My son finally made it home safely after two years in Armenia. I have been struggling with the decision on what computer to get him for his first year in college. I presented several choices to him and let him do some research for several days. He came back with a computer choice. Then I felt I needed to make one last look to make sure we reviewed all possible options.
There are several online computer vendors that allow you to specify the features you are looking for and so I visited Best Buy's. They have a store really close to my house and so I knew I could order it, have it shipped there for free, and pick it up rather quickly. I used the configuration tool and put in the options I thought would work best for a college freshman looking to start in the Mechanical Engineering department. Surprisingly I found a computer I had overlooked. I presented it to my son as a viable alternative to his choice and let him decide. I always believe that any large purchase should be thought about for at least a day. When I go to buy cars, I often tell the salesperson I want to sleep on it before I make a purchase. They hate that but then I don't have buyer's remorse. So I let my son sleep on the decision.
He came back and settled on a MacBook Air with an Intel i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 128 GB solid-state drive. Sure I could have gotten more disk space, but with terabyte drives costing $70, why would you need to? I agreed with his decision and so I ordered the computer. The only problem with his choice is that the i7 is an upgrade and so it is not kept in stock at the Apple stores. I had to have it custom built. It will be here next week but is coming all the way from China. School starts on Monday so I hope my son doesn't need his computer until Wednesday when it is due to arrive.
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Time for a New College Laptop Again
Back in February I wrote about how my youngest son will soon need a new laptop. I didn't see the urgency in making a decision at the time because heading to college seemed so far off. In two weeks he will be home after spending two years in Armenia and getting ready to attend college.
As I wrote before he will need to talk with his academic advisor to see the best recommendation for his engineering program in school. Some engineering software is only available for Windows and so a Mac might not be a good choice. Or the opposite could be true. I doubt it, but it could be.
A quick stop at Best Buy shows that there are even more choices than before. In addition to Windows or Mac, you can also choose a Chrome OS laptop. If you can get by with using online applications for everything you do, then it is a viable option. I don't think it is a good choice for an engineering student though and so I won't bother looking at one of those.
The next question boils down to budget: How much do I want to spend for my son's laptop. I always joke with my other children about how I like my youngest son the most. They all think that is true but reality is that whatever I do for one child, I have to make it fair for all of the rest. When my older son went to pick his laptop, I looked at the lowest price MacBook Pro and used that as the maximum budget. Why? That is what I got his two sisters. While time passes and laptop specifications change, Apple has done a pretty good job identifying realistic price points for student computers. Yes you can get a lower-priced computer but they don't last nearly as long as if you spend a bit more. Just look at my oldest daughter's experience as most of her college roommates needed new computers before the end of the first year.
I am often asked if brand makes a difference. The short answer is, "Yes." You want to be careful about what you purchase online. However if you are visiting a reputable store like Best Buy, they won't carry a junk brand and so your choice will boil down to features for a given price. I recommend more RAM over a faster processor. I also favor a solid-state drive over rotating disk even though you can get enormous disks for next to nothing. If you think your child will have a lot of large files, spend $60 and get an external USB drive and factor that into the cost of the computer.
Writing all of this down has helped me organize my thoughts as I get ready to help my son with his computer. Hopefully it helps you as well. Naturally I will be sure to let you know what I decide.
As I wrote before he will need to talk with his academic advisor to see the best recommendation for his engineering program in school. Some engineering software is only available for Windows and so a Mac might not be a good choice. Or the opposite could be true. I doubt it, but it could be.
A quick stop at Best Buy shows that there are even more choices than before. In addition to Windows or Mac, you can also choose a Chrome OS laptop. If you can get by with using online applications for everything you do, then it is a viable option. I don't think it is a good choice for an engineering student though and so I won't bother looking at one of those.
The next question boils down to budget: How much do I want to spend for my son's laptop. I always joke with my other children about how I like my youngest son the most. They all think that is true but reality is that whatever I do for one child, I have to make it fair for all of the rest. When my older son went to pick his laptop, I looked at the lowest price MacBook Pro and used that as the maximum budget. Why? That is what I got his two sisters. While time passes and laptop specifications change, Apple has done a pretty good job identifying realistic price points for student computers. Yes you can get a lower-priced computer but they don't last nearly as long as if you spend a bit more. Just look at my oldest daughter's experience as most of her college roommates needed new computers before the end of the first year.
