Norton AntiVirus is not exactly software you run out to buy because it’s exciting and you can’t wait to use it.  Rather, any AntiVirus software such as Norton is just a necessary thing we have to have on our computers to keep hackers at bay.  Without an AntiVirus installed you’re at risk of having data stolen from your laptop and any number of malicious virus’ installed on your computer when on the Internet.

Anti-Virus software isn’t cheap, often it costs $50 per year for a license.  However, if you’re a student and looking for a discount on AntiVirus software you’re in luck.  Norton AntiVirus, one of the most popular AntiVirus software packages on the market, offers a student discount to eligible students.

The Norton AntiVirus student discount drops the price of the 2010 AntiVirus software to $19.99 from the regular price of $39.99, a 50% savings!  Here’s the steps you need to follow to get this academic discount:

1. Go to the following Symantec (the makers of Norton AntiVirus) website page:http://shop.symantecstore.com/store/symanedu/en_US/DisplayHomePage/ThemeID.4315600/pgm.13389200

   You’ll see the following page:

   

2. Next, click on the “Buy Now” button and you’ll be taken to a page where you have to type in your school email address, this is how Symantec checks you are an eligible student.  The check isn’t very rigid, all you need is a .edu email address, so if you’re staff or an alumni you can still get this discount online.
3. After entering your .edu email address you’ll get the following screen:Just wait for Symantec to send you an email with a link and login password for the discount, the purchase screen with the discount looks like this:

   

   Once at checkout you can pay with a credit card and then download the Norton AntiVirus 2010 software immediately.

Why AntiVirus is so Important for Students

Many students these days have laptops and have to be on the Internet and plugged into the University network constantly.  Being on a university network where so many others plugged in and possibly unprotected from virus’ means that worms and virus’ can easily travel along the network.  Add to this all of the potentially dangerous infected websites you might inadvertently visit and emails containing virus’ you might accidentally open, for $19.99 it’s just worth it to keep yourself protected.  If a Virus infects your laptop and you need to get work done, it can take hours or days to deal with cleaning up the virus, the time you waste will cost you more than the $19.99 not to mention all the missed study time it can cost you!

Link: Norton AntiVirus Student Discount

The Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops are both popular choices for students. The MacBook is especially popular due to its reasonable price of around $1,000 and portable size of 5lbs and a 13.3″ screen. The good news is that Apple has a student discount that covers every age range of student, from kindergarten to grad students, and also those employed in the academic field. If you’re a parent of a student buying it for them you are eligible for this discount as well.

In general, the deals offered by Apple via the academic discount store gets you about 10% off of certain Apple products purchased either online or in an Apple retail store. As an example, the current base line MacBook costs $1,099 for regular customers, but using the academic discount you can get this same laptop for $999. The higher the price the greater the discount can become, for instance a Mac Pro desktop computer retailing for $2,799 is sold for $2,599 with the education discount.

Read the full story

HP Student Discount Guide

HP makes a lot of great products that are essential to student productivity, from calculators to printers to laptops. In order to make these items more affordable to the penny pinched student HP offers an academic discount that they call the Academic Purchase Plan (APP). In general the student discount via HP is around 7% - 10% off of the regular price of products.

To get the HP student discount just click on the following link:

HP Student Discount Link (APP site)

You will then be asked what your affiliation is to an academic institution and go through a wizard style interface to select the school you are associated with. You can be K - 12 or higher education, and students, staff or administrators are eligible for the academic discount.

Read the full story

When I used to live in the Midwest I couldn’t imagine a place in the U.S. that people would actually ride trains to get around. Then I spent some time working in New York and came to understand how that without a car Amtrak is a real boon to getting between cities on the East coast and an important part of the transportation infrastructure. Indeed, riding a train between cities such as New York and Boston can be much preferable to flying due to the lack of security hassle and more pleasant and comfortable ride.

Amtrak is nearly always cheaper than flying, especially with airline flight costs going up these days, but during heavy travel periods Amtrak can get pricey too. Weekend travel and holiday time travel tend to be the most expensive on Amtrak, with one-way tickets between the popular Boston to New York or New York to Washington D.C. journey sometimes costing over $100.

Read the full story