Ferrum College Goes Mobile:
Information About Ferrum Computing

Ferrum College is a mobile computing campus. We support a wireless learning environment using laptop computing, wireless access, and innovative educational interaction inside and outside of the classroom. 

To reap the greatest benefit from your College experience, it is highly recommended that you bring a netbook or notebook computer.  If you do not already own a laptop, we encourage you to purchase one of the recommended models (below) before you arrive at campus. 

Netbook versus Notebook Computer.  A notebook computer is a full-feature portable (laptop) computer.  A netbook is a smaller, less expensive, and lighter-weight portable computer with fewer components (e.g., often lacking a DVD drive).  For many students, a netbook will be adequate for their academic needs.

Recommended Netbooks.  Two netbooks are very highly recommended by Consumer Reports (see http://tinyurl.com/bwduvn).  Following their analysis, we recommend either of two netbooks…

·   MSI Wind U100-432US 10-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, XP Home, 6 Cell Battery) Black by MSI recently available for $380 at amazon.com), or

·   Lenovo Ideapad S10 10.2-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, XP Home) (recently available for $350 at amazon.com)

Recommended Notebooks.  If you prefer a full-featured portable computer, we have several recommendations for notebook computers. 

In our experience, students with Macintosh MacBooks have an easier time connecting to the campus wireless network than do users of any other laptop.  The Apple 13-inch white ($949) or aluminum ($1249) MacBook can be purchased using your educational discount directly from the Apple Store for Education at http://store.apple.com/us-hed.  These computers have been very favorably reviewed by Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal at http://tinyurl.com/ccjfrt.  If you purchase a MacBook, we strongly recommend that you also purchase the supplemental 3-year Apple Care protection plan.

If you prefer a laptop with one of the Microsoft Windows operating systems, Consumer Reports (http://tinyurl.com/bmxr62 ) has given very high recommendations to two laptops.  Following their analysis, we recommend either of two Windows-based laptops…

·   HP Pavilion DV4T Intel Dual Core Processor T4200 2.0GHz, 14.1" diagonal WXGA High-De?nition HP BrightView Widescreen Display, 3GB DDR2, 160GB HD SATA, SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500, HP Imprint Finish, Microphone, Webcam, 802.11b/g WLAN, Microsoft Works 9.0, Windows Vista Home Premium (recently available for $750 at amazon.com)

·   Lenovo ThinkPad SL400 2743 - Core 2 Duo P8400 / 2.26 GHz - Centrino 2 - RAM 2 GB - HDD 160 GB - DVD-Writer (recently available for $890 at amazon.com)

We also recommend that every student have a 2 GB flash storage drive.

College-provided Computer Services.  For student-owned Macintosh computers, we are able to provide at no additional cost:

·         Microsoft Office 2008 for Macintosh

·         Windows XP (if you have Boot Camp, Parallels, or VMWare’s Fusion)

For student-owned computers running one of the Windows operating system, we are able to provide at no additional cost: