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Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Going to NOVA- what computer do I need?
Posted by:
Snap-a-doodle-do
()
Date: December 13, 2009 02:50AM
I'm going to be taking some classes at NOVA soon, possibly including some computer classes. What OS am better off with? Would Windows XP be OK, or Vista, or what? I want something that will be able to run any software the professors might expect us to use.
(Also I'm wondering about college in general, like GMU, what OS they expect you to have right now.)
(Also I'm wondering about college in general, like GMU, what OS they expect you to have right now.)
Re: Going to NOVA- what computer do I need?
Posted by:
Jimbo
()
Date: December 13, 2009 06:37AM
Get a Commodore 64 and you should be good.
Re: Going to NOVA- what computer do I need?
Posted by:
FUNdamental
()
Date: December 13, 2009 08:57AM
Perfect!
Attachments:
Attachments:
Re: Going to NOVA- what computer do I need?
Posted by:
Porksta
()
Date: December 13, 2009 10:38AM
Yeah... you don't need a computer for NOVA.
Re: Going to NOVA- what computer do I need?
Posted by:
Dane Bramage
()
Date: December 13, 2009 10:52AM
Mason is still only supporting XP, but any OS is fine.
The only issue you face is with group work, you'll probably need a current version of MS Office to exchange files for projects. As a student you can get a education version at a reduced cost.
The only issue you face is with group work, you'll probably need a current version of MS Office to exchange files for projects. As a student you can get a education version at a reduced cost.
Re: Going to NOVA- what computer do I need?
Posted by:
NOVA? Really?
()
Date: December 13, 2009 12:38PM
I think crayons and a Dora the Explorer coloring book will be ample supplies.
Re: Going to NOVA- what computer do I need?
Posted by:
WestfieldDad
()
Date: December 13, 2009 02:16PM
Dane Bramage Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mason is still only supporting XP, but any OS is
> fine.
>
> The only issue you face is with group work, you'll
> probably need a current version of MS Office to
> exchange files for projects. As a student you can
> get a education version at a reduced cost.
Agreed. Also, depending on your situation, there are home/education licenses for up to 3 systems for Office that are fairly cheap.
On the hardware, a lot of manufacturers have prices for special groups - gov't workers, your company, educational discounts that carry through to their employees/students. NOVA probably has some such offerings, but, if not, does your company/some friend's company, ... have one?
On the selection, my kid's a freshman in CS full time at a sleep away college. (Just like sleep away camp, but a couple orders of magnitude more expensive.) Had the same decision to make. Talked to a bunch of juniors/seniors at his school before he decided what to do. Couple things he considered and what he ended up with -
1) Depending on what you mean by computer classes, where the system requirements are reasonably standard (running Windows, compiling Java/Visual Basic, ...), you can expect to work on your own system. Almost any machine you can buy today can handle these requirements. For other classes, especially for higher level classes with more unusual system requirements (e.g. build your own OS, ...) you will probably access virtual machine environments on LINUX/UNIX/Windows servers provided by the class that you connect to via X Windows or Citrix/Windows TS.
2) How much time will you spend doing your work at school vs some other fixed location and what kind of environment is available to you at school. Where my son is, he spends a lot of time hanging out in a computing cluster where there are a sufficient number of systems that he can use one of them as needed.
3) You obviously need something portable. There the question is, is this machine going to be your only one, or one you carry around to classes, but you do your heavy duty work on something else, either the VMs/cluster machines mentioned above, or some desktop you own or can use from work.
A) If it's the only machine you will be using, you need a reasonably heavyweight laptop, plenty of RAM, good battery life and a good screen. Such a machine is pretty heavy and not very fun to carry around. OTOH, these machines can easily be configured to do whatever you might get asked to do and can support both Windows and Linux or (if a Mac) Windows/Mac/Linux using a VM on your laptop and have sufficient power to do so. New ones like this aren't cheap, and for used ones, laptops tend to have a short lifespan (dropped, etc...), are fairly messy to upgrade beyond adding some RAM, old machines won't run Windows 7, and you can expect to need to switch to 7 at some point.
B) If it's a machine you carry around taking notes in class, Facebook, email, simple Office work, small compiles, but your real development/specialized class work machine will be something else, there are cheap netbooks/lighter notebooks with real long battery life you should consider instead of a single heavyweight laptop. For these, you are compromising performance, screen, keyboard, etc for portability/backpackability/etc.
I expected that my kid would go the big laptop route, but, after talking around, and because of the availability VMs, wireless access, etc at his school, my kid decided to go with a netbook with a separate desktop due to the battery life, extreme portability, etc of the netbook. So far, he's been extremely happy with his decision. For what he's using it for, he can plug the thing in overnight and get 8 hours on a single charge, not have to worry about finding a plug anywhere, and get most of his work done on it. When he needs something more, he's got the cluster/his own desktop/VM access. Whether a netbook would work for you depends on the factors I mentioned above, and, if you go the netbook route and don't also have a desktop of your own, at a minimum, you'll want a separate large monitor and good mouse/keyboard at whatever fixed location you use when you do your homework away from school.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mason is still only supporting XP, but any OS is
> fine.
