Compute Naked

Selecting a Computer

About this time every year, students want to know what type of computer to bring to school or University, and in some instances, where to buy it.

The manager of computer services for the University, says, “Information technology is always a moving target. Just when you think you've found the ideal computer for your first year, something new comes along, and you wonder if you made the right computer decision.”

The right decision is more about getting a computer that works well on the network than having the latest whiz-bang technology. Order a computer that meets the specifications determined by your wireless network.

Go for a laptop computer. Either a Microsoft Windows-based PC running Windows XP Professional or a Macintosh running the OS 10.3 version of Apple's operating system work equally well.

Why a laptop computer?

For one thing, it takes up less space in a residence hall dorm room than a desktop. And for another, students who have laptops with built-in wireless networking capability, which most new laptops have, can connect without plugs or wires from almost anywhere on the campus via the University's ubiquitous wireless network.

Speed and hard drive storage capacity are becoming much more important these days, particularly if you're dealing with graphics. We now recommend laptops with at least a 40-gigabyte hard drive, a central processor unit (CPU) of 1.5 GHz (gigahertz) or better and at least 512 megabytes of RAM.

Students often purchase computers from the computer store because it is right next to the computer service center.

Most computer problems that students encounter can be resolved over the phone through the an IT help desk.