UPDATED: 7/31/07 by K. Decker
(In response to a query from an incoming student about computer purchase recommendations)
On 7/15/05, "B. David Saunders" wrote:
You will be eligible for packages with university discount that the
Delaware's "Technology Solutions Center" offers.
Any of them would well serve the needs of a CIS major. There are Windows
PC's and Macs. One advantage of a Mac is that it runs a version of the
operating system Unix (of which Linux is another version). The central servers at UD
run yet another Unix variant, Solaris, and are heavily
used in CIS courses. Quite often you will be computing on these central
machines for coursework, thus using your own computer primarily as an
interface. For this reason, yours does not have to be high end (I won't
tell if you fail to pass this on to your parents). Any Mac or any
pentium based machine will be fine. But 512MB memory is recomended (256MB
is a bit low). I am slightly biased against celeron processors,
but in fact you can do fine with a celeron based laptop or desktop.
Also it is quite feasable, though getting less common, to arrive on campus without
a computer of your own. Access is good at computing sites all around campus including
in the dorms ... and borrow your roommate's computer now and then ...
I add a thought about the age of your computer:
If you have available a computer that is 1, 2 or even 3 years old, consider
waiting a year or two before purchasing a new one.
Then you will have an up-to-date machine in your Junior and Senior years.
Also then your purchase decision is much more informed by
your experience as to what you really need/want at UD. So while preparing
for college, as tempting as it is to start off with a shiny new machine,
it is generally more
effective to hold off. Also, in CIS we are not excessively prejudiced
against old and slow.
We love all computers. We take pride in getting the most out of any
machine.
Best wishes, see you in the fall, -bds
----------
David Saunders, Professor, Computer and Information Sciences Department, U. of Delaware,
URL: http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~saunders
----------
Dr. Conrad adds:
Dr. Saunders' advice is good advice. I would add the following:
-
Consult
http://www.tsc.udel.edu/purchasing.html for specific information,
on recommended configurations, and special deals available to UD students.
The general advice there applies equally well to Computer Science majors.
- Either Windows or Mac will be fine. I like Macs a lot, but end up buying
Windows machines because of the lower cost, and because that's what
most of my students buy (hence I am more effective if can show them what
to do on the platform they are familiar with.) The main decision is financial,
and whether you want to "fit in with the crowd", or as the commercials say
"think different". (That should probably have been "think
differently", but the ad exec
wasn't about to let grammar stand in the way of a good slogan.)
- If you end up with a Windows machine, you can download a freeware package called
"cygwin" that will give you almost all the benefits of having the Unix operating
system on your machine that you get with Mac. In the short-term however,
none of that matters, since, as Dr. Saunders said, you'll primarily be using
your machine as a way to access the web, and to log on to the central
systems via the "ssh" program (available for free download for Windows, and
already built into Macs.) See www.cygwin.com for details.
- Though it is NOT a requirement of the CS program, most students
find it useful to have a copy of Microsoft Office, i.e. Word/Excel/PowerPoint [either the Mac or Windows version will do].
Regardless of whether you buy Windows or Mac as your platform, you can save
some money by postponing your purchase of Microsoft Office until you get to campus; you can
purchase a *legal* copy at a *major* discount over even the cheapest prices
you'll find anywhere else. See:
http://www.tsc.udel.edu/purchasing.html#software for links to vendors.
The same advice applies to any other commerical software you want to purchase.
You'll probably need a copy of your student id though before you can buy
through those programs.
--
-- Phill Conrad
-- Asst. Professor, CIS Dept., University of Delaware
-- pconrad@udel.edu
-- http://copland.udel.edu/~pconrad
____________
And Dr. Decker chimes in:
-
The Campus has a fairly comprehensive wireless network. For
this reason, and also, again, often you are using a computer as a
client to access large fixed servers, you may find a portable with
high-speed wireless (802.11g) to be sufficient and more enjoyable than
a desktop in your room.
[and in response to Dr. Conrad's good advice, and somewhat
tongue-in-cheek :-) .....]
-
While certainly not the predominant platform, the Unix base of MacOS
X is more popular in CS circles (about 25% of my software engineering
students had at least one Mac in their hardware stable, and one group
even wrote a Mac-only application). See also
http://www.paulgraham.com/mac.html about the phenomenon in general.
Apple now has about 17.6% of the US notebook market, and you can find articles from the Wall Street Journal and USNews & World Report recommending Macbooks to students as the default choice.
- Students running Windows should be aware that they are responsible
for keeping their systems virus-free, and that this is perhaps more
difficult in an open, high-bandwidth, high-usage university environment
than it was at home. As early as June 2005, there was a 50% chance of being
infected by an internet worm within just 12 minutes of being online
at high speed using an unprotected, unpatched Windows PC. IT services charges $70 for
the first cleaning and $100 for subsequent cleanings of an infected PC.
Free software is available from the University to help with this and
should be used. Unix (Linux or MacOS X) users are also responsible, but
there are few (well, actually NONE, recently) Unix viruses released in the wild,
and most of these systems are more securely configured out-of-the-box.
See http://www.udel.edu/security/index.html for more information and
tips.
- Apples vs. Oranges: In general, cost differences between Macs and
PCs are real but less than one might think because people typically
compare machines that are not identically equipped.
[NEW July 2007] Apple now uses Intel Core Duo processors, and so Macs can be directly compared to PCs with identical processors and all new Macs can run Windows if needed at full speed either by rebooting or virtualized in a window (remember, MS Office, which is what most people actually do with Windows, has always been available for the Mac).
For example, the cheapest Apple Macbook 13" 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo laptop is available to students for $999. If you buy before September 16, 2006 you can get a free iPod Nano or $199 off of any more expensive iPod. The closest equivalent is the Dell Inspiron E1420 [configured with the 2Ghz Core Duo, bluetooth, wireless b/g/n, soundblaster. The Dell does NOT come with a built-in video camera (can be added for $30), or a remote control (the Mac does). The student price is $1030. See systemshootouts.org for a complete line-by-line comparision, especially included software. My prices are at UD student discount (so are lower) for both Apple and Dell.
Apple Macbook 13" + iPod Nano $999 [includes built-in video camera, remote control]
Dell Inspiron 14" screen $1030 [includes 1GB more memory, 80GB larger hard drive]
- Apple itself defended the advertising slogan when it was first used
5 or so years ago:
> Although some might want "different" to perform as an adverb in this
> phrase, complete with an "ly" ending, Apple and its advertising agency
> intend it as a fanciful category, just as we might say "Think yellow,"
> "Think change" or "Think playful."
>
> Here's an illuminating quote from an interview with George Gribbin,
> legendary copy supervisor of the Young & Rubicam advertising agency
> and creator of the ungrammatical but highly successful slogan "Winston
> tastes good like a cigarette should":
>
> "The American language is a good, salty, homespun, colorful language.
> And it is that way because of the vernacular. There's just nothing
> like pieces of the vernacular in advertising, or in any other kind of
> writing. It's not just using the vernacular, it's using the color of
> the life around you in a fresh way."
>
> Think vernacular. Think different. Enjoy!
/Keith
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