>
> The only issue you face is with group work, you'll
> probably need a current version of MS Office to
> exchange files for projects. As a student you can
> get a education version at a reduced cost.
Agreed. Also, depending on your situation, there are home/education licenses for up to 3 systems for Office that are fairly cheap.
On the hardware, a lot of manufacturers have prices for special groups - gov't workers, your company, educational discounts that carry through to their employees/students. NOVA probably has some such offerings, but, if not, does your company/some friend's company, ... have one?
On the selection, my kid's a freshman in CS full time at a sleep away college. (Just like sleep away camp, but a couple orders of magnitude more expensive.) Had the same decision to make. Talked to a bunch of juniors/seniors at his school before he decided what to do. Couple things he considered and what he ended up with -
1) Depending on what you mean by computer classes, where the system requirements are reasonably standard (running Windows, compiling Java/Visual Basic, ...), you can expect to work on your own system. Almost any machine you can buy today can handle these requirements. For other classes, especially for higher level classes with more unusual system requirements (e.g. build your own OS, ...) you will probably access virtual machine environments on LINUX/UNIX/Windows servers provided by the class that you connect to via X Windows or Citrix/Windows TS.
2) How much time will you spend doing your work at school vs some other fixed location and what kind of environment is available to you at school. Where my son is, he spends a lot of time hanging out in a computing cluster where there are a sufficient number of systems that he can use one of them as needed.
3) You obviously need something portable. There the question is, is this machine going to be your only one, or one you carry around to classes, but you do your heavy duty work on something else, either the VMs/cluster machines mentioned above, or some desktop you own or can use from work.
A) If it's the only machine you will be using, you need a reasonably heavyweight laptop, plenty of RAM, good battery life and a good screen. Such a machine is pretty heavy and not very fun to carry around. OTOH, these machines can easily be configured to do whatever you might get asked to do and can support both Windows and Linux or (if a Mac) Windows/Mac/Linux using a VM on your laptop and have sufficient power to do so. New ones like this aren't cheap, and for used ones, laptops tend to have a short lifespan (dropped, etc...), are fairly messy to upgrade beyond adding some RAM, old machines won't run Windows 7, and you can expect to need to switch to 7 at some point.
B) If it's a machine you carry around taking notes in class, Facebook, email, simple Office work, small compiles, but your real development/specialized class work machine will be something else, there are cheap netbooks/lighter notebooks with real long battery life you should consider instead of a single heavyweight laptop. For these, you are compromising performance, screen, keyboard, etc for portability/backpackability/etc.
I expected that my kid would go the big laptop route, but, after talking around, and because of the availability VMs, wireless access, etc at his school, my kid decided to go with a netbook with a separate desktop due to the battery life, extreme portability, etc of the netbook. So far, he's been extremely happy with his decision. For what he's using it for, he can plug the thing in overnight and get 8 hours on a single charge, not have to worry about finding a plug anywhere, and get most of his work done on it. When he needs something more, he's got the cluster/his own desktop/VM access. Whether a netbook would work for you depends on the factors I mentioned above, and, if you go the netbook route and don't also have a desktop of your own, at a minimum, you'll want a separate large monitor and good mouse/keyboard at whatever fixed location you use when you do your homework away from school.
Re: Going to NOVA- what computer do I need?
Posted by:
ian l
()
Date: December 13, 2009 11:44PM
I'm pretty sure that there is no computer requirement, some people there aren't doing great financially. They have computer labs that have all the software you need for classes.
Re: Going to NOVA- what computer do I need?
Posted by:
Gravis
()
Date: December 14, 2009 12:11AM
Dane Bramage Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mason is still only supporting XP
wow... just wow.
"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mason is still only supporting XP
wow... just wow.
"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."
Re: Going to NOVA- what computer do I need?
Posted by:
KeepOnTruckin
()
Date: December 14, 2009 01:26AM
Gravis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dane Bramage Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Mason is still only supporting XP
>
> wow... just wow.
Its not at all suprising. Every corporation and school system I have worked with has yet to move to Vista, let alone 7. And since they havent moved, their helpdesk refuses to supposrt Vista, even though every college student has it since they bought a laptop right before coming to school.
There really is no good reason to move a huge network (> 10,000 computers) to Vista. XP is compatible with everything, runs on practically any computer less than 6 years old and doesnt require good hardware. Vista has none of those points. 7 may address them but then you have to have a good hard drive, which a lot of those old computers dont.
@Westfield Dad: You probably wont have to switch to 7 for at least another five years. Microsoft will support it until 2014, and they will probably extend it even further, No need to switch.
Oh and the last kid from westfield who knew that much about computers got into a lot of trouble regarding some facebook account passwords on this forum. But you wouldnt be related to him I'm sure.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dane Bramage Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Mason is still only supporting XP
>
> wow... just wow.
Its not at all suprising. Every corporation and school system I have worked with has yet to move to Vista, let alone 7. And since they havent moved, their helpdesk refuses to supposrt Vista, even though every college student has it since they bought a laptop right before coming to school.
