<p>What do most people use?</p>
<p>Most people have the Dells through CavComp. I have a tablet myself and get much use out of it, but it’s a bit pricey and some people prefer pen/pencil. But I do all of my note-taking, homework, etc on the tablet and it works great. Macs are also an option since you can run Windows on a virtual drive (Parallel) without any problems (my electronics teacher has a Mac, as well as a few others). Basically, whatever computer you want will work.</p>
<p>Don’t get a Mac unless you know how to run Windows on it (and are comfortable doing so) - take my advice as a CS101 TA who saw way too many Mac problems (and as an eschooler you will have to take cs101…look forward to meeting you 
). On the other hand, Vista sucks… If you DO know what you’re doing, Macs are really nice. You could always go Unix. If it makes a difference, the ITC labs are (almost?) exclusively PCs. I would honestly recommend whatever you are used to - don’t switch to a Mac if you’ve used a PC for the last xx years.</p>
<p>which tablet tends to be the best?</p>
<p>I’ve been using a Mac for the last few years and really like it, I think I’d have trouble switching back to a PC as my main computer. Would you say that most engineering programs won’t work on a Mac natively? And also, do the Windows exclusive programs work fine in Boot Camp?</p>
<p>Dell still offers Windows XP on some of their laptops, for folks who prefer to steer clear of Microsoft’s Vista Operating System.</p>
<p>Canuck: all my friends that have Macs in the e-school use Parallel. One of my personal friends/work-buddies has a Mac and swears he’ll never go back. Although, when his harddrive crashed (sent it back, two days later, he had a brand new harddrive that is actually 20GB larger than his previous one…no charge!) he asked Apple to upgrade his memory while they were in there to 2GB, as he uses 1GB for OS and 1GB for Windows when he’s running Parallel. All other times he has 2GB for OS. Google Parallel for more info on it. I think it’s pretty much the same as Boot Camp, don’t know for sure though. My teachers use Parallel as well, so again, not familiar with bootcamp. But basically any program that runs a virtual drive and operates Windows will allow you to run any E-school software.</p>
<p>Regardless of the computer, you really need to have at least 2GB of memory available for Windows. So if you join the Apple cult, you’ll need more than 2GB.</p>
<p>BTW, in an earlier post I wrote that I was having trouble with my tablet. Turned out to be just dust. Works fine now, but still too heavy. Get something light.</p>
<p>If you don’t have a computer yet, I’d wait until late July before making a decision.</p>
<p>what would you say most people have?</p>
<p>1) I just saw your question about tablets. DO NOT get a Gateway. They’re awful, no one I know who has owned a Gateway has ever liked it or not had serious issues. I’d say Fujitsu is the best, I’ve never had a problem with mine until I dropped it and cracked the screen two days before finals. But, with the Quality Care warranty, I got a free repair. Woot! Toshibas and HPs are nice too, just depends on price/what you want.</p>
<p>2) Most people (Id say ~80%) have either the Dells from CavComp or another brand (Thinkpads are popular, as well as Toshibas and HPs). Quite a few people have Macs, I’d say 10-15%. Everyone else has either tablets or don’t seem to own a laptop, or it never leaves their room.</p>
<p>so most people dont even have tablets?</p>
<p>I’d say it’s equal to the number who have Macs. Tablets only recently have become a reasonable buy because they used to be much slower than normal notebooks and much more expensive. However, in the past 3-4 years, they’ve dropped significantly in price and now are on-par with notebooks in terms of speed, harddrive, graphics/sound cards, and all the other bells and whistles. That’s why you don’t see a lot of them around. However, VT requires them for their incoming e-schoolers (which is why I have one, I went there first year) and other schools are apparently doing the same. Is it a good choice? You bet, it’s handy to have everything in one place. Is it totally necessary? No. The price is still a few hundred over a regular notebook which causes people to shy away. But I suggest at least looking into it and consider it as an option. I absolutely love having it, and frankly, people I work with like it too. We can hook it up to giant monitors in group conference rooms and work out problems and pass it around. I also take it to labs and fill in the lab sheets or write down everything (writing a long formula by hand is much easier than typing) then at the end of lab I immediately email it out to my partner, so they have a perfect, exact copy. Works well to only have one person taking notes, frees up the extra hands to disassemble circuits shorting out or to flag down the TA when stuff isn’t going well =P Some people say tablets are a waste of money. I used to think the same thing. Then, this semester, not only did I get full personal use out of it, but lots and lots of my classmates benefited from it and wished they had their own. So, yes it might be awkward at first getting used to it or not using pen/pencil/paper. But you can still use the old style note-taking for some things and tablet for others. I just sort of forced myself into using my tablet for everything, and eventually mixed writing and typing. Once you cross that hump, it’s heaven in a computer =P At least I think so.</p>
<p>PS- CavComp will try to tell you to avoid buying from the outside because CavComp can repair onsite and stuff. I know plenty of people who have waited and waited and waited for their repairs and it’s just been a giant hassle to deal with them. Fujitsu turned around my computer in 3 business days (as in I sent it in on a Monday afternoon, got it back Friday morning..and it didn’t even get to the repair site until Tuesday afternoon) and not only did they replace the screen, but they replaced my motherboard AND fixed my keyboard without charge. It was a ton of work and replacement, but all done for free and they even overnighted my computer back to me so I wouldn’t have to wait over the weekend. I know people who have waited a full week with CavComp. So don’t let that whole deal pursued you away from an outside vendor, tablet or not.</p>
<p>SEAS computers are now up
[Cavalier</a> Computers - Student Computers](<a href=“http://www.cavcompbts.virginia.edu/shopcontent.asp?type=engineering]Cavalier”>http://www.cavcompbts.virginia.edu/shopcontent.asp?type=engineering)</p>
<p>Please read the notes from the SEAS Deans office</p>
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<p>Yep. The numbers are very very small. That is why we don’t offer them. Plus they are limited to what they can do and can cost considerably more than the normal laptops.
