What to Buy Your New or Returning UNT Student This Year

By Dr. Elizabeth Hinkle-Turner, Assistant Director - Academic Computing and User Services

You know, when I was a high school graduate, parents bought their newly minted college students luggage and an electric typewriter. Amazingly, I still have pieces of the lovely shocking blue American Tourister luggage (that stuff is really tough!) my parents bought me almost -- ahem!...30 years ago, and my (also bright blue-- what was it with me and bright blue?) Smith Corona electric typewriter which now sits on a shelf in my storage closet next to my first computer (a lovely Mac SE purchased in 1988 with the proceeds of the sale of my motorcycle-- now THAT was a big sacrifice!). These days parents get their students computers and also apparently (at least in the case of my nephew who will be an Aggie in the fall) hotplates, microwaves, and dorm refrigerators. Well, I cannot help parents with hotplate and microwave purchases but I DO know a whole lot about what to get a UNT student as far as computing goes so this article will attempt to give a checklist of important hardware and software considerations for the 2009-2010 school year.

Desktop or laptop?

First of all -- desktop or laptop? There are advantages to both. Desktop computers can be bought for just a couple of hundred dollars these days and extra money can be spent on a large LCD display -- especially useful if you have a music or art major coming to UNT. Of course, they are not portable which is a great disadvantage. I always tell parents to use their best instincts on making a laptop or desktop purchase. Laptops can be easily dropped and broken or stolen so make sure that your student is responsible and will keep that laptop in a protected case and with them at all times (that even means taking the machine into the bookshelves or into the bathroom with them when they are studying in a public area like the library). Laptops can "run away" in a flash! If you student is the type who has been through about 20 iPods because they have been lost, dropped, stolen, or washed-- well, they are probably not a good candidate for a laptop!

As mentioned above, with desktops, you get far more computer for your expenditure and the large display you can afford with these machines can be very useful to your student depending on his or her major field of study. A good compromise may be to get a desktop machine and then invest money in a smart phone or a netbook for smaller-scale "mobile" computing. Be sure that all student technology devices are inventoried on your homeowners insurance so should the worst happen, compensation and replacement will be easier.

Mac or PC?

The next question is usually -- Mac or PC? Once again -- it depends on your student. Many students in the arts or journalism utilized the Mac OS almost exclusively. Mac hardware has the added advantage of being able to host either the traditional Mac operating system or the Windows operating system and /or Linux operating system of your choice. Apple offers a variety of solutions for a "dual boot" machine (in fact I am typing on one right now) and so much flexibility is available when buying a Mac. However, if your student is going to be in a field like business or the sciences, more than likely a PC running Windows is a good bet with a wide variety of brands to choose from. If you or your student aren't sure what type of machine to buy, stop by the UNT bookstores in the Union -- they have hardware from Dell and Apple for purchase at great prices and you can "try before you buy."

Fortunately, for consumers these days, computers have remained at a fairly "steady state" feature-wise for the past few years (unlike cell phones-- I haven't bought a new cell phone myself for ages because I know that if I get one today, tomorrow there will be one with twice the features and connectivity offered -- I am in "cell phone purchase paralysis" as a result!). The general configuration rules still apply -- purchase a machine with at least 1GB of RAM (2 GB is preferable) with the largest hard drive and processor speed you can afford. Unless your student is some sort of mega-gamer (which means quad cores and high-end graphics cards-- just kiss your dollars good-bye!), the "student models" offered at the "big box stores" or online at Dell, Apple, HP etc. will suit most UNT students just fine. Links to the online stores can be found at the UNT CITC Helpdesk website at http://helpdesk.unt.edu and as mentioned, earlier, check out the deals at the UNT bookstore while on campus.

Vista or XP?

The last question we usually get is, Vista or XP? This even applies to Mac users who generally have both Mac and Windows operating systems on their machines. Most PC manufacturers still offer a "downgrade" to Windows XP -- if you go that route, make sure you are getting XP Professional for all the networking features you will need to take full advantage of connectivity at UNT. Vista users should go with Vista Business for full networking features. If you buy a machine with a "Home edition", don't panic -- you can get affordable upgrades through the bookstore if needed as special education prices. However, hook up your machine here at UNT and make sure everything works as needed before going out and spending money on upgrades. Chances are whatever operating system your machine came with will work just great (unless it is Grandpa's old Windows 95 box, you should be just fine!).

And that is really all there is to say this year about computer purchases for your UNT student. If you have any additional questions, feel free to contact me at ehinkle@unt.edu or the fine folks at the CITC Helpdesk at helpdesk@unt.edu or 940-565-2324.

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