Computer for Berkeley

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>I am lame and indecisive about life in general. For example, i sent in my "i'm going to berkeley" thing an hour before the end of the last possible day. So, now that i'm going to this fantastic place, i need a computer.</p>

<p>laptop or desktop? I love fantastic specs, not that i do much in general (such as gaming or programming or hacking or anything). I like huge memory capacity because i have lots of music files, and the ability to burn DVDs is pretty cool, and burning CDs is a must. hmmm . . . i don't know what else to say. Faster is better. Money is not really an issue. The ability to handle 25 or so ie windows and a few other programs at once is a really needed feature. Hmmm . . . i don't know what else i need to mention. I think i probalby want a laptop, but . . . yeah, indecisive. Huge RAM is nice, as would the ability to be fixed on campus.</p>

<p>Could you tell me about the general campus comp store. Are they helpful? Are they quick? Do they fix students computers that weren't purchsed there for reasonable prices? Um . . .</p>

<p>What can you guys tell me?</p>

2

<p>these are the basic specs Berkeley recommends:</p>

<p><a href="http://rescomp.berkeley.edu/gc/newcomp/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://rescomp.berkeley.edu/gc/newcomp/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

3

<p>drab, i can help you find a computer if you want, you probably shouldn't buy it from berkeley though, it'll be a lot more expensive even with their discounts.</p>

4

<p>"I like huge memory capacity because i have lots of music files,"
You need a high capacity for hard drive, not RAM.</p>

<p>"The ability to handle 25 or so ie windows and a few other programs at once is a really needed"
Windows is bloated as it is and IE is even worse. You'll need at least 1GB. And get rid of IE and switch to Firefox with tabs.</p>

<p>"the ability to burn DVDs is pretty cool, and burning CDs is a must"
Most laptops come with a DVD+-RW default or as an option for ~$100 more. You can buy it from a place like Newegg.com and put it in yourself. It's really simple: Unscrew the security screw, pop the drive out, put the new 1 in, screw back in the security screw.</p>

<p>" I think i probalby want a laptop, but . . . yeah, indecisive."
You don't mention about battery life.</p>

5

<p>I've only done research on tablet PC's. If you're looking into these, I can help you.</p>

<p>TTG</p>

6

<p>law, how is a lot more expensive from Berkeley? Aren't they less expensive? Also, i like th convenience of on campus repair. Do they only repair computers purchased there? Do they charge more than they should for computer repairs on computers not purchased there on campus?</p>

<p>ttgiang15, i'm not sure if i fully understand what a tablet pc is. Could you explain?</p>

<p>Darkpro, is hard drive in Hz? What is a "good" hardrive, then?</p>

7

<p>Hard drives are the physical space that you use to store your music files. These are usually in Gigabytes (GB). A "good" hard drive is just one with enough space for you. It could be 30 GB or it could be 200 GB. You decide, based on what you need it for.</p>

<p>"Hz" describes the CPU (central processing unit), which is in GHz (Gigahertz) nowadays. It just describes the speed of the processor (CPU). Higher is better, assuming hyper-threading and equal L2 cache. </p>

<p>For your purposes of a laptop, i suggest you get a Pentium-M processor. These may have lower clock speeds (the # before the GHz i.e. 1.4 GHz) than the Pentium-4 models, but actual performance is better. You would want a 1.86 GHz Pentium-M processor (with the Intel price drop and all) for your purposes of school 'n whatever you're doing at Berkeley.</p>

8

<p>Drab~</p>

<p>Tablet PC's are laptops that have monitors that can be rotated 180 degrees so that it rests on the keyboard, and can be written on using a writing stylus. Once into the computer, you use installed programs to convert your handwriting into text. A good one that is ultraportable is approximately $1700, although be aware they don't have internal cd player drives since it's so thin (IBM's new one only weighs 2-3 pounds, I think). You can opt for weightier ones (like mine- 6 pounds) that have better performance and DO have CD/DVD player, and it's actually cheaper than the ultraportables. So basically it means no more taking notes on paper. Everything is in the computer in searchable text. Interested?</p>

<p>TTG</p>

9

<p>Hard drive info.</p>

<p>A "good" hard drive differs.</p>

<p>Factors of a hard drive:</p>

<p>1) Manufacture. You don't get to pick with OEM computers. My Maxtor has lasted about 5-6 years now. My WD showed some trouble 2-3 years into usage. I have a new Seagate I'm playing with. My IBM "deathstar" drive completely died. IBM also sold their HDD business to Hitachi.</p>

<p>2) Rotational speed. THis is measured in RPMs. Obviously, the faster the drive spins, the faster data read/write speeds. In a laptop, this does drain a lot more battery. Most common speeds: 4200RPM, 5400RPM, 7200RPM, 10000RPM.</p>

<p>3) Drive density (space). Depending on your storage situation, this may be small or large. The larger the drive, the denser information is packed , the faster it is to read since the drive doesn't have to spin around for it.</p>

<p>A comparable 80GB drive and 100GB drive both at the same RPMs, the 100GB drive will give better performance.</p>

<p>4) Cache. More cache is better. The standard for good drives is 8MB.</p>

<p>5) Final space. Finally when you get the drive, there will be a discrepancy in the space your OS reports. HDD manufactures sell drives on base 10 size. Windows reads drives in base 2.</p>

<p>A manfacture will say 1GB = 1000MB.
Windows will say 1GB = 1024MB.</p>

<p>The only exception to this rule is the 10k RPM drives which are exactly 74GB (most common) or whatever size advertised.</p>

<p>Also some space is lost to formatting but that is neglible.</p>

<p>My file server:
160GB drives turn up as 152GB.
200GB drives turn up as 186GB.
300GB drives turn up as 278GB.</p>

<p>Obviously, faster drives are more expensive. Denser drives are more expensive. Larger caches are more expensive.</p>

10

<p>If you're going to be a first year student living in the dorms (and maybe if you're not.. not too sure) I'm pretty sure that rescomp (residential computing) will fix pretty much anything you'll need for free. There are stations at a lot of the units and for the first few weeks they'll even make rounds through the dorms and knock on your door and see if you need anything. </p>

<p>As for the laptop, I'd suggest perhaps a Dell XPS series or maybe a custom built one from a website that does that sort of thing (where you pick all the parts and they assemble and ship it to you ready to use).</p>

11

<p>Actually, a Tablet PC can be convertible (as described here) or can be slate (no keyboard attached!) </p>

<p>I like the slate a lot, but if the convertibles were thinner than they are I would have gone that route. But, I like the thickness (or lack thereof) of the slate tablet for notetaking. It is nice having all of your notes in there. </p>

<p>-A</p>

12

<p>A slate is not feasible as a primary work computer. I can't imagine have to use your pointer pen for every little task! IBM has just released the x41 and it's only 3.5 lbs! That's not bad at all, ultra-portable, thin, easy to take notes with. It's a nice, new option out there on the market now. </p>

<p>TTG</p>