I am often asked if brand makes a difference. The short answer is, "Yes." You want to be careful about what you purchase online. However if you are visiting a reputable store like Best Buy, they won't carry a junk brand and so your choice will boil down to features for a given price. I recommend more RAM over a faster processor. I also favor a solid-state drive over rotating disk even though you can get enormous disks for next to nothing. If you think your child will have a lot of large files, spend $60 and get an external USB drive and factor that into the cost of the computer.
Writing all of this down has helped me organize my thoughts as I get ready to help my son with his computer. Hopefully it helps you as well. Naturally I will be sure to let you know what I decide.
Monday, April 18, 2016
How Smart Traffic Lights Work
One of the advantages of taking Electrical Engineering classes in college and having a degree in the subject is that I learned how a number of devices in our society work. The other day I saw someone who sent their children to jump up and down on a sensor used to detect if a car is overhead. In this case they were trying to open an arm for a parking lot but it is the same technology for traffic lights. Unfortunately this adult erroneously believed that traffic sensors are triggered by weight. I thought the same thing growing up. Imagine my surprise when I attended my Electromagnetic Physics class and the professor informed us that it is just a metal detector buried under the asphalt?
Before college I tried like those kids to get my bicycle to trigger traffic lights to turn green for me. After doing a number of bunny-hops with no luck, I would sheepishly walk over and push the pedestrian button. After college I learned a trick and can now trigger traffic signals to turn green for me about 80% of the time. The bike I currently use to commute has an aluminum frame. While aluminum is a great conductor of electricity, it isn't magnetic and that is what a metal detector is looking for. Iron is magnetic and also rather heavy so they try to use as little as possible of it in bicycles. There is one place they can't avoid it though and that is the bike chain. I have discovered that if you ride so your chain is directly over the sensor, there is enough iron in it to trigger the light. This may take a bit of trial and error for some lights but I have learned where all of the sensors are on my 3-mile ride to and from work each day.
When I saw those kids jumping up and down on the car sensor, I politely asked them to move and rode over the sensor. My trick worked and they entered the parking lot without any trouble. It is a simple trick but looks like magic to young kids.
Before college I tried like those kids to get my bicycle to trigger traffic lights to turn green for me. After doing a number of bunny-hops with no luck, I would sheepishly walk over and push the pedestrian button. After college I learned a trick and can now trigger traffic signals to turn green for me about 80% of the time. The bike I currently use to commute has an aluminum frame. While aluminum is a great conductor of electricity, it isn't magnetic and that is what a metal detector is looking for. Iron is magnetic and also rather heavy so they try to use as little as possible of it in bicycles. There is one place they can't avoid it though and that is the bike chain. I have discovered that if you ride so your chain is directly over the sensor, there is enough iron in it to trigger the light. This may take a bit of trial and error for some lights but I have learned where all of the sensors are on my 3-mile ride to and from work each day.
When I saw those kids jumping up and down on the car sensor, I politely asked them to move and rode over the sensor. My trick worked and they entered the parking lot without any trouble. It is a simple trick but looks like magic to young kids.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Researching a New Laptop
My youngest son will be starting his first year of college in the fall and our family tradition is that I purchase him a laptop. My very first post for this blog contained my recommendation for my oldest daughter when she started college. When my youngest daughter headed to school, I followed my original advice and got the same brand of computer. When it came time for my oldest son to head to school, I had him help with the process and he decided on something else.
With my youngest son I am rethinking all of my decisions. My daughters really only need a computer for word processing and e-mail. My oldest son will finish up his Computer Science degree this April and his laptop decision was the correct one for him. My youngest son has already been accepted into the Mechanical Engineering department and so I am torn between a Windows laptop or another Mac computer. Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I wound my way through Electrical Engineering school, Windows was the operating system of choice. A number of the software programs throughout the discipline relied on it and could not be found for the Mac. Now I am sure things have changed but it has me wondering what the laptop of choice will be.
One nice thing about the Mac is that it will also run Windows and do so quite well. Sure I may have to set up Boot Camp on the Mac, but that isn't really that difficult. However you still pay a premium for Apple computers and can get more for your money with other laptops.
