Buying Guide

Do I need a special computer for a specific major?

Most likely no, but you should contact your department if you want to be sure. In almost all cases any program a class will require should work on any new computer and most old ones. Departments, such as the School of Visual Arts, may have programs with high computer requirements, but these programs are also rather expensive and labs are typically available for students who do not own a copy.

If you are bringing an older computer to UGA, please be aware that since July 11th, 2006 Microsoft does not support Windows 95/98/ME. Because of this these operating systems will no longer have security updates from Microsoft, and will not be supported by STS. If you have one of these operating systems you are strongly encouraged to upgrade to Windows XP or Vista.

Windows Vista Recommendations and Support

Windows Vista is now available, and will likely be shipped with any new computer. Anyone who wants to upgrade their current computer to run Vista should make sure their hardware can handle the operating system without too many aches. We have adjusted our buying guide below to represent a system that should be able to run Vista. If your computer does not meet these recommendations, you may want to hold on to XP for a little longer, especially if you do not have enough RAM or Video Memory. Microsoft has also provided a tool called Upgrade Advisor which scans your computer and tells you of any compatibility issues. For those who do choose to upgrade, we suggest Vista Home Premium for anyone who isn't running a business off their computer. The Upgrade Advisor lists some of the details between the different versions, but the gist of it is that Home Premium comes with just about everything except for business and server tools, while Home Basic comes with nearly nothing unique to Vista.

As for Vista at UGA, STS fully supports all versions of Vista. We do not offer services to upgrade your computer from XP to Vista, but we will help you get online or use any of the services we support. All of UGAs services should also be working on Vista, with one important exception. J Exam, used by the Chemistry department does not currently work with Vista. We do not know if/when this will be fixed, however contact information is available on our Services page.

Below we have included some suggestions. These suggestions are likely to become outdated just as fast as new computers are, they are simply here to provide a starting point for people who are uncertain what a computer should have in the first place.

Click Here for a printable version of this table.

	Normal Desktop	Normal Laptop	Game / Media Desktop	Outdated Equipment
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon X2	Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Turion X2 or Sempron	> Core 2 Duo 2.2Ghz+ or AMD Phenom X2	< 1.6Ghz AMD or Intel Pentium for PC. or pre G4 Mac
RAM	2 GB	2 GB	2 GB or more	1 GB or less
Hard Drive	160 GB	120 GB	250 GB	40 GB or less
CD/DVD	CD-RW/DVD drive or DVD-RW		DVD-RW	no CD-RW
Portable Storage	1GB or 2GB USB Keychain instead of floppy disks		4 GB USB Keychain	optional
Graphics Card	256MB GeForce 7300, ATI X1300 or higher	128MB GeForce 7300, ATI X1300 or higher	GeForce 8800 GT, ATI X1900 or higher	< 128MB for desktop < 64MB for laptop
Display	19" LCD Flat Panel	XGA/SXGA/UXGA Active Matrix or better	22"+ LCD	15" Display
Network	10/100/1000 NIC Card	10/100/1000 NIC Card and 802.11 b/g Wireless Card	10/100/1000 NIC Card	10 Mbit NIC Card
Modem	Not needed on campus. May need off campus or at home			optional
Printer	Not needed on campus. May be preferred over lab printers for convenience			optional
OS	Windows Vista Home Premium or XP with SP2 OSX 10.5+ for Mac			Win 95, 98, ME OS9 for Mac
Software	MS Office 2007 for PC or Open Office MS Office X for Mac			Office 97
Warranty	3 year parts & labor recommended, in-home support not necessary			optional
Anti-virus	F-Secure, or Free Antivirus (Avira, AVG)			Unsubscribed Trial version Anti-virus
Anti-spyware	AdAware Personal, Spybot, Windows Defender			No Anti-spyware