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Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, November 10 2012 @ 12:58 PM EST |
Do you really expect one computer to last 4 years being
lugged about at College?
You don't say what subjects, i.e. do her subjects consist mostly of written work
or is there a substantial amount of
calculation (maths / science / engineering) or is there a
substantial graphics / music requirement.
What about back up requirements, both data and spare machine
if that one is out of use?
What computer facilities does the college supply?
If you really are looking for one machine I would go
Thinkpad, Thinkpad or Thinkpad. as they still appear to be
reasonably indestructible.
However you might be better off considering a cheaper laptop
and replacing it each year. with a backup desktop machine at
her home / digs.
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Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, November 10 2012 @ 01:18 PM EST |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromebook
http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/ [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, November 10 2012 @ 02:04 PM EST |
Seriously. Before shopping, you have to know. I have a friend who is
attending Art school, and she had a choice between a Mac and a Mac.
A couple of years ago another friend took some engineering courses, and
Windows was a requirement to run the CAD/CAM software used in the
course.
So ask.
As to drive space, in addition to the computer, you should also buy a USB
powered backup drive, and a couple of USB sticks. The student will need
them.
But yes, a Chromebook is a good general purpose solution.
Wayne
http://madhatter.ca
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Authored by: stegu on Saturday, November 10 2012 @ 02:27 PM EST |
In my experience, a typical laptop is not built to
last through 4 years of daily use, even if you are
careful with it. The batteries tend to wear down,
the screen backlight dims considerably and the
keyboard starts giving in if you use it a lot.
(A few months ago, this is where I would have advised
you to consider a MacBook, which lasts longer and is
more rugged than most PC laptops, but I will no longer
recommend an Apple product to anyone.)
Instead of going for high quality and high cost
hardware that might possibly last 4 years, I would
go for a budget machine at about half the price,
and replace it after 2 years. On an average, she
will have a better computer over 4 years, and
the consequences of an accident or a theft are
less dire.
As for software, I have managed with LibreOffice
for years in a professional environment where people
send me Microsoft Office files all the time. Most
Word, PowerPoint and Excel files open without problems,
and the few problems that arise are not fatal.
For authoring of proper documents, I advise my own
students to use LaTeX, not a WYSIWYG word processor,
but that is not necessarily sound advice for everyone.
You will have problems purchasing a laptop PC without
paying for Windows, but setting her up with Linux
anyway, in a dual boot installation, might be a
good idea for a young and inquisitive mind.
Proprietary software vendors tend to give very
generous discounts to college students, in particular
if the college makes a deal with the vendors, but
I cannot advise you in any detail there. It depends
very much on the IT culture where she is going,
and what she is going to do. Steering clear of
proprietary software altogether might pose a practical
problem, and it might not be worth the possible hassle.
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Authored by: Wol on Saturday, November 10 2012 @ 03:05 PM EST |
Most of this I think you'll get by accident ...
Dual core processor (are single cores still around?)
15" screen - you can get smaller, but don't get bigger. We've got a
17" and, frankly, it's too big and heavy :-(
Then you'll have to look for 4Gb RAM. Most laptops will come with 2, but the
more ram the better.
Disk - you'll probably have a choice between 320 and 500. Be warned - many
nowadays split that in two, so unless you know a little more than is typical
nowadays, only half of that is usable. The other half is used for recovery and
backup - not much use if you have a disk failure ... :-(
I'd ask - does she actually need a laptop? Or would she be better off with a
desktop in her digs, and a cheapo netbook for notetaking if required.
As for the disk space she needs, though, how long is a piece of string? Will she
have a large collection of ripped music? Is she into photography? If it's just
for documents then the default smallest disk will be plenty, if she's studying
music or photography then several terabytes of storage will be wanted (although
that's not that expensive, nowadays).
Cheers,
Wol[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, November 10 2012 @ 03:21 PM EST |
A second hand Thinkpad or something similarly built. Not to fast, so she won't
feel the urge to waste her time playing games on it :-)[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, November 10 2012 @ 04:57 PM EST |
I'll offer that understanding the Why, When, Where and How
of backups is an essential part of whatever kit you buy.
The Who is simple, she is responsible for getting it done.
I've put two daughters thru college. One survived a theft
and two total destructions by being on top of backups.
The other suffered untold agony from a single HD failure.
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- WWW - Authored by: Gringo_ on Saturday, November 10 2012 @ 07:06 PM EST
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Authored by: cassini2006 on Saturday, November 10 2012 @ 08:45 PM EST |
I wouldn't purchase anything until you have found out the preferred platform
for at least the first and second year courses.
Many programs need widely
different pieces of software. [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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Authored by: ailuromancy on Saturday, November 10 2012 @ 10:47 PM EST |
In my experience, the loudest swearing in the office
is caused by the PHB
finding that MS Office is not
really compatible with other versions of MS
Office.
If you are worried about compatibility, I recommend
Libre
Office.
As others have said: check the course requirements,
keep it
cheap and backup each day. Also test restoring
from backups. [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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- Backup often. - Authored by: Anonymous on Sunday, November 11 2012 @ 12:18 AM EST
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