Laptops?

[Starz]

What kinda' laptops does everyone at SMU usually have? Let me put it this way, which laptop is good to have at SMU? u know with the correct programs and features for the lectures, papers, etc....


thanks..... :!:

[MedSter]

Really any laptop with a Pentium 3 or higher or its equivalent. I would recommend a laptop with a Pentium 4 actually, as most of the new laptops are. Any company's laptops should be fine. They do however have a Compaq repair shop, 2 of them I believe, in Grand Cayman...so check with the warranty or insurance on the laptop to see if repairs done there will be covered (if needed). That would save you tons on repairs if you had to have something fixed. They also have a few places in Grand Cayman who fix computers, such as PC Powerhouse. You can even have Steve (our awesome I.T. guy) take a look at your company and he's been known to work on students' computers for no charge even.

A laptop for medical school is a good and serious investment. It'll be vital I believe for many students. The lectures on the sharefolder, which all professors post their lectures up there, are priceless for those days where you lose your paper lectures. Also it'll be useful when studying or looking up stuff on the internet.

Many of the newer computers come with a wireless card internally installed. Many others dont. That's not a big deal. You can buy a wireless card in Cayman for about 80-100$ or you can buy one in the US for between 30-50$. I would recommend getting a "G" frequency one. As that picks up the signals of "B" and "G". SMU's wireless routers I believe transmit "G" signals now. "G" is the newest thing out, so it'll be a good investment for a while to come I believe.

Make sure your computer has at least Windows XP installed ( I have Office Edition). Many students have Windows 2000 or 98, but you're better off sticking to the new editions. Get anti-virus software. Make sure the Powerpoint, Word, Excel, and Media player programs work well. You'll be using Powerpoint and Word a lot.

I also recommend making sure your laptop has a writeable CD program installed. DVD player.

One more recommendation...many students have memory sticks, a small external device you plug into your USB port that stores significant amounts of data rather than carrying around blank CDs to burn music or other data. A lot of students I know have 256 MB and 512MB. I couldve swore I've seen one that held at least ONE GIG!!!

So to sum up: Newer laptop w/ cd/dvd, wireless card, and memory stick.

[microphage]

The new Dell Inspirion 700m ain't bad. It's fairly small/light and with the optional battery, you get awesome battery life. You don't wanna be lugging a 7-8 pounder to class everyday along with your books, your shoulders will start to get sore.(unless you like that kind of torture).

[Sebastien Guilbard]

Hello,

Laptops requierements are as follow:
- pentium 4, or equivalent, celeron, etc...
- Xp Office edition, not home
-512 ram memory
-40GB Hard drive
- one memory stick...i have not seen a 1GB yet, but 256 or 512 will do
- wireless integrated or wireless card, G system is good
-CDRW/DVD player are pretty standard now on every laptops...

Steve, the It manager experienced a lot of problems with students Dell laptops, so I would recommend may be another brand. HP, IBM, compaq, doesn't matter....

S.G

[DC, MD]

What is the memory stick needed for?
DC MD

[Starz]

hey medster thanks for the reply... i think u covered all the topics i was thinking about and then some... thanks.. .good to know... will take all this under advisement... tata

[MedSter]

No problem, Im glad to help in any way for any student with questions about SMU.

The memory stick comes in handy when you want to copy something from another student's computer and you dont have any blank CD's on hand to copy it onto. You just plug your memory stick into the computer's USB port. Copy the info and paste onto your memory stick. Then you take the memory stick out and you're instantly carrying a whole semester full of lectures or music or whatever you want on a little tiny memory stick. Then when you get to your computer you just plug it into your USB port and copy it to your computer and there you go.
It's alot easier than burning onto CD and floppy disks.

Look for them on Ebay for best deals or at your Best Buy or any other electronics place.

[AmericanIMG]

this is what i personally think is the best laptop/comp you should get

512RAM (512 is needed)
40gig HD (at least)
p4, or centrino
flash drive (128 or 256 is fine go to Costco or Sam's its like 40 bucks)
printer (there are great lexmark's and HP's at target for under 60)
wireless card (make sure u get a G card)
Microsoft Office (THIS IS A MUST!!!)

you can get good comps off of eBay for cheap (i like the toshiba's and vaio's in particular) or from Costco (which has a 6month return policy no questions asked - many students that i know come back after 6 months and upgrade their comps there to whatever is new and keep doing this every 6 months) or Sams. As far as the accessories (wireless card, flashdrive) i would go to www.newegg.com to look...they have great deals every now and then

:wink:

ps look to my older posts for more info on random stuff, i am way too busy now to be posting as much as i used to, though i will still answer PMs on a regular basis

[Bingo]

###################

[MDTOB]

this is what i personally think is the best laptop/comp you should get

512RAM (512 is needed)
40gig HD (at least)
p4, or centrino
flash drive (128 or 256 is fine go to Costco or Sam's its like 40 bucks)
printer (there are great lexmark's and HP's at target for under 60)
wireless card (make sure u get a G card)
Microsoft Office (THIS IS A MUST!!!)

you can get good comps off of eBay for cheap (i like the toshiba's and vaio's in particular) or from Costco (which has a 6month return policy no questions asked - many students that i know come back after 6 months and upgrade their comps there to whatever is new and keep doing this every 6 months) or Sams. As far as the accessories (wireless card, flashdrive) i would go to www.newegg.com to look...they have great deals every now and then

:wink:

ps look to my older posts for more info on random stuff, i am way too busy now to be posting as much as i used to, though i will still answer PMs on a regular basis

I would also highly recommend a DVD/CDRW combo drive. This comes in handy when you have to burn CD's as well as watching all those Anatomy DVD's.

[sweetpea]

Good information to know.