I have 3 tablets that I use. 2 are used to program race car ECUs (Electromotive TEC3R). And the other is used to play with a couple of DIY EFI units. I tried using autocad and rhino 4.0 and it just crawled to a slow mo mode. 1.6GHz with 2GB ram on my Toshiba tablet. If I scaled back the detail on the parts, or only displayed sub-sections then it was okay, but anything bigger and it choked.
You may not need the power the first year, but you probably will after that.</p>
<p>Also… I worked the Formula SAE event at VIR a few weeks ago. I was a brake inspector. Most of the teams from around the country were using Dell Latitude laptops to setup their cars ECUs. There is a reason why… it is the standard in our field.
This is my personnal professional opinion, not UVA or CavComp - Mac or PC? I use both. I like both. I have been building and tuning race cars for over 31 years. I chose the PC for it since that is what the industry is using. Look at the SAE magazines and see what is always displayed in advertising. The cost to get the mac setup is very high as you have to purchase the windows OS as well. If you are so determnined to go the mac route, use Bootcamp. Using the virtual software is not a good idea as you are very limited on ram, something you need a lot of in this field.<br>
And while the macs are cool, this is a field of study that you DO NOT want to fall behind in. and I can tell you hundreds of stories about upset SEAS students that come back to cavcomp stating they should have listened.</p>
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Totally untrue. At Fujitsu, you can get a 2.4GHz Duo 2 processor and upgrade to 2GB memory for $2000, same as CavComp Dell prices. Ok, so CavComp Dells have 2.6GhZ…2GHz extra speed is minimal. You can get all the same bells and whistles as in a Dell, and they’re max, $200-400 more than the Dells being offered through CavComp. [Fujitsu</a> Computer Systems - LifeBook T4220 Notebook](<a href=“http://store.shopfujitsu.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=T4220]Fujitsu”>http://store.shopfujitsu.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=T4220)
Also, I doubt anyone is going to be doing major CAD work on their individual computers. The software is very expensive, and it’s on every library computer, and most of the time you’re doing work with other people anyways. I wouldn’t stress about running something as big as AutoCad (although I’ve run it perfectly fine on my 2.0GHz Core Duo)
As for Mac vs PC, engineers are very “do it the old way since it’s worked” when it comes to stuff like computers. For a long time, PC was the only way to go. But Macs do everything fine these days, you just need one piece of extra software. If you’ve been using a Mac for years, I wouldn’t necessarily switch.</p>
<p>And I can tell you hundreds of stories with people upset they bought a Dell, much less through CavComp. I had a friend who’s battery just completely died (not CavComps fault, not really Dells either…bad batteries got made, a lot, before the big uproar) and it took CavComp three days to get it in. He gave up and overnighted it from Amazon.<br>
I’m not trying to tell people do or don’t buy from CavComp. I’m just saying look at your other options, don’t see CavComp as your only option and definitely don’t look as it as the best one. I think Macs and Tablets are going to start increasing dramatically in their use in engineering. Or, if you want to go for Lenova Thinkpad, just a basic notebook, go for it.</p>
<p>I don’t. Mainly because no one is making software for them except Apple.
Even Adobe wont be making 64 bit Photoshop for at least 2 versions in the future. But CS4 will be 64bit for Windows. So your limiting factor is the MAC OS.
But you could run all of that on the MAC using windows. But then you just have a really expensive windows box with no “CompleteCare” warranty. That has what has kept my MacBook Pro 15" and my 12" Powerbook G4 away from real work.
My home system is a Lenova T series. But try getting it fixed, I paid a lot for the Lenovo care. But it still is a pain compared to my work DCI Dell. Onsite by either Dell or DCI techs. </p>
<p>Bottom line, listen to what the Engineering department tells you. They are the ones that will be supporting you. What I tell you is just from my 10 years experience at helping students, faculty and staff. And I am not a sales person, I get no commision as I am a state employee. So what you buy does not really concern me, what does is you doing your best in school with the best equipment you can get.</p>
<p>Can you get free computer repair service from cavalier computers if you are an enrolled student at uva but did not buy a computer from cavalier computers?</p>
<p>We do repair Dell and Apple computers that are still under warranty and out of warranty.
If the broken part is covered under warranty then there is no charge.</p>
<p>Oh so you will only repair Dells and Apples? Not other brands (like Compaq or Toshiba maybe)?</p>
<p>Call the service desk up. Contracts with those companies change frequently. 434-924-1000
Most of the time consumer models are not so friendly with techs. Plastic gets old, breaks as soon as a screw driver touches it etc. So unless we have the parts in stock, or can readily get them they wont dig into them.
Now they will help with hard drive replacements and memory upgrades.
We are the cheapest in town when it comes to labor costs, even much better than those geek boyz.
But it is best to call them as the Service Department will tell you what then can and can’t fix.</p>