<p>What is included in dorms at Duke? Are phone service and cable connection included in room fees? What about refrigerator, microwaves?? Are they allowed?</p>
<p>for phone and cable you'll have to pay extra (22 a month, i think? i don't have either)....mcrowaves and fridges are allowed. a lot of people rent microfridges (microwave and fridge unit) but i got a crappy one and, at over 175 bucks, found it a rip off and returned it. now i just have a small fridge. some people can't live without a microwave, but i'm fine without one - if i need to cook anything i can use the kitchen on my floor.</p>
<p>luckily, my older bro left his mini-fridge here after he graduated from college and got a job, so i'm gonna try to haul that to duke in the fall :-).</p>
<p>damn... i didnt know cable tv was extra .. thats a pain in the ass..</p>
<p>Believe me, you will not be watching TV at Duke, especially if you're an engineer...</p>
<p>I find "most" tv to be a waste of time</p>
<p>how is the gym there</p>
<p>"Believe me, you will not be watching TV at Duke, especially if you're an engineer..."</p>
<p>oh oh... -_-;;;
(as dumb as it sounds why is that??)</p>
<p>Engineering is a demanding program, so I assume that he is insinuating that engineering students need to focus on studying constantly rather than watching TV.</p>
<p>what about if ur not an engineer?</p>
<p>there are lots of TV's around campus anyways</p>
<p>Having a television is not a necessity in the dorms. When I visited, there were several recreational rooms that had television. Also, you can go over to a friend's room to watch television. That being said, I still intend to bring one. :)</p>
<p>yeah... that does suck that you have to pay separately for phone and cable. how could anyone live without an internet connection in their room?</p>
<p>cable conenction = cable for tv's</p>
<p>every room has a jack for your ethernet - you definitely have a free access to the internet.</p>
<p>yeah, you always have free access to broadband, I'm not sure how many places have wireless?</p>
<p>pretty much everywhere you go you get really fast wiresless - in pretty much every academic building (except a shaky connection in the old languages building, the only place i get a weak signal), the library, trinity cafe, k-ville, the bryan center, commons rooms, and on some parts of the quad (that's the next upgrade, blanketing the whole campus).</p>
<p>Had me scared for a second until I realized cable meant cable TV! I was <em>expecting</em> free Internet access :P</p>
<p>You have to pay a certain fee for cable TV (and there are various levels of premium cable, etc) and for telephone services. What I've found after a year is: phone service is a waste of money if you have a cell phone. Your friends will always call your cell phone first and sometimes (say if you're on a free mobile to mobile plan) that's cheaper for them than calling your room. Also-- long distance plans on cell phones seem to be cheaper. I personally had cable TV in my room and I intend to keep it for the next few years. If you never watch TV at home, then it's not necessary, but for me, it was worth it. In each dorm on East, there is one communal television, and that's a bit of a pain in the ass because you may want to watch something, go downstairs, and people are watching something else, or having a meeting there, or something. I personally enjoy watching CNN or the Today Show as I get ready in the morning. If you have a TV for the purposes of watching movies only (that's a waste, imo, unless you're bringing a TV you already owned), you'll get free MSNBC and non-English channels. Sometimes it's fun to have your own TV to watch sports, or just to unwind. My roommate and I don't watch it a lot, but we still plan on keeping it.</p>
<p>You can rent a micro-fridge, and personally, it's not really worth it. They bring it to your dorm and then pick it up at the end of the year. They're small, not in the greatest of conditions, and somewhat overpriced for what they're worth (according to a friend who rented one). Think about it this way: If you rent one all four years, it'll be way more expensive than if you just bought your own. If you rent one for one year, and buy one for the rest, that's still (obviously) more expensive than just buying one from the beginning. I'd STRONGLY recommend to own a refrigerator, and a microwave is more up to the discresion of you and your roommate. We have one and it gets used, but then again, people who don't own a microwave manage just find, and use someone else's whenever they need to.</p>
<p>Internet is free... most rooms require an ethernet cord, my room was across the hall from our floor's study room, so we had wireless. You get wireless access in pretty much all common and educational areas. Also-- I know of a few kids who had wireless routers in their rooms, and that's always sweet because the bubbles generally stretch pretty far. </p>
<p>The gym on East (Brodie) is alright... I would prefer to head over to West to work out because there's more machines, new flat screen tvs, and less of a wait.</p>