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St. Mary's Hall G-36 Hours: Monday-Friday |
HOME » HOYA COMPUTING » PURCHASING COMPUTERS HOYA COMPUTING: STUDENT BUYING GUIDE
What do students use computers for? Apart from academics, course registration, pre-registration, and add/drop are all handled on-line, as are inquiries about financial aid, meal plans, housing issues, book purchases, and summer internships/jobs. Many student organizations also have significant web-based resources. For more information about student computing at Georgetown University, please reference: http://uis.georgetown.edu/publications/essentials/ Does each student need to own a computer? However, computer labs can only provide a computer for approximately one out of every five students. They fill quickly during midterms, pre-registration for classes and finals. A student with his or her own computer has more flexibility to work on papers and projects. If the computer is a notebook (or laptop), the student may take it to research sites and internships, to meetings for work on group projects and into the classroom for presentations. Most importantly, owning a computer will make the transition into college much easier. We strongly suggest that you use our purchasing agreements with Dell or Apple to acquire a machine for yourself before you come to college. It?s surprisingly affordable, since we get a large discount on an extensive range of products. What brands of computers do Georgetown students use? Students bring a wide variety of desktop and notebooks to campus, though Georgetown has special agreements with Dell, IBM (for MSB students) and Apple to provide academic discounts for student purchases. How do I decide what components I need in my computer? Listed below are the major components of a PC, followed by a description of each component's function: The Processor is the heart of your computer. It determines how fast, and how smoothly your computer will run. There are several different kinds of processors available on the market currently?Apple's G3 and G4 processors, AMD?s Athlon processors, and Intel?s Pentium 3, Pentium 4, Pentium M, and Celeron processors. A Pentium 3 (or higher) or Celeron processor would be best for compatibility with our network and for your academic needs. These processors are the fastest on the market, and tend to give the best price/performance ratio. Most current machines come with a minimum of a Pentium 3 processor?some of the lower-end ones use Celeron chips. Mac users should get a minimum of a G3 in a laptop and a G4 in a desktop. Hoya Computing recommends that you also check on your computer's bus speed and clock speed. They can have a great impact on your system speed. Your manufacturer will be able to tell you more about these features on your computer. Memory (sometimes called ?RAM,? for ?Random Access Memory") is the amount of random data access space available to your computer. It works as a temporary filing space, allowing you to run multiple programs without slowing down the system's speed and performance. We strongly recommend a minimum of 128 MB of RAM, and suggest that if you plan on using the computer for any multimedia purposes (playing movies or music, for instance), you upgrade to 256MB. Also keep in mind that processor speed can be greatly augmented by extra memory?in other words, a Pentium 3 with 256 megabytes of RAM can perform at almost the same level as a Pentium 4 with 128 megabytes of RAM. This is particularly important for laptops, since higher end-processors can cost exponentially more than equivalent desktops?and it?s easier to just buy extra RAM to compensate. Incidentally, there is little difference at the outset whether the memory is packaged in one (1) ?DIMM? [Double Inline Memory Module] or two (2) DIMMs. Either configuration provides the same usable memory from a given MB of RAM, but the DIMM count makes a difference when it comes to upgrading memory. If your RAM is placed on only 1 DIMM, you have a slot to spare, and you can add another DIMM to the open slot to increase memory. If your memory is packaged in 2 DIMMs, then you may have to replace one or both with DIMMs of higher MB when you want to upgrade. Single DIMM memory is usually slightly more expensive, but a better choice if you plan to upgrade your computer?s memory down the road. Storage is for executable programs and data files not being used currently, and for retaining those programs and files when your computer is powered down. Your hard drive (HDD) is the principal storage mechanism of your computer. We strongly suggest a minimum hard drive size of 20 GB. While this seems like a great deal of space, modern operating systems (Mac OS 9 or X, Windows XP) take up a lot of HDD room, and students tend to find ways to fill their hard drives with no problems. It's better to have extra room left over then be left scrambling to delete files to create room for new ones. Removable Storage: Floppy drives, CD-ROM drives and Zip© drives allow you to store data on removable discs and transfer them between computers. Floppy discs hold a little more than a megabyte of information. While they are still used in PCs, Mac computers are phasing them out in favor of Zip© drives, which behave exactly like a floppy disc but hold more data (from 100MB to 250MB) and are less likely to become corrupted. We recommend Zip drives to all faculty and staff, and also urge students to consider