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Home » Learning Tools » New Computer Recommendations

New Computer Recommendations

Are you looking to purchase a new machine for your courses? If so, you are in the right place! We have several recommendations you can reference when making your decision.

For general use:

  1. Processor: Intel i5 or i7
  2. Memory / RAM: at least 8 GB [Preferably 16GB, but not necessary]
  3. Hard Drive: 256GB solid state drive
  4. Screen Size: While largely personal preference, 13″ and 15″ screens are most popular
  5. Most machines come with a webcam and mic, but make sure you check for that as well.
  6. Ports: What type of devices do you plan to connect to your machine? We recommend you check all of connections the machine has [ USB for flash drives, HDMI for external displays, etc. ]
  7. Manufacturer: We do not endorse any specific brand, but recommend reading as many reviews as possible before purchasing a machine to see how it has held up for others. We also support both Mac and Windows based machines.

For resource intensive majors:

We recommend a more powerful machine to meet the software requirements for required programs for specific majors like Engineering, Archeology, Graphic Design, etc. If you are enrolled in one of these programs and are planning to run the programs on your your own device then plan to purchase a machine with these specifications:

  1. Ram: 16GB [ Preferably 32GB or more ]
  2. Hard Drive: 500GB SSD [ Preferably 1TB ]
  3. Video Card: 4GB DirectX 11 Compatible
  4. USB Ports: 4 ports for external devices

For Nursing Students:

Nursing students are required to use the Respondus LockDown Browser. As of summer 2022, Respondus does not support either ChromeOS or iOS so you are required to use either a Windows or MacOS based machine. Chromebooks, iPads, or other tablets are not supported for taking tests.

If you have specific questions about purchasing a new device you can either contact your local IT department directly, or open a service desk ticket at https://servicedesk.vsc.edu.

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