Fortunately I have some time and don't have to make that decision right now. I want my son to talk with his academic advisor and see what the school recommends. I think I know the answer but would like to be pleasantly surprised. If my son and I do decide to go with a Windows laptop, then I will have to also figure out which manufacturer to buy. I'll keep you posted what I decide.
With my youngest son I am rethinking all of my decisions. My daughters really only need a computer for word processing and e-mail. My oldest son will finish up his Computer Science degree this April and his laptop decision was the correct one for him. My youngest son has already been accepted into the Mechanical Engineering department and so I am torn between a Windows laptop or another Mac computer. Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I wound my way through Electrical Engineering school, Windows was the operating system of choice. A number of the software programs throughout the discipline relied on it and could not be found for the Mac. Now I am sure things have changed but it has me wondering what the laptop of choice will be.
One nice thing about the Mac is that it will also run Windows and do so quite well. Sure I may have to set up Boot Camp on the Mac, but that isn't really that difficult. However you still pay a premium for Apple computers and can get more for your money with other laptops.
Fortunately I have some time and don't have to make that decision right now. I want my son to talk with his academic advisor and see what the school recommends. I think I know the answer but would like to be pleasantly surprised. If my son and I do decide to go with a Windows laptop, then I will have to also figure out which manufacturer to buy. I'll keep you posted what I decide.
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Off to College
It is Labor-Day weekend and a lot of college students are headed off to school if they are not already there. My oldest son packed up this morning. My wife and I helped him load his car and it was funny to see the things he is bringing. His school is less than an hour away and so he didn't need all of the normal things most kids bring. For instance, all of his ski stuff is still at the house because he won't need it until almost next semester.
It didn't take too long to load his clothes in the car. It was everything else that took a while. The bulk of the things he is bringing are electronic items. While most kids are happy with a laptop, my son has two: one for work and his personal computer. I know that when I headed off to school, I brought a lot of books. My son had two. He put them next to a three-foot stack of video games and his DVD movie collection, which made for a hilarious picture. He also is bringing a second computer monitor and laser printer. Then there is the PlayStation 3 to play all of his games on.
Fortunately we didn't have to help him load his 40-inch television as that is already down at school. His older sister and her husband have been borrowing it during the summer. They will be sad to give it up but knew he would want it back.
I do confess that I am worried about my son at school this year. He only has three semesters left but his packing list looks more like he is an entertainment major instead of a computer science one. Hopefully he doesn't let all of his electronics distract him from his studies.
It didn't take too long to load his clothes in the car. It was everything else that took a while. The bulk of the things he is bringing are electronic items. While most kids are happy with a laptop, my son has two: one for work and his personal computer. I know that when I headed off to school, I brought a lot of books. My son had two. He put them next to a three-foot stack of video games and his DVD movie collection, which made for a hilarious picture. He also is bringing a second computer monitor and laser printer. Then there is the PlayStation 3 to play all of his games on.
Fortunately we didn't have to help him load his 40-inch television as that is already down at school. His older sister and her husband have been borrowing it during the summer. They will be sad to give it up but knew he would want it back.
I do confess that I am worried about my son at school this year. He only has three semesters left but his packing list looks more like he is an entertainment major instead of a computer science one. Hopefully he doesn't let all of his electronics distract him from his studies.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Engineering Notebooks
I was instructed to keep notebooks by my engineering professors when I was getting my degree in Electrical Engineering. I was told that all good engineers kept notebooks and so I dutifully obliged. When I went to work for Oracle Corporation right out of college, I continued to keep notebooks and have kept every single one. My professors told me that my employers would want to retain my notebooks when I left but not a single company has ever asked for them.
Naturally I started a new notebook when I joined my current company and have filled two volumes. My coworkers see my notebooks and have been known to make copies of various pages. I have even had several people mention that I should write a book. I tell them I have and that it was a lot of work for very little pay. Lately I have been thinking about writing another book though. The only problem is that people don't really read technical books any more. It is much easier find information on the Internet. Then my boss suggested I write a technical blog, string the entries together, and create an electronic book of sorts. I suppose I could do that with this blog, but it is far too diverse for a single book. Besides I try to keep my entries short and simple so that everyone can understand them.
