<p>Please post up which computer you think is the ideal computer whilst attending the University of Virginia, whether you prefer a laptop or desktop, and which company you belive produces the best results for either a laptop or desktop.</p>
<p>I have a Dell Inspiron 6000. It was $1650 configuration that I got for $750 off due to a coupon that I found on <a href="http://www.notebookforums.com%5B/url%5D">www.notebookforums.com</a> . Laptops are nice even if you don't take them to class or the library because they don't take up much space and are easy to take home on breaks.</p>
<p>I prefer the desktop, primarily because they are cheaper, yet more powerful than laptops and hold much more stuff. After searching around a bit I got a new gateway desktop for 300 dollars and it's more powerful than probably 90-95% of the laptops are uva (other than graphics card-wise, considering desktops generally come with integrated graphics.. if I needed it adding a decent graphics card would just bring the total cost to a little over 400 dollars), with a 200 gb harddrive. Desktops are also more easily upgradeable.</p>
<p>Still, I think most of uva use notebooks since they like the compactness and mobility of laptops. Out of everyone in my suite I think I'm the only one with a desktop, though part of the reason may be because the computing service here pushes in favor of selling its notebooks.</p>
<p>This web site is helpful.
<a href="http://www.itc.virginia.edu/pubs/docs/Handbook/%5B/url%5D">http://www.itc.virginia.edu/pubs/docs/Handbook/</a></p>
<p>Reportedly, 85 percent of students use laptops. Computers can be bought through the school or you can buy your own with the following capabilities:</p>
<p>--Processor speed equivalent to a Intel Celeron or Pentium 4 (1.2 GHz) or Apple PowerPC G4 (800 MHz)
--512 megabytes of RAM
--2 gigabytes of free hard disk space (after MS Office is loaded)
--DVD/CD/CD-RW capability (combination drive or multiple drives for performing backups)
--Windows XP (Professional preferred) or Mac OS X (10.3 or higher) operating system
--power surge protector (included with machines from Cavalier Computers)
--able to connect to the U.Va. network with 10BaseT Ethernet capability</p>
<p>I with cavalier. Many of my friends have that model. It's quite nice. I mean, I love my HP L2000, it's lighter and about the same clock speed, but the graphics on the Inspiron 6000 are tight. It's also solid as a rock. And another alternative is the D810, which is about the same to me. Both have phenomenal graphical processing speeds. Mine's a bit on the mediocre side. But that's also a reason I got it. So I'm not tempted to play games. Plus it's faster in word applications. :)</p>
<p>I have a Toshiba M55 series. I think it's quite ideal for campus roaming and the such; its small and light (14" and about 4.9 pounds) and has 100 GB HDD and 512 ram and all that.</p>
<p>no AMD processors? :(</p>
<p>AMD is fine.</p>
<p>AMD's tend to suck down more battery and make your laptop run a bit hotter. Pentiums are much more stable. But if you plan to keep your laptop for the future, AMD's and their 64-bit processors should keep you going a while.</p>
<p>So, if I buy a computer from UVA, does it already have the internet on it, or would I have to download it myself?</p>
<p>umm, what are you trying to ask, liberty?</p>
<p>Personally i prefer an abacus, a slide rule and batman walkie talkies. Computers and the internet are overrated.</p>
<p>pros and cons of getting UVa computers.</p>
<p>pro's
1) they're NOT overpriced regardless of what people say. Go on dell and make the EXACT same computer. Its more expensive. You get 4 year accidental coverage. You can throw your computer against the wall (i knocked mine off my bed once...) and they fix it for free, no questions. They even replaced mine after that little incident...</p>
<p>2) they give you ALL the software you need (office pro is like $400) and it will get you through 4 years at UVa</p>
<p>con's</p>
<p>1) they break alot. my brand new one is always broken, and hte harddrive fails all the time. ive had 3 new harddrives in the last year</p>
<p>2) the people at ITC (computer geeks) are not that helpful. i've found that they can and have been rude, and alot of the time cannot solve problems without "sending it out." Also it takes atleast a week to get your computer back after you send it in for repairs.</p>
<p>So I guess it really depends on whether or not you think you'll be dropping your computer alot, and whether or not you're unlucky. If i hadn't gotten computer from UVA maybe it wouldn't have broken alot...but then again it never would have gotten fixed if i never bought it.</p>
<p>jags, have you looked at cavalier computers recently? they are quite overpriced. the laptop i got was $900 and is very much on par with the $2000 dell laptop offered through cavcomputers. if you're willing to shop around and look out for deals online, you can save a considerable amount of money by buying your lappy elsewhere...</p>