I am starting school and want to get a lab top, some of them say with optional blue tooth connection. What is this and how does it help?

BlueTooth is a tiny little receiver/transmitter that allows the computer to connect to another computer (if it has a "dongle" - a little plastic thing with an antenae that plugs into a USB socket) wirelessly.

It's a pretty useful device for people who use their laptops for business purposes, but unless your laptop comes with a BlueTooth (it's a little plastic thing shaped a bit like a tooth) they are expensive - sometimes ridiculously expensive. I wanted to get bluetooth for my old pocket PC (PDA) but it cost £120! ($200) so I gave up that idea in a hurry.

Bluetooth is a short-range wireless communications protocol. If your laptop is for personal use, you probably don't need it. Unless your willing to pay for the bells and whistles...

An example of bluetooth used for business is connecting to your bluetooth enabled mobile phone, and using it as a wireless modem with the laptop. Or if you have bluetooth enable PDA, you can quickly transmit your calender, meeting notes, event reminders, etc. to your PDA and vice versa.