The book I want to write is very technical and so this evening I will be starting a second blog. Don't worry, I will still contribute to this one so that I get my 71 entries per year. My second blog will be a deep dive into PostgreSQL. PostgreSQL has some of the best documentation for any computer software, whether commercial or open source. However it lacks a cohesive set of examples and certain solutions to real-world problems. My hope is that my new blog will work hand-in-hand with the existing documentation and add clarity to some rather difficult concepts. Hopefully it solves a hole that I feel exists currently.
Naturally I started a new notebook when I joined my current company and have filled two volumes. My coworkers see my notebooks and have been known to make copies of various pages. I have even had several people mention that I should write a book. I tell them I have and that it was a lot of work for very little pay. Lately I have been thinking about writing another book though. The only problem is that people don't really read technical books any more. It is much easier find information on the Internet. Then my boss suggested I write a technical blog, string the entries together, and create an electronic book of sorts. I suppose I could do that with this blog, but it is far too diverse for a single book. Besides I try to keep my entries short and simple so that everyone can understand them.
The book I want to write is very technical and so this evening I will be starting a second blog. Don't worry, I will still contribute to this one so that I get my 71 entries per year. My second blog will be a deep dive into PostgreSQL. PostgreSQL has some of the best documentation for any computer software, whether commercial or open source. However it lacks a cohesive set of examples and certain solutions to real-world problems. My hope is that my new blog will work hand-in-hand with the existing documentation and add clarity to some rather difficult concepts. Hopefully it solves a hole that I feel exists currently.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
A New College Computer Recommendation
One of my first postings when I created this blog back in 2009 was my recommendation for a laptop to take to college. I have pretty much stood by that original decision until this year. Both of my daughters took Apple laptops to school. Now it is time to buy my oldest son his. As he is a computer science major, I am breaking away from Apple and suggesting a different computer.
What is the reason for this change? Well there are actually a few reasons. When Steve Jobs was at the helm of Apple, they put out a better product than they do now. At first the slip in quality was hardly noticeable. Now it is becoming more pronounced and so you can find an equally well-built laptop from a number of other vendors. Furthermore Apple continues to charge a premium for their hardware and so you can now get higher-performing laptops for the same price. When I first made my comparison, there wasn't much of a difference, if any.
So what did I decide for my son? I actually let my son pick out his own computer. There are a number of manufacturers that give college discounts and Sony is one of them (look for the Education Store link at the bottom of the page). I then told him he had $1000 to spend, as that is what the least expensive Mac would cost with Apple's education discount. He opted for their S-line of computers as he felt that represented the best deal and performance. That $1000 gave him 8 GB of RAM instead of only 4 and a 750 GB hard disk instead of 500.
I am still a fan of Mac OS X and despise any operating system made by Microsoft. My son's new computer comes with Windows 8 but he has a plan to fix that. He will keep Windows and install an Ubuntu virtual machine (VM). This is how he has his work computer set up right now, only with Windows 7 instead of 8. It has worked out very well and will be much more flexible as he works on his programming assignments in school. While this setup may not be as polished as OS X, I think it will better for him as Linux seems to be ubiquitous at universities these days.
It took a few years for other computer manufacturers to catch up with Apple, but now that they seemed to have stopped innovating, it is a good time to look at other vendors. Your dollar will go farther.
What is the reason for this change? Well there are actually a few reasons. When Steve Jobs was at the helm of Apple, they put out a better product than they do now. At first the slip in quality was hardly noticeable. Now it is becoming more pronounced and so you can find an equally well-built laptop from a number of other vendors. Furthermore Apple continues to charge a premium for their hardware and so you can now get higher-performing laptops for the same price. When I first made my comparison, there wasn't much of a difference, if any.
So what did I decide for my son? I actually let my son pick out his own computer. There are a number of manufacturers that give college discounts and Sony is one of them (look for the Education Store link at the bottom of the page). I then told him he had $1000 to spend, as that is what the least expensive Mac would cost with Apple's education discount. He opted for their S-line of computers as he felt that represented the best deal and performance. That $1000 gave him 8 GB of RAM instead of only 4 and a 750 GB hard disk instead of 500.
