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VT Orientation and More!
Wow. This week has been an awesome experience. It was only my second time visiting the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, VA and I must admit, it is a pretty awesome place to be. (The first being back in April for Hokie Focus). The buildings are mostly surfaced with the traditional Hokie Stone and are complimented with the cool weather and dynamic landscape. I guess that’s only one thing that Virginia has over Florida: the mountains; literally. The orientation leaders (OLs for short) were all energetic and rocking out the VT Burnt Orange and Chicago Maroon. The vibe was different, the vibe I felt was right and I’m pretty confident that becoming a Hokie was the right thing to do.
College Laptop Buying Guide: Part 1 [PC v. Mac v. Linux]
My mind is starting to get used to the idea about college coming in a few months and the idea is becoming more and more likable. However, like most incoming freshman in college schools and universities, laptop computers are starting to become a prime necessity in order to interact properly in the classroom and on the college campus itself.
Even at Virginia Tech, there is a computer requirement for all incoming Engineering students. I think that’s a pretty neat thing because it sets standards in terms of what they are expecting their students to have. It’s pretty much like school supplies. This allows them to use more modern software and technologies because these newer computers would already exceed the minimal requirement.
This is what people don’t realize is the good side about the launch of Microsoft Windows Vista. By setting the requirements for the operating system so high, it forced the prices of computer parts to go down. This way, even the average Joe could afford the latest streamline computer at a reasonable cost. If Windows Vista didn’t require any more resources than the fewer installments, Windows XP, then hardware and software makers alike would hold their prices firm and locking out the newer technologies to the common man, making them a luxury. Don’t get me wrong, Vista is still a pretty solid operating system right now as it has matured with the many security updates and service packs.
Now, back on topic. I know that a lot of my friends are planning to go computer shopping within the next few months so I wanted to put together a series of articles that will break down the main parts of a laptop that they should be looking for in order to decide on their purchase.
Computer hardware aside, there are three different operating systems in which your laptop can have. The operating system is pretty much the flavor of computer you will have. It hosts the applications that you install on your computer and provides a user interface for to interact with your programs and hardware. On the market, there are two mainstream flavors of this operating system and a little underdog.
As you may have guessed, Vista (Microsoft) and OSX Leopard (Apple) are the two mainstream operating systems. On the smaller scaled style, Linux/Ubuntu is an open source alternative, meaning that it is free. In terms of cost, I am going to break down some of the main differences between all three versions. In my later articles, I am going to discuss the more minute details that separate the men from the boys.
Microsoft Windows Vista
- Less Expensive than Mac
- If you decide to take the Windows route, the costs of your laptops would be significantly less than buying a Mac. You can easily get a pretty solid computer for around $750 including taxes and such, if not even sigificantly less.
- Familiar
- More than likely, most people have used a PC more than a Mac. You can’t really go wrong with something that you are used to and at a smaller price, it is even more enticing.
- Rebates
- There are a lot of rebates that come with laptops. This can significantly lower your expected cost by at least $50 to even a couple hundred of dollars.
- More bang for the buck
- Without a doubt, Windows computers will come with more bang for the buck. In terms of the speed of the computer, memory and hard drive space, you will definitely get more. While the higher end Macs can match up to these laptops, they the will be at least as twice as expensive. Just something to keep in mind as well.
- The downside of getting a Windows computer is that they tend to come packed with a lot of bulky software and things you don’t need. They are removable, but it is a little time consuming and even the uninstallers don’t properly remove all the excess files.
Apple OSX Leopard
- More Expensive
- Apple MacBooks start at pretty hefty $999.
- You can easily knock off a few hundred dollars by buying it refurbished. There is no real difference in buying it new and refurbished and you are still covered by the 1 year standard Apple warranty. (More information: http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac)
- Another option is to buy it used from someone else. I got my Black MacBook for $700 used from a guy on Craigslist which is easily $500 lower than the original retail price. In addition to that, the laptop already had a transferable a three year warranty (Expiring this September), the original box, power adapter and the guy was even so nice to through in a 2G Nano. With all those additional attachments, I easily saved a grand just by buying it second hand.
- Everything built in
- One thing that Apple stresses is that everything in built into the operating system. I must admit that this definitely holds true. Every MacBook comes with a webcam built in so it is easy to communicate with your family back home. This is one thing for sure that is becoming more common in Windows laptop, but it still isn’t a staple yet.
- Anti-Virus
- Because of the small market share (a whopping 8%), OSX does not have a lot of security threats. What this means is that hackers don’t really spend that much time focusing on the Mac users, which is, at least for now a good thing in terms of anti virus. Personally, I’ve never had an anti-virus while using a Mac and I don’t intend on getting one any time in the soon.
