<p>Does SEAS have different requirements than the college or are they the same?
If so could someone please tell me either what the computer requirements are for SEAS or where I can find them. All I could find were the SEAS requirements from 2008 and the ones from <a href="http://www.itc.virginia.edu/students/new/">http://www.itc.virginia.edu/students/new/</a></p>
<p>I'm trying to decide whether or not to get a new laptop.
Thanks</p>
<p>Ahhhhhh. Since I’m leaving I’ll let you in on a secret: get whatever computer you want. All computers these days can run all the programs you need (when I entered college, 2.0gHz was screaming. Now, you can’t get below 2.8 it seems like. Ohhh us oldies ;))</p>
<p>I would say if you’ve bought it in the last four years, you’ll be fine for another year or two. My graduating class is still rocking the worst Dells ever made, and most are still cranking out MatLab and MathCad. Although, if you’re Civil or Mech, I may suggest making sure you have a decent CPU and graphics card.</p>
<p>As for Mac vs PC, SEAS loves to “PC only!”. Don’t listen to them. I’d say a quarter of us are on Macs (me and a bunch of my professors included) and do just fine.</p>
<p>Welcome to SEAS!</p>
<p>You’re going to want a reliable computer with a good warranty, if your computer goes down then you’re SOL in the eschool. With that said you need something that can handle Java for the intro CS course, and then possibly something to run matlab or similar (downloadable from ITC-our software group-for free), FOR FOUR YEARS of coursework. Have you seen [UVA</a> School of Engineering and Applied Science, 1st Yr PC Recommendations](<a href=“http://infotech.seas.virginia.edu/firstyear/]UVA”>http://infotech.seas.virginia.edu/firstyear/) it has specific requirements for 2009.</p>
<p>Yeah, to add to my post, if you have a old laptop now, you’re going to have to replace in college at some point. Having a warranty is a good idea too. So in conclusion, if you bought a laptop last year, you should be fine for another few years. Maybe give us more specifics?</p>
<p>Thanks for the quick replies. I am currently using an old (about 3 years) Lenovo X60 laptop and I know that it won’t last me through college. It has a 1.66GHz Intel duo CPU and 1 GB of ram (upgradable to 2). I have it set up that it runs both XP and Windows 7 on it. It handles basic java well enough (my CS class uses jgrasp).</p>
<p>I was hoping to be able to get by the 1st year with it before getting a new one so that by the time fourth year rolls around my laptop won’t be too outdated. However, it seems like an upgrade is needed.</p>
<p>Eh…yeah. I would upgrade. If you’re looking to save money, maybe wait until after school starts when the demand isn’t so high. You could get by on that machine till October probably. First semester you really just need access to the internet and word processing, maybe MathCad for ENGR 1620. And if it runs jgrasp right now, it puts you in a better position. But the old Intels run pretty hot and pretty soon stuff is going to start failing, and 1GB of memory is pretty darn low. If you can’t afford a new one right away, wait till October when everyone isn’t trying to buy a new machine.<br>
By the time you graduate, your machine is going to be outdated whether you buy it now or halfway through, but that’s the way computers are. I got mine a little over a year ago and already behind, and the new Intel chips about to come out are going to blow everything out of the water (mostly just because of the better power ratings). The key thing is getting a machine that will last through your years so you don’t lose valuable work in the middle of a semester </p>
<p>Note to all: BUY AN EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE, AND BACK UP!!! I just had a friend lose 8 pages of a thesis to a bad HDD, and he hated life for awhile, and still thinks his do-over is not his best work compared to the first version. You really just need a small one (~100GB) to just have your school work backed up onto. If you have a lot of pictures/music, consider getting a bigger one, but school stuff is prime importance.</p>
<p>Or consider backing up to your home directory (search on ITC.virginia.edu for info) (at least for school stuff) - external is still the way to go for music/etc. Home Dir gives you 2GB and they back up everything there daily.</p>
<p>My son is a rising hs Sr. and as we just bought him a laptop to finish out high school, I would offer the following:
If you are going to be doing any sort of work that requires CAD (either Pro-E, Inventor, Solidworks, etc.) you are going to be MUCH happier with a true HD screen. Hard to find, but possible. This made the world of difference in my son’s design work. It works much faster and doesn’t get hung up on the programs. We called Autodesk regarding the requirements for Inventor thinking we could get by without it…maybe it was just a suggestion. There are certain toolbars that just won’t show up, etc.</p>
<p>Now, current students can chime in and tell you how much and how often you may need and use these programs. I’m almost positive it is needed for civil and mech (possibly aero as well?). For us, it was well worth it and it runs pretty darn fast. When we purchase the next one, wherever he goes to school (obviously UVa is tops on the list or I wouldn’t be here 