I am still a fan of Mac OS X and despise any operating system made by Microsoft. My son's new computer comes with Windows 8 but he has a plan to fix that. He will keep Windows and install an Ubuntu virtual machine (VM). This is how he has his work computer set up right now, only with Windows 7 instead of 8. It has worked out very well and will be much more flexible as he works on his programming assignments in school. While this setup may not be as polished as OS X, I think it will better for him as Linux seems to be ubiquitous at universities these days.
It took a few years for other computer manufacturers to catch up with Apple, but now that they seemed to have stopped innovating, it is a good time to look at other vendors. Your dollar will go farther.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Summer Intern
I managed to get my oldest son a summer intern position where I work. When I was going to college, I never thought about working as an intern. I was too busy trying to make money to pay for school. It turns out, you can actually get paid for some internships. That is the case with my son and he is really happy to be working with Dad as he thinks I work at cool place. It is hard to tell him that this is work when he has managed to get a whole bunch of free swag, leading-edge hi-tech toys, and invited to a number of after-dinner parties. It is a good thing he is staying in the Bay Area this weekend or he might go home to Utah and tell everyone that we play more than we work.
I have found that it is really difficult to break into the video game industry. Everyone is reluctant to hire people from outside the relatively small industry. I still don't know how I found myself where I am, but I am glad to be where I am. An internship is a great way to get started. There are a number of kids that come back after graduating from college.
So what does an intern do? My son has spent a lot of time doing on-the-job training. While he has experience with a fair number of programming languages, he needs to dive deeper into the one he will be using this summer. He is also working with a specific framework and is running through a number of various examples before he gets his proverbial hands wet. Next week that will happen. The idea is to have him complete it before going back to school. That way, we get something from his experience and he gets the experience of seeing something go from prototype to production.
If you are young and want to work in video games, you should definitely think about applying for an internship. The competition is tough as my son was selected from a pile of 51 other applicants. However it is possible to land a really sweet summer job.
I have found that it is really difficult to break into the video game industry. Everyone is reluctant to hire people from outside the relatively small industry. I still don't know how I found myself where I am, but I am glad to be where I am. An internship is a great way to get started. There are a number of kids that come back after graduating from college.
So what does an intern do? My son has spent a lot of time doing on-the-job training. While he has experience with a fair number of programming languages, he needs to dive deeper into the one he will be using this summer. He is also working with a specific framework and is running through a number of various examples before he gets his proverbial hands wet. Next week that will happen. The idea is to have him complete it before going back to school. That way, we get something from his experience and he gets the experience of seeing something go from prototype to production.
If you are young and want to work in video games, you should definitely think about applying for an internship. The competition is tough as my son was selected from a pile of 51 other applicants. However it is possible to land a really sweet summer job.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
So You Want to Work in Video Games
When people find out that I work for a video game company, they always ask me how to get into the industry. This may be for themselves or for one of their kids. I get the question often enough that I thought I would take a stab at answering that question on this blog.
It is important to understand that in my current company, there is no middle class. There are either well-paid employees or low-paid employees. Nothing in the middle. So that means I have to answer the question twice as there are different standards for each class of employee.
The low-paid employees are the game testers. Some of them are really good at what they do. Unfortunately there are so many people trying to become game testers that we don't have to pay them very much. The job is also very short term and lasts between 8 to 18 months. Then we let them go and hire a new crop of video game players. If you want to be a tester, start looking at video game companies right after high school. You will also want to have fairly good writing skills as there is a lot of reporting associated with testing. The rest is just being at the right place at the right time. It is a great summer job that will look good on any aspiring software developer's resume.
The high-paid employees have corresponding educations to match. It is rare, not impossible, but rare for someone to join my department without a college education from a top-notch school. Looking at the current list of people we are trying to hire, there are a lot of requests for people with Masters and PhD degrees. You will need a good math and stats background as well as very strong computer skills. It also helps if you are passionate about video games.
Would I recommend a career in video games? Definitely. It sure beats going to work every day.
It is important to understand that in my current company, there is no middle class. There are either well-paid employees or low-paid employees. Nothing in the middle. So that means I have to answer the question twice as there are different standards for each class of employee.
