drive because he will just lose it. Brand doesn't matter.

Question: What screen resolution do you recommend for a laptop? I see varying qualities of screens out there when you try to order.

Answer: I would get one where the second number is in four digits. In other words, a laptop with maximum resolution of 1280 x 768 will mean icons that for many people are too large and can't be further reduced to get more stuff on the screen. If you find one where the second number is in four digits, you likely will be happier unless you have weak eyes and like the larger icons and screen size.

Question: What is the best free e-mail account out there? I need one with ample storage and good spam filtering. I don't mind spending a little money annually if I have to.

Answer: My favorite for these tasks is Google's Gmail. It offers more storage than any reasonable person will need for e-mail and has good spam filtering capability (some will sneak through but it is pretty effective.) In second place would be Yahoo, but I think it's a second-tier offering from a second-tier company. Make sure you don't keep anything irreplaceable in a free e-mail account without making a backup. You never know when a free offering goes "poof."

Question: Can I watch television on my computer?

Answer: In a couple ways. You can visit a TV network home page and often watch streaming video there, either live or on tape. Or you can install a TV card in your PC and watch TV live via that. Some computers have these built in (especially if you have Windows Media Center Edition installed), so check your PC before you order the hardware card.

Question: How much memory do you recommend for a new PC today with Windows Vista Ultimate Edition?