), we will get one with a HD screen. Hopefully they are becoming easier to find. I don’t want to plug a brand. I guess if you are interested, anyone can send a PM. You could then contact SEAS to make sure it meets all other requirements. From what I have read above, it does.</p>
<p>Congratulations on your admission to UVa!! :)</p>
<p>You’re mostly going to run CAD on the computers in Stacks. Plenty of kids, for years, have gotten by with CAD programs on non-HD screens, so I think there’s something flawed with your statement, but more power to your son. The speed of the program is based on your CPU/RAM/graphics card, not your screen. However, having a high screen resolution (which HD screens obviously have) will help make everything look nicer. </p>
<p>So, if you plan to run CAD, just get a fast CPU, get at least 2GB RAM, and a solid graphics card. But most, if not all civils/mechs/aeros I know use the Stacks computers to run CAD.</p>
<p>There won’t be any computers in the stacks</p>
<p>Is that not just a rumor anymore? I thought they were at least keeping some?</p>
<p>Personally, I think it’s a huge mistake to do away with them, but I guess times are changing</p>
<p>Can you run all the programs that are needed on the Mac? My son checked with someone at SEAS and they said it was better to work on a PC.</p>
<p>theyre going in 2011, the lab is listed as “being retired” then
shoe can comment on macs because she has one</p>
<p>You can run any program on a Mac. I’ve only had one program I’ve had to run through Windows, and, you can run Windows on a Mac. I know a bunch of people in SEAS with Macs and we get by just fine (faculty included). Go with whatever he feels most comfortable.</p>
<p>Too bad about stacks. Maybe they’re planning to put public labs in Rice</p>
<p>i doubt itc will be putting public labs anywhere, if “hive” takes off then they won’t need any at all (which is their hope). when they removed the comps from our dorm they said we could lease for $500/comp/semester PLUS internet so if that’s really how much it’s costing them to make it worth while (we bought computers instead, obviously, but have NO upkeep because we don’t promise specialized software coordinated across hundreds of computers, and we run linux instead of windows to prevent viruses) considering security, upgrades, and man time for that, then no wonder they are removing them… now the eschool could splurge on some money for comps but it would cost a lot for upstart and then man time as i already said so i’m not sure even they would do it.</p>
<p>Shoebox10,
Good enough. He didn’t have a problem with auto-cad but for some reason inventor locked up constantly. It now works perfectly. I was just passing on our experience.
I can’t offer opinions on the dorms, however I do have experience here, however flawed you think it is. My point was, when considering your computer take into account the software you will run and check the specs needed.</p>
<p>Inventor is a pretty demanding program. A powerful CPU card is a must for either program, and a dedicated graphics card is almost a must, rather than an integrated one. Back when I used it first, 3-D rendering wasn’t the prime usage of the program and the necessary hardware just wasn’t there. I remember we would spend half the class just waiting for stuff to load and they did away with it first year because it was a waste of time. I assume today, most new computers can run it without being hot enough to fry an egg or slow enough to see grey hairs appear. </p>
<p>I’m just trying to point out that “HD screen” doesn’t mean anything. HD is HD because it’s high resolution. Inventor specifically suggests “1280 x 1024 or higher screen resolution”. I have an HD TV that is 720p, which just means it’s progressive scanning at 1280 </p>
<p>Shoebox10 said:
“I also know that all this HD, high-res, and jumbled numbers thing is a mess and I feel bad for people like you that make an honest effort to understand all of this, but are confused in the end.”</p>
<p>It is unwise to make assumptions about people who you don’t know, and their level of knowledge.</p>
<p>Shoebox10 said:
“I don’t know of any laptops with 1280 x 720, much less 1280 x 1024”</p>
<p>The computer has a 1920x1080 screen. I guess you don’t know everything about ‘ze computers’.</p>
<p>I asked Professor Rosen to update his webpage and here it is.
[UVA</a> School of Engineering and Applied Science, 1st Yr PC Recommendations](<a href=“http://infotech.seas.virginia.edu/firstyear/]UVA”>http://infotech.seas.virginia.edu/firstyear/)
I spoke with him yesterday in my office. He really wants students buying the 13" notebooks that we have (the Dell and Lenovo), with the exception of the Apple offering, which really is not a good platform for what you will be doing.
I will have the offerings up next week as we just finalized the prices with the companies. The warranties on the Lenovo and Dell are pretty awesome, and I am glad that we have finally gone back to the business class computers, Thinkpad and Latitude. You pay a bit more, but, you have a hell of a lot stronger computer that can take the punishment that you guys dish out at them. The consumer class machines are just too weak.</p>