Back to school: Computer…

I’ve already covered actually purchasing a computer, covering laptop vs desktop, operating systems, and some light technical information on what to look for in a computer. This post will be a little different.

How long?

The first question you have to ask is, “How long do you plan on having this computer?” For most people, the answer is going to be a least 4 years to coincide with the amount of time you will be off at college. To get a computer that will last for 4 years, you certainly need to spend more than $400 on a laptop. Probably the sweet spot would be $1,000-1,500 for something like a Dell Studio or MacBook. One part of a laptop that will probably need to be replaced at some point during your tenure is the battery. Generally, batteries out-live their useful life after 2-4 years depending on the quality of the battery. If you mostly use your laptop plugged in, you may never have to replace your battery.

Match your computer to your major

While you could certainly survive art school with a Windows PC, most of your classmates are going to have Macs, so you might want to make collaboration easier on yourself and your classmates. Some general guidelines on the operating system and computer type by major would be as follows:

• Art – A Mac is probably going to be most popular. If you plan on doing major graphic design or 3D animation, you may need to go even more extreme and get a Mac Pro desktop. Recently, creating a Linux-based render farm has become much more popular but may be major overkill, especially if crammed in a tiny dorm-room.
• Engineering – A Windows desktop or laptop will be the main staple in engineering. Some Unix systems will probably be used but those will be provided in a lab setting.
• English – The operating system is not as important here as a comfortable keyboard. The easiest way to find the appropriate computer is to go to a store and try as many computers as possible.
• Teaching – Don’t worry, you don’t need a computer! You might want to stock up on glitter and paste though.

The big caveat when shopping for a computer now days is something called a virtual machine. Basically, it is a simulated computer running on your computer. An example would be if you have a Mac and you need to run Windows, you could download a program such as VirtualBox (free) and purchase and load a copy of Windows. About the only restriction here is that you can’t load a Mac virtual machine, unfortunately, since Apple does not sell licenses to use a Mac on non-Apple hardware.

If you decide to go with virtual machine, be sure to load up on RAM since you have to allocate RAM to the regular operating system and the virtual operating system. Example, if you have 4 Gb of RAM and you allocate 1.5 Gb to your virtual machine, you will have 2.5 Gb remaining for the regular machine. If you allocate too much to the virtual machine, your computer will crash.

I plan on going more in depth into virtual machines in a future post, including how they can save your computer from viruses.

The deals

Now that we’ve covered the basics of what you need for a computer, let’s find some deals:

• If you do plan on getting a Mac, note that students can get a free iPod Touch with their purchase. You can find the details of the program at that link.
• For a reasonably priced computer, the Dell Studio lineup is a good computer. Personally, the 15 and 17 inchers are a bit much for me since they are a bit bulky for lugging around, but the Studio 14z would be an excellent place to start.
• If you are solely looking for portability and battery life, the Acer Timeline series is very light and thin. Their 14″ model is 1″ thick and touts 8 hours of battery life.
• For those with time on their hands, a couple of the best sites to find some amazing deals are TechBargains and xp Bargains.

Why don’t you call me some time when you have no class?

You didn’t think you were getting out of here without a Thornton Melon quote, did you?

Anyway, if you have a bunch of information swimming in your head concerning your options for a computer for back to school, be sure to give The Digitante a call to discuss your options by calling or email from the About page.