There really is no good reason to move a huge network (> 10,000 computers) to Vista. XP is compatible with everything, runs on practically any computer less than 6 years old and doesnt require good hardware. Vista has none of those points. 7 may address them but then you have to have a good hard drive, which a lot of those old computers dont.
@Westfield Dad: You probably wont have to switch to 7 for at least another five years. Microsoft will support it until 2014, and they will probably extend it even further, No need to switch.
Oh and the last kid from westfield who knew that much about computers got into a lot of trouble regarding some facebook account passwords on this forum. But you wouldnt be related to him I'm sure.
Re: Going to NOVA- what computer do I need?
Posted by:
uhhh yea
()
Date: December 14, 2009 08:08AM
check out www.journeyed.com its a great site to get cheap software from. you can get other things off there too..but i got adobe Cs4 for 300.00.
Re: Going to NOVA- what computer do I need?
Posted by:
nakedshoplifter
()
Date: December 14, 2009 12:00PM
If you're going to NOVA you might be better off buying a gun.
Re: Going to NOVA- what computer do I need?
Posted by:
FYI
()
Date: December 15, 2009 03:59PM
Bash NOVA all you want but there are definitely some perks associated with it. With decent grades after completing the Associates Degree requirements you can transfer into any Virginia college, guaranteed by the state. (William and Mary, VT, Virginia, George Mason, etc.) In today's economy, and the cost of higher education outrageous, more and more people are students that can't afford four years of tuition at these upper tier schools are choosing this option. In many cases tuition is one quarter of other state schools. I had a close friend that went this route ending up at the GMU School of Business. Within a few years she was making six figures as an executive at a fortune 500 Company.
Re: Going to NOVA- what computer do I need?
Posted by:
WestfieldDad
()
Date: December 15, 2009 08:45PM
KeepOnTruckin Wrote:
>
> @Westfield Dad: You probably wont have to switch
> to 7 for at least another five years. Microsoft
> will support it until 2014, and they will probably
> extend it even further, No need to switch.
Individuals won't have to switch, but it won't be long before they can't buy a machine with XP on it. It'll get hard to get XP supported more than 2-3 years out.
>
> Oh and the last kid from westfield who knew that
> much about computers got into a lot of trouble
> regarding some facebook account passwords on this
> forum. But you wouldnt be related to him I'm sure.
I'm not.
>
> @Westfield Dad: You probably wont have to switch
> to 7 for at least another five years. Microsoft
> will support it until 2014, and they will probably
> extend it even further, No need to switch.
Individuals won't have to switch, but it won't be long before they can't buy a machine with XP on it. It'll get hard to get XP supported more than 2-3 years out.
>
> Oh and the last kid from westfield who knew that
> much about computers got into a lot of trouble
> regarding some facebook account passwords on this
> forum. But you wouldnt be related to him I'm sure.
I'm not.
Re: Going to NOVA- what computer do I need?
Posted by:
Mofo
()
Date: December 16, 2009 02:13PM
Nearly every gov agency still uses xp and IE 6 as well. Some even still use win 2000 on internal networks.
I run 7 on a couple of computer and am impressed way cleaner and faster than vista.
Remote desktop on 7 is way nicer than any previous windows as well.
I run 7 on a couple of computer and am impressed way cleaner and faster than vista.
Remote desktop on 7 is way nicer than any previous windows as well.
Re: Going to NOVA- what computer do I need?
Posted by:
KeepOnTruckin
()
Date: December 16, 2009 10:00PM
WestfieldDad Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> KeepOnTruckin Wrote:
>
> >
> > @Westfield Dad: You probably wont have to
> switch
> > to 7 for at least another five years. Microsoft
> > will support it until 2014, and they will
> probably
> > extend it even further, No need to switch.
>
> Individuals won't have to switch, but it won't be
> long before they can't buy a machine with XP on
> it. It'll get hard to get XP supported more than
> 2-3 years out.
>
>
The machine doesnt have to come with XP. anyone who wants it that badly (such as me) is capable of installing it themself. You can use the same CD.
-------------------------------------------------------
> KeepOnTruckin Wrote:
>
> >
> > @Westfield Dad: You probably wont have to
> switch
> > to 7 for at least another five years. Microsoft
> > will support it until 2014, and they will
> probably
> > extend it even further, No need to switch.
>
> Individuals won't have to switch, but it won't be
> long before they can't buy a machine with XP on
> it. It'll get hard to get XP supported more than
> 2-3 years out.
>
>
The machine doesnt have to come with XP. anyone who wants it that badly (such as me) is capable of installing it themself. You can use the same CD.
Re: Going to NOVA- what computer do I need?
Posted by:
supernuller
()
Date: December 18, 2009 05:46PM
Jimbo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Get a Commodore 64 and you should be good.
A Commodore 64 is over kill just get a altair 8800. You also might want to look in to making a blue box It will allow you to call home for free. lawl
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/2009 05:47PM by supernuller.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Get a Commodore 64 and you should be good.
A Commodore 64 is over kill just get a altair 8800. You also might want to look in to making a blue box It will allow you to call home for free. lawl
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/2009 05:47PM by supernuller.