The question is WHY does the college require a computer??

Some colleges say, "We think everyone should know a little
about computers, so we will require it."  In that case, maybe
they have a course, "Use a computer 101," that doesn't do much
but teach them how to get started.  Probably, they expect the
student to type many assignments on a word processor, which
requires very little processing power.  (From the looks of the
specs you gave, this looks like the likely scenario.)

On the other hand if she is going to an engineering school
like MIT, then the school may require programming classes.
EE courses might have circuit simulators.  ME courses
may have CAD.   In these cases the student will want a more
powerful computer.

The virus protection software is likely recommended for
protection for the professors from the students.  I had a
prof that absolutely demanded we F-PROT every disk
we ever handed in.  (I don't blame him.)

As someone else has noted, the nic card is likely to
hook up to dorm wiring.  And, the bookstore will have
bargain software (of the kind required by the profs), so
your friend should not be eager to load it up before she
gets to campus.  (At WSU, our bookstore has some
absolutely radical bargains on stuff like MS Word and
Visual C++.)

You well know that any computer you build now will be
hopelessly out of date in four years, but if it is just used
for word processing, that should not be a problem.

Quite frankly, I think the daughter would much prefer
to have a nice mid-range portable computer.  One
that she could easily take with her to the library or
class...

Dean Kukral   [log in to unmask]

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Curtis <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thursday, July 22, 1999 1:32 AM
Subject: [PCBUILD] College computer for freshman


>Hi all -
>I have been asked by a friend to help buy/build a computer for her daughter
>starting college this fall.  The college has provided some basic specs as
>follows:
>
>Pentium 200 or better
>64 MB RAM
>Win 95/98/NT
>500 MB free hard drive space
>Virus protection software
>10BaseT network card (either Intel Ether Express or 3 Com Ethernet card)
>
>If anyone would like to respond with comments/suggestions on a balanced
>solution that falls between low cost and longevity that would be great.  I
>don't think anything she gets today will likely meet the minimum standard 4
>years from now so I am leaning toward to lower cost approach, especially
>given the other costs that are coming up right now for them.
>
>Thanks in advance for your replies,
>Mike Curtis
>

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