| Type of Technology |
Minimum Recommendations |
| CPU |
|
| RAM |
|
| Hard Drive |
- 320 GB (7200 RPM) or greater
- Solid State: 128 GB or greater
|
| Video Card |
- 128 MB or greater dedicated or integrated (shares main memory) Graphics Chip
|
| Network Card |
|
| Wireless Network Access |
|
| Warranty |
|
| Ports |
- USB 2.0 or greater (for convenience front ports are desireable)
- Firewire (optional)
- HDMI (optional: useful for direct connection to TV)
- VGA for connection to projector
|
| Audio |
- Internal sound card on motherboard
- External speakers
|
Backup Medium
( if desired ) |
- 8 GB flash drive (minimum)
- External hard drive (minimum size equivalent to your internal hard drive)
- Student Backup software available at discounted rate
|
| Operating System |
|
| Word Processing |
-
Office 365 University (Discounted for students) Contains Office 2013 for PC and Office 2011 for Mac plus 4 yr subscription
|
| Spreadsheet |
-
Office 365 University (Discounted for students) Contains Office 2013 for PC and Office 2011 for Mac plus 4 yr subscription
|
| Web Browser |
|
| Electronic Mail |
|
Virus Protection
(Only one antivirus should be installed -- More is not better in this case) |
|
| AntiSpyware |
|
$500 - up: Desktops come in a wide variety of shapes and configurations. Most prices do not include a monitor or speakers so figure on adding those to the base-cost.
$700 - up: Recently, all-in-one touch screen PCs have become available. These are ideal for Windows 8 and are more compact requiring no additional peripherals. Screens are large 20-inches and up.
High-end gaming systems usually cost upward of $1,500 or even as much as $2,500 or $3,000.
