<p>It costs around 1800-2000 dollars do we have to buy that laptop from Rensselaer? Or can we buy a cheaper laptop and buy the seperate (program, software or w/e it is) seperately?</p>
<p>I think a lot of what you may want to know you will find here:</p>
<p>[Rensselaer</a> Mobile Computing Program](<a href=“http://www.rpi.edu/laptops/]Rensselaer”>Mobile Computing Program | Information Technology and Services)</p>
<p>You should find links to the specs, etc. There are some advantages to buying the computer directly from RPI if you are not a computer “techie” and there are advantages to buying one yourself and downloading the software once you get there. Kids have both. The biggest advantage to purchasing on campus is probably the fact that if you have a problem the VCC will fix it, replace it or give you a machine to use while yours is being fixed. I’m sure some will chime in about how you can get a machine cheaper off campus and that is true. That’s why my comment that if you are not a “computer techie” and don’t want to deal with computer issues yourself buying on campus makes sense :)</p>
<p>kgrmom</p>
<p>My son bought the RPI laptop when he started there a year and a half ago. When he was home for Christmas break this past December, the LCD screen “died” on him. He contacted the RPI computer repair center and shipped it to them. They had the computer repaired and ready for him when he got back to campus a week later. The part they replaced was worth $400 -thankfully it was under warranty. Had this happened while he was at school, he could have walked it over to the repair center and they would have given him a loaner laptop to use while they worked on his. (The loaner program is for students who bought the laptop from RPI). If the bad part had affected his hard drive, I believe the repair center would have re-imaged it to replace all the programs that came with it when it was new. Some of these are highly specialized and expensive engineering software applications that RPI wants the students to have for classes they take. Of course, my son would have lost anything he personally had stored on the laptop- this did not happen in December but he got himself an external back up drive and now has backed everything up in case he had a problem with his hard drive or he lost what was on there. </p>
<p>I think a student can choose to buy their own laptop bring it to campus and download these special applications on their own using instructions from RPI (providing that their laptop’s operating system can handle the requirements of the software.) But if they buy their own they will not get the on-campus repair service or loaner service. It all comes down to how comfortable a student is in managing a repair situation if it should arise. (My son’s roommate is a computer science major and he has a Mac laptop.) Read up about the laptop specs and repair center offerings and see how comfortable you are with either approach.</p>
<p>you can just buy your own laptop! It’s much cheaper! and you won’t be using those programs for most of your classes anyway 
only if you’re in engineering, other than that the programs are dumb and you can just download them or get them from the bookstore The laptops themselves aren’t amazing, you’re better off buying your own (which you can do)…like a mac. It’ll be a lot cheaper. Lots of students have computers of their own.</p>
<p>“only if you’re in engineering, other than that the programs are dumb”</p>
<p>Considering how many engineering majors attend RPI that’s sort of an interesting thing to say- Wow. My daughter is one of them- she got the school computer last year along with the “dumb” programs (lol). She has enough to worry about rather than computer stuff. It’s been a good decision for her. You need to decide for yourself based on the info the school provides. Both options are available. No criticism is necessary for taking either one.</p>
<p>I think by ‘dumb’ she meant worthless (to non-engineering majors). For example, as a science major, I have no use for programs like NX/Microstation/Labview/Mapinfo/whatever else I uninstalled the day I got the laptop.</p>
<p>yeah kgrmom, i wasn’t attacking your daughter (i wouldn’t care too, since i am in the same boat as your daughter and i have family issues to deal with too). </p>
<p>By “dumb” i meant that non-engineering majors don’t need it - exactly like cesium55 said (thanks for that :))</p>
<p>Ackkkk!! 
Having a teenage daughter I should know better than to interpret words so literally. Thanks for not beating me up for that you two :)</p>
<p>another thing to consider, they use vista as the operating system which is still a little buggy. you can probably find a computer nerd on campus to switch it back to an older less buggy system, but you’d lose all the programs (which are kind of the point of buying the laptop from them)</p>
<p>You can downgrade to XP (for free) and then just reinstall the programs (for free).</p>
<p>You can also run Linux (whether exclusively or as a dual-boot) as long as the programs you need are available on it.</p>