<p>I was wondering if Caltech offers any deals/ recommends certain computers to use at their campus. I want to get a new labtop eventually (a Toshiba Qosmio Notebook G25 looks nice) for college, but some advice on how most incoming freshman get computers and what kind of computers are popular at Caltech would help!</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Laptop.
Caltech Wired (part of the bookstore) gets a small discount on some computer stuff. <a href="http://www.bookstore.caltech.edu/CALWIRED/DEFAULT.ASP%5B/url%5D">http://www.bookstore.caltech.edu/CALWIRED/DEFAULT.ASP</a>
Might not be too useful for what you're getting though.</p>
<p>I don't know anything about computer use at Caltech, but ibuypower.com seems to have decent laptops. If you decide to get a desktop, consider building your own. I heard it's pretty hard to build your own laptop, though.</p>
<p>it's probably not too hard to build your own laptop, it's probably insanely difficult to find all the parts that go together correctly to build your own laptop</p>
<p>rofl... dont even attempt building a laptop, the price would be insane and i guarantee you will screw up... no one builds laptops...</p>
<p>Just go become an Intel finalist and get a free one ;) lol</p>
<p>haha true. tho im interested to know if im really free to buy any one i like, or are there specific ones caltech or its students prefers? Ben?</p>
<p>partially i need a new one cuz i need better video cards, sound cards, etc... haha need to play games now. :P That Toshiba Qosmio Notebook G25-AV513 is looking nice so far...</p>
<p>In my opinion, that notebook is a rip off. I'm quite frugal, so disregard any posts of mine dealing with money.</p>
<p>Nope, there's no platform that's preferred here. As elsewhere, Windows is probably the most widely used OS, but there are large Linux and Mac contingents too. You can find all three in the computer labs on campus (CS labs tend to have Linux running on them, ITS labs have a mix of Macs and PCs running Windows.) I've had maybe one or two classes that required the use of programs that run on Windows, but it was never enough of a problem to induce me to give up my Mac. Since we don't care what OS you run, we obviously don't care what kind of laptop you get to run it on.</p>
<p>Also, don't get Microsoft Office before you get here -- ITS offers it to us for free (for both Windows and Mac). The website below has an out of date list of some of the other software we can get for free (e.g., it says you can't get Office for Mac, even though you can, and it says you can get Maple, though I'm pretty sure we discontinued that license).
<a href="http://www.its.caltech.edu/sw/packages.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.its.caltech.edu/sw/packages.html</a></p>
<p>thanks alleya that helps :]</p>
<p>I have a Toshiba Satellite, and while I like it, it's not the most reliable piece of technology. </p>
<p>I recommend Dells. My Dell was problem free.</p>
<p>heh i actually have a toshiba satellite that's 3 years old. While satellite's are nice for their price, the Qosmio's are expensive yet one of the best in multimedia/gaming stuff. :P </p>
<p>I'm a little prejudiced against Dell's and Gateway's... but thanks!</p>
<p>scratch that qosmio i listed... it was out june last year. i guess i'll jus wait for the next qosmio to come out? </p>
<p>oh btw i wanted to ask whether caltech students move their labtops around a lot or even at all... i kno there's computer labs everywhere so i guess not much movement?</p>
<p>There is wireless in a lot of places. I see people with laptops in lots of places. Some people work outside when the weather's nice, or work in a common area, take notes in class, etc.</p>
<p>When you're a sophomore/junior/senior you might be working with people who live off-campus and may need to bring your computer. You might also like to bring your computer home with you over break without having to lug a desktop around.</p>
<p>It also depends on your major. I'm CS, so I'm surgically attached to my laptop (I tried using a desktop for frosh and sophomore years and was miserable.) My Bio friends also move theirs around quite a lot, while my physics and math friends rarely take theirs out of their rooms.</p>
<p>thanks for the replies. uhh yea i think labtops are def the way to go, but i jus hate waiting till around june :P</p>
<p>Bought an Apple thru caltechwired. best price & warrantee, and good service</p>
<p>We got the 15", which was to serve for everything. But, a 15" gets heavy to lug around daily, and the monitor is still too small for daily use. Eventually got a monitor for desk use. If could do it again, may have gone with small but powerful laptop, and a desttop set. As an adult, once I got a laptop, probably will never go back to ust a des tp.</p>