Desktop Computer Ordering Recommendations as of January 2007
Sara Ziemendorf, Learning Support Services

This is an advisory document created to assist in ordering new computers for the College of Letters and Science. These recommendations are intended to provide a computer that can be upgraded to the newest version of Windows Vista at some point in the future, and run it successfully for 4 or more years. Just as businesses depreciate their equipment and replace it on a standard cycle, so should departments and build those expenditures into the budget process.

The most important item to keep in mind is to order what your user needs; based on what they say they will use it for.

1. Processor: Because a great deal of the work done in this college is of a word-processing and internet connectivity nature, the speed/type of a processor does not matter. New processors come out all of the time. In most cases, a faster processor cannot be detected by the human eye when doing standard office work. I would accept the default in most cases, the exception being, not wanting to settle for a Celaron chip, which is an older architecture which might not handle instructions as quickly.

If the user is doing any sort of data analysis, using SPSS or MatLab, or using software that specifically requires faster processing, you will have to make adjustments.

The requirement for running Windows Vista is 800Mhz. I think this is low. I would not run Vista with anything below a 1.6Ghz machine.

2. RAM: (Random Access Memory) RAM is the thing that allows multiple applications to function at one time. Thus, the more RAM the better. RAM is not expensive, and it is easy to upgrade (in most cases).

The requirement for running Windows Vista is 512MB of RAM. This is low. I would not run Vista with anything below 2 GB. This is because the requirement only is for running Vista, not any applications, and the display of the screen components will be affected if too little RAM is not available.

In almost any computer more RAM is a good upgrade. Even if you do not intend on running Windows Vista, having plenty of RAM will insure smooth running of your system for quite sometime to come.

3. Hard Drive Space: Hard drives are not expensive items, and given the vast increase in the use of digital photography, digital audio, and video, having plenty of hard drive space to work with is preferable. A normal system comes with 80 GB of space. This is fine for today, but a better fit would be a hard drive with more than 100GB of space. Additionally, most hard drives spin at a speed of 5400 rpm. I would up this to 7200 rpm, if it all possible, as it will speed up how quickly your applications can access your data.

Windows Vista installs at minimum to 3GB, but the installs that I have personally witnessed have taken 13GB of space. Additionally, Vista recommends keeping 10% of your hard drive space free for miscellaneous swap files and temporary functions. At that rate, a 100GB hard drive is 1/4 full just handling Windows Vista, not to mention other programs and file storage.

4. CD/DVD drives: CD-ROM drives are no longer enough on any computer system. For backup purposes, I recommend having the capability to burn DVD's, which can hold 4.3 GB of space. DVD burners can burn CDs as well and play DVDs. They are usually a small upgrade in price but well worth the cost. Do not order CD-ROMs as they cannot do anything but play a CD and they are outdated.

5. Sound. Sound for most people will consist of listening to music or effects on web pages. This can be achieved with onboard sound usually. However, I believe as podcasts, vodcasts and VoIP capabilities become more widespread, the use of the sound card in your computer will become much more important. Most computers onboard sound works okay, but if you intend on doing any video, audio or Skype calling, I'd suggest upgrading to a better quality audio card.

6. USB ports. The more the better. Minimum? 4. 6 is better and the standard right now. 8 might be even better. Keyboards and mouses are often coming in USB versions, and that is two slots occupied....so if you have a printer and any other USB devices (such as a scanner), they can get filled up quickly.

7. What you probably DON'T need.

• Floppy drive (unless you have floppies you still use on a regular basis.)
• Serial Port (not used anymore)
• Mouse Pad (optical mouses actually work better without it.)
• Parallel Port (unless your printer does not include a USB port or you have no intention on upgrading your printer to a USB model and you have no network printing capability.)
• PS/2 ports for mouse and keyboard (unless you have a keyboard or mouse that you especially like and want to keep using)
• Modem (unless you don't have DSL or a cable internet or wireless at home)

8. What you might need

• Card Reader (if you have removable cards from your camera/video device , you can slide them in a slot to have them read, rather than connect them with a cable.)
• IEEE 1392 (aka Firewire). This is a special kind of connection (with a 6 pin and 4 pin configuration) which allows you faster connection than if you were to connect with USB. Cameras and video cameras sometimes have used it in the past. Most newer cameras are coming with USB connections instead, so this may be an outdated thing.
• A new printer. Does you old printer use the parallel connection? Maybe its time to consider changing. Newer personal laserjet printers are available for only a couple of hundred dollars. Will your new computer include a parallel port? Many don't come by default.
• Cordless Mouse/keyboard. You can invest money to make your keyboard and mouse cordless, but be aware that this does require batteries and the batteries will need to be changed every often.

9. What comes standard and you don't need to worry about...

• Networking. Most computers (desktop and laptop) come with some sort of place to put a network cable. A network connection is better than wireless because it is faster and more secure. Wireless networking come by default in most new laptops. There is little need, in most cases, to have wireless on a desktop machine.
• Keyboard/Mouse. Most desktop machines come by default with a keyboard and mouse. Unless you have specific requirements for your keyboard or want to upgrade to cordless, this is not something to worry about.
• If you order a new computer, it often will come (by default) with a flat panel monitor. (One of those thin ones). If you don't want this, you can often tell your ordering person to remove it but it often only lowers the price by $100-$200. Even if you don't intend on using the monitor, chances are good that someone else in your department is using one of those really big monitors and would welcome your monitor in its place.