Information Services

Kalamazoo College Computer Buying Guide

We recommend buying a national brand-name computer such as Gateway, HP/Compaq, Dell, IBM or Apple. Unless you are a computer expert, avoid "home-built" systems by small shops or friends.

A computer has a useful life span of about 3 to 4 years; less if it's a low end system and more if it's a high end system.

About 23% of the students at K buy Macintosh, and 77% buy PCs. Most businesses use PCs.

Approximately 75-80% of K Students on the network buy laptops, and 20-25% buy desktop machines. Laptops provide mobility, but desktop systems provide more computer for the money. The choice depends on your lifestyle and use of the computer.

Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Microsoft Windows Vista Business are the recommended PC operating systems. We cannot recommend Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition as many of our users have had problems using XP Home Edition in large networked environments such as ours. Please note that College provided assistance for student computers is very limited, especially if there are problems with one of the operating systems known to not work well in our environment.

Minimum Hardware Standards

For PC users:

  • Operating System: Windows XP Professional or Windows Vista Business
  • Networking: Ethernet card (Built in or add-on card)
  • Software: Microsoft Office recommended, Antivirus is REQUIRED and supplied

For Mac users:

  • Operating System: OS X 10.3 or higher
  • Networking: Ethernet card (Built in or add-on card)
  • Software: Microsoft Office recommended, Antivirus is REQUIRED and supplied



Software

Wait until you get on campus to buy software. Most popular software packages are available at deeply-discounted, educational prices through the Kalamazoo College Bookstore. New educational packages such as Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, or Macromedia Dreamweaver cost less than the upgrade cost at commercial prices. The bookstore stocks a number of popular programs, but they can also order any available educationally priced packages and get it in a day or two.

Our labs have Microsoft Office 2003/2004; if you use a newer version of Office, you may need to "save down" to these versions for compatibility.



Virus Protection

To prevent computer viruses spreading within the Kalamazoo College Network, all computers connected to the Kalamazoo College Network are required to have a current, up-to-date antivirus application installed. This requirement includes all computers whether they be student-owned, faculty- or staff-owned, or college-owned computers.

Kalamazoo College provides all students with a version of Symantec AntiVirus software paid for by the College. The software, subscriptions and definition updates are provided at no cost to students.

More information about obtaining and installing Symantec AntiVirus and the Kalamazoo College Computer Virus Policy can be found here PDF Document



Network Card

If you are ordering a new computer, order it with the network card installed at the factory (built-in).

Wireless Network Card

If you have a laptop, you may want to consider a wireless network card. For more information on Kalamazoo College wireless please see our wireless connection instructions.

Network Cable

The K College Bookstore sells network cables in four lengths (7, 14, 25, and 50 feet). If you are unsure which length to buy, we recommend a 25 foot cable. You are likely to change rooms several times during your stay at K. A 25 foot cable will accommodate almost any room layout.

Telephone or modem cables do not work for the network connection!



What other hardware options should I also consider?

CD/DVD Burners

CD and DVD burners are a good choice if you are going to be backing up large amounts of data. Most burned CDs and DVDs will work in other CD or DVD drives

USB drive (also called flash or thumb drives)

These are small, portable storage devices that plug directly into the front or back USB ports of most PC and Apple computers. USB drives are easy to use, require little or no configuration and come in a variety of storage sizes.