purchasing one. CD-ROM Drives are found in most computers. Most commercial software is distributed via CD. The minimum specification for a computer is a standard CD-ROM drive, which reads only CD-ROM. However, you can also purchase a DVD-ROM drive (that will also play DVD discs/movies) or a CD-RW drive (that can write and rewrite blank CDs). Combination DVD-CDRW drives are also available. All of these specialty drives will read regular CD-ROM discs. Given the amount of time you will be spending looking at your computer screen, it is important to invest in a good monitor. For desktops, we suggest that you purchase a monitor that is at least 17?. A 17? monitor (monitors are measured diagonally across the screen) will allow you to run your computer at a high resolution (the higher your resolution, the sharper and crisper the image displayed). For laptops, we recommend no less than a 12" screen, and a 13" or 14" is better. If you use your notebook extensively in one particular place, you can purchase a 17" external monitor to attach to your notebook. Flat panel monitors usually cost more for the same size and resolution as their standard-sized counterparts. Unless desktop space is at a premium, we generally do not think they currently warrant the increased cost. Keyboards and Mice For laptop users, Dell notebook computers feature both a touchpad and a GHB button, while Apples feature a touchpad only. Both also feature a keyboard/mouse port, allowing you to attach your own mouse, trackball, or other input device, such as a game joystick. Computer ports are useful for connecting external devices, such as printers or scanners, or external media drives, such as Zip drives, CD burners, or specialty equipment. In addition to standard monitor, mouse, keyboard, and speaker ports, most desktop computers feature Serial, Parallel (Printer), and USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports, which offer high-speed connection for external devices. Computers will also have internal slots for adding hardware, though desktops generally have more than laptops. As a general rule, it's easier to expand a desktop than a laptop. Modems and Network Cards are the primary methods for connecting to the Internet. Wireless networking is beginning to be deployed across campus, but modems and ethernet cards are still the best ways to get hooked up to the Net. You WILL need a network card to connect to Georgetown's on-campus network. Do not purchase a computer without one. Modems are optional but recommended, as you may want to connect to the internet from off campus. Operating systems (OS) determine what programs you can run on your computer, and whether it can read media from floppy discs, zip discs, or CD-ROMs. OS is the principal difference between PCs (Windows) and MACs. We suggest you choose the operating system that you are most comfortable with, whether it is Windows or MacOS. Students purchasing Mac computers can choose either MacOS 9 or MacOS X. PC users, however, should make sure that they get Windows XP Professional with NTFS file system as their operating system, to make sure that their computer performs at top level on the network. At this time, the only other software that we consider truly essential is: (a) Norton AntiVirus, and (b) either Microsoft Office XP Standard Academic (v.X Standard Academic for Mac) or Corel WordPerfect 2002 Office Suite. They give a new student the basic programs needed for most courses, and help you avoid purchasing unnecessary software. We recommend waiting until you have chosen a course of study to purchase any other academic software. We are currently working with our software vendors to provide students with academic discounts on other purchases. Printers and scanners are not absolutely essential (in our view). Printers are available in all computer labs at a rate of 10 cents a page, so try to decide for yourself whether it is cost efficient to buy a printer. Scanners, desktop copiers, and other 'paper based' accessories are nice, but in no way necessary, and will probably take up a lot of room in a dorm room. Warranty coverage is an important consideration because: a) students use their computer for many years, b) student computers tend to take more abuse than corporate computers, and c) students needing warranty repair of their computers are usually on short deadlines. Our packages with Dell and Apple come with a 3-year warranty that includes free diagnostic tools, phone/repair service from trained engineers, and full parts and onsite labor. Both manufacturers give you the option to add a 4th year to this warranty at anytime during the computer's original warranty period. In addition, Dell offers 'CompleteCare' on their laptops, which covers spills, drops, and other cases of accidental damage. Regardless of the computer vendor, you should carefully review the warranty to make sure that it covers the usable life of the computer for your career at Georgetown. Want to Know More? In order to find out more about specific products and purchases, click on the links below: C-Net PC Magazine Tech Reviews The View PC World ZDNET CNET Price Watch International Computer Price Comparison If you would like more information, e-mail us at hoyacomputing@georgetown.edu, or call us at (202) 687-0640. Whatever your needs, budget, or preference, we would be happy to assist you in finding the right computer. |
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