- Windows on Mac
- Another great thing about having a mac is that you can run Windows on the Mac as well. While this is not necessarily needed for every college user, this is great for me personally as an engineering student. This allows me to access both sides of the spectrum for my classes, where the professor may only use Windows software. It is definitely a great feature but again, it comes at a decent cost.
Ubuntu (Linux)
- Free Software
- The overall price of the computer will significantly be less than either Mac or PC. Using mostly open source software, it will be either come already pre-installed, or free to download online.
- With this in mind, you will not get the most top of the line hardware. Hardware still costs money unfortunately. But it will be more than sufficient to do what you need to do for sure.
- Anti-Virus
- It is the same idea behind Leopard but the market share of all the Linux computers is significantly smaller.
- Office Suite
- Ubuntu is the only real operating system that comes with a powerful office suite pre-installed. Packing a powerful punch with OpenOffice.org, it will provide you with Word, PowerPoint, Excel, the works all for free.
- The downside about Ubuntu is that not a lot of things are specifically made for Linux. Most of the software out on the market is geared toward Leopard and Vista and this will more than likely be the same in college.
- Here are some handy links that you can check out
- More information about Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com/)
- Dell Laptops using Ubuntu (http://rrs.li/FX)
Well that’s all that is all I have for now. I am hoping to get the next part of the series up within the upcoming days! I hope you liked the read, comment what you would like to know more about please.
Me a Hokie? I think so.
This past weekend, my family and I took an awesome trip to Virginia Tech. I wanted to at least visit all the campuses before I made any decision about the colleges I got into. We drove for fourteen hours starting from the greater Fort Lauderdale area, Coral Springs through South Carolina, North Carolina and finally ending at Blacksburg, Virginia around two in the morning. It was forty degrees outside (which is very cold mind you, compared to the seventy’s in FL) and we definitely went to bed pretty fast, cuddling up under the comforters. We woke up in the morning with forty degree weather to attend Hokie Focus, a special event being hosted at Virginia Tech showcasing the different colleges and programs offered at VT.
I will admit, that I was pretty impressed with the campus. It is pretty spaced out, but not too much and the weather was just really nice with clear skies. Apparently, one of the catch phrases that the students like to use is that “Blacksburg is one of the only places that you can experience all four seasons in one day”.
One misunderstanding that I’ve had about these old looking colleges is that everything about them would be old: their facilities, buildings, technologies. That is one thing that I am glad that I straightened out on the visit. I’ve realized that the “old look” is just an image of the buildings. Inside, you would find high def flat screens, projectors, WiFi. I only got to look at the classrooms inside the CS (Computer Science) building and they looked pretty contemporary. The chairs are fun to sit in and each seat comes with a power outlet and Ethernet cord. Can’t really go wrong with that to be honest.
In contrast, I did visit the UCF (University of Central Florida) campus on the way home. As soon as I arrived, I did like the feel of the modern upbeat campus life, but I didn’t get the same pull from the campus as I did from VT. The campus was definitely larger than VT’s and beating with activity everywhere. However, on the inside, I didn’t like the idea of being a big school near a bigger city as much as I would have thought. Suddenly, the smaller town ran by the larger college seems a lot more interesting and fun. I can’t put my tongue on it, but there is just something about being a Knight that didn’t win me over.
My final decision comes down to these two schols: VT and UCF. Frankly, I’m really liking the idea of becoming a Hokie and I’m getting excited about it. Now I just have to find the $400 deposit money…
Art Show: Reflection
Overall, I thought my art show was very successful. I feel that I integrated the main goal of my art show into my pieces very well and the response from the audience was great. I wanted to force the viewers to question what they were looking at, whether it is abnormally placed or just an interesting composition of objects. I saw that on people’s faces when they were going through my show and it is a good feeling.
I must admit that when I started this senior year in art, I was unsure about how I was going to accomplish all the requirements. I didn’t feel that I had that strong enough of a connection with art in order to produce quality pieces or research to show my ideas and concepts. I am thankful and relieved that I took the initiative to translate my artwork digitally. It produced nothing but amazing artwork and I am definitely a lot more confident about myself as an artist on a whole.
I am glad that I was able to sell some of my pieces. What is also a great thing about creating digital art is the ability to make multiple copies of it for all those who were interested in purchasing one for themselves. When people wanted to buy my artwork, it made me feel even better about myself because it showed that both my artwork and myself as an artist has achieved a higher level of credibility.