Which computer/calculator should I buy?

Every semester, dozens of students leave their calculators lying around the building, and they are brought to us in Student Services Lost and Found. By far the most prevalent seems to be the TI 89, so I guess that's the most popular and I would expect, the most useful. If you already have any kind of calculator, I definitely would not buy another one until you get here and see if the one you have might not work fine. Ask around after you get here.

For most of your classes, a low-end computer will probably be fine. Most of your assignments will require a lot of work to develop the input data, but very few computing resources to actually solve the program. Even the least expensive of today's computers are tremendously powerful, so if you are on a tight budget, don't worry about getting a $2000 machine that you will never use anyway. My suggestion is a computer with

You could also add a 3D game card and a DVD drive if you intend to watch movies instead of study. Be sure and get free virus protection software from the University (free to A&M students) and update it frequently when you get your computer.

You might even consider waiting a semester or two before getting a computer. The department supplies you with all the computing resources you really need in the computer labs, and after being here a while you will be better able to decide what you really need, would like, and why.

I'm trying to figure out what computer to get. I've looked at the information you handed out and it has been helpful. I was wondering, however, if Macs are ok? Is there any software that we will be using that is only available for PCs or some other problem with getting one like not being able to connect to the network?

As far as I know, a Mac will be OK. You probably won't get much help using it since very few people around here use them. Be sure it will run Excel, Word, Power Point, junk like that, since I am pretty sure you will be asked to run those programs. I don't think there is any problem about connecting to the network. I will forward your question to the guru around here - Thomas Mather, for his thoughts. I am told that a Macbook Pro is an excellent choice. Check it out. They have some truly good educational deals going on. http://www.apple.com

(1) Sharing of files: Even though Office 2004 runs on a MAC, the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files it creates don't often work with their PC version counterparts. So it may hinder you in teamwork, presentations, and other 'sharing' assignments.

(2) Even though Office applications are available for the MAC, not much else is available in the way of Civil Engineering software. Granted you probably won't need to use the more specialized software for a few semesters, and all the software you would need to use is available in our PC computer labs, but you would not be able to install the software on your Mac for working at home (i.e. you would be tied to the PC labs to do assignments, etc..)

You should definitely wait until you get here to purchase computer software. The University supplies much of what you will need at little to no cost. For example, see the cost of Microsoft software, and other software. Also, here.

I buy all of my books from Amazon.com. They always have used books and I have never gotten ripped off buying from dealers who have several thousand good ratings. For example, one of the courses I teach is LRFD Steel Design. Put that in their search engine and you get the book we use:

Then click on Used and new (Who needs it new? Not me.) and get 10 offers, such as:

They usually get it to you in a week, which means you need to plan ahead. Unless I can get one locally for that price + shipping + $10 convenience - tax, then I hit the buy button. Also, you can often get books from other students. About the only thing I use the local bookstores for is to find out what book is being used. BE SURE YOU GET THE CORRECT ISBN NUMBER!

Sorry, but I really don't know what textbooks are being used for classes outside the CE Department. Students usually go to a local bookstore and look through their shelves, and write down the ISBN for the book listed as being used for each class. This is probably the only good way to do it.

You do have to be very careful ordering over the internet. Although you can get some really good deals, if it turns out to be the wrong book, you cannot usually return it, and even if you can, you will probably end up paying postage both ways. In my classes, that's not a problem, since I know without a doubt what book I am using, and I post them on my website. I have seen students get the wrong book even from the local bookstore, and they are always returnable as long as you have the receipt and don't write in them.

Anyway, as far as I can tell, I have listed some contact points for your courses who may be able to tell you what text will be used. Just email them and see if they will help you with this. I got these addresses by seeing who was teaching the class, either this semester or last semester, at http://courses.tamu.edu. I then put that name into the A&M web search at http://www.tamu.edu, and clicked on their name to see if they had a web page. I then saw if they had indeed taught the class before, or were teaching it now. They usually have email addresses on their web sites. If you cannot find the professor teaching the course, you can try going to the department's home page and look around for an advisor's name and email them to see if they will tell you what book is being used.

Physics 218-517 - Prof. A. Sokolov - http://www.physics.tamu.edu/people/showpeople.php?name=Alexei%20Sokolov&userid=sokol
Chemistry 107-527 - Prof. Larry Brown - http://www.chem.tamu.edu/contact/fyp.html
Engineering 111-507 - Don Maxwell - http://www.civil.tamu.edu/people/bios.aspx?username=CIVIL\dmaxwell
Kine 198-149 Self Defense - You might try: http://hlknweb.tamu.edu/faculty/grimes.asp She is an advisor.
Calculus 152-529 - Art Belmonte - http://www.math.tamu.edu/~art.belmonte/

L^3

>Mr. Lowery,
I am going to be a Freshmen this fall at A&M. I am a Civil Engineering major and I need some help with picking out a computer for this fall. I have talked to a few of my friends who are in that department, however what they told me did not really help me out all that much. I have two problems really, the first is if I should purchase a laptop or a desktop computer. I was wondering what your take on this is.

<I would say a desktop. They are less expensive and most students I know don't really use a computer except at home or in the computer labs. They take their work with them to the school or to their friends' house on a memory stick and work on it there. The Department supplies computers all over the campus, and in the CE building, for use by the students. There are over 100 open computers in this building alone, for student use in working assignments.

>I realize that in Engineering most of the notes and work has to do with math, and taking notes on a laptop would be somewhat difficult.

<Taking notes in class on a laptop is impossible. No one even tries. Bring a pencil, a spiral notebook, and a cup of coffee. Much better.

>What seems to be the major trends with the students you see at A&M? Do most engineering students carry laptops?

<I am seeing more and more, since we added wireless to the building. Sometimes the students will sit in the foyer and connect to the internet wirelessly and work in groups, but many just go to one of our numerous computer labs in the building to work.

>My other concern is that I am interested in buying a Mac, however I am unsure of how compatible it will be with the programs we will be using. Again, your take on this situation will be very helpful.

<Don't buy a Mac. It won't be compatible with our computers, and we don't use them in engineering. They are far more expensive and are only good (in my opinion) for artsy stuff, and you will do little to none of that. We run a Mac-free environment. One of the new MacIntel computers might work, but I would avoid them for a year or two until we see what they can do. [Addition: If you want a Mac and it will run standard software, it is certainly acceptable, but see other comments above.]

>I have noticed the many labs around the engineering building, so I am led to believe that most of my work will be done in these labs.

<Much of it will. We have literally hundreds of computers all over the building, and many buildings where you can work if you don't want to bring a computer with you.

>Do many students work on projects in both the labs and on their own computers?

<Yes, constantly. They transfer their work all over the place. They simply take their data on their keychain. The programs you need are on almost every computer, so you just plug your memory stick into the computer at home, in the lab, at your friend's house, wherever, and go to work. Then if you don't have a printer, you dump your output to the zip disk or memory stick and bring it to the lab and print it out there. The computer programs you will need are available either free, or at very nominal cost. If you don't want to buy the program to put on your computer to run it at home, you simply do your work in the computer lab. They stay open all day and much of the night.

L^3