The low-paid employees are the game testers. Some of them are really good at what they do. Unfortunately there are so many people trying to become game testers that we don't have to pay them very much. The job is also very short term and lasts between 8 to 18 months. Then we let them go and hire a new crop of video game players. If you want to be a tester, start looking at video game companies right after high school. You will also want to have fairly good writing skills as there is a lot of reporting associated with testing. The rest is just being at the right place at the right time. It is a great summer job that will look good on any aspiring software developer's resume.
The high-paid employees have corresponding educations to match. It is rare, not impossible, but rare for someone to join my department without a college education from a top-notch school. Looking at the current list of people we are trying to hire, there are a lot of requests for people with Masters and PhD degrees. You will need a good math and stats background as well as very strong computer skills. It also helps if you are passionate about video games.
Would I recommend a career in video games? Definitely. It sure beats going to work every day.
Monday, September 17, 2012
A College Degree
I have a brother-in-law that used to run around asking my wife's brothers how their college degrees were working out. At the time, there was a housing boom and he was making a seemingly huge amount of money with nothing but his high-school diploma and the knowledge of how to pound nails. Meanwhile my wife's brothers had spend large sums of money on their college educations and really didn't have much to show for it. I'm sure the "college" comment stung pretty bad at the time.
A little before my brother-in-law started taunting those around him, I threw him a proverbial bone and had him install a loft in my garage. He had been doing construction for some time and I figured he would do a better job than me. He told me the lumber to order and I had it delivered. Then I paid him quite well for his day of labor. That was a little over 10 years ago. Then last Thursday, that professionally-built loft that I mostly use to store empty boxes came crashing down. Had it not been for the garage-door rails, it would have crushed my two cars. Luckily I was able to get them out and the loft rebuilt without any serious damage. This time I consulted a close friend who is a mechanical engineer and he helped to ensure that the loft would never come down again.
I learned a lot about structural engineering this past weekend and I am glad there are people who spend a little extra time going to college and actually get degrees. Now the next time my brother-in-law brings up the topic of college, I can remind him that had he gone, my loft wouldn't have fallen down. You see, he didn't understand the sheer strength of grabber screws used to secure 2x4's to decks vs. lag screws used to secure joists to studs. I guess that is why he is out of work right now and my wife's brothers both have high-paying jobs.
A little before my brother-in-law started taunting those around him, I threw him a proverbial bone and had him install a loft in my garage. He had been doing construction for some time and I figured he would do a better job than me. He told me the lumber to order and I had it delivered. Then I paid him quite well for his day of labor. That was a little over 10 years ago. Then last Thursday, that professionally-built loft that I mostly use to store empty boxes came crashing down. Had it not been for the garage-door rails, it would have crushed my two cars. Luckily I was able to get them out and the loft rebuilt without any serious damage. This time I consulted a close friend who is a mechanical engineer and he helped to ensure that the loft would never come down again.
I learned a lot about structural engineering this past weekend and I am glad there are people who spend a little extra time going to college and actually get degrees. Now the next time my brother-in-law brings up the topic of college, I can remind him that had he gone, my loft wouldn't have fallen down. You see, he didn't understand the sheer strength of grabber screws used to secure 2x4's to decks vs. lag screws used to secure joists to studs. I guess that is why he is out of work right now and my wife's brothers both have high-paying jobs.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Two Computers
I have a daughter headed to college in September. That means I got to buy her a computer that she will take to school. Luckily her birthday is in July and so I could get the laptop as a gift. I just had to decide which one to get. When I started writing this blog, one of my first postings was on which computer was the best to send with your kid to college. I was sending my oldest daughter off to school at the time and decided the MacBook was the best choice.
It is now 3 years later and the MacBook is no longer an option. Apple has two models, the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro. Each one has a number of options ranging from screen size to memory. If you are really looking for the original MacBook, you can pick up a refurbished model from MyService. I sat my daughter down and gave her a choice between the Air, Pro, or a refurbished MacBook. Naturally, she didn't want the refurb and I can't say I blame her. I told her I would give here the difference in price to help pay for tuition and she still wanted the new computer. While the Air is a very light computer, my daughter wanted something with a little more horsepower. So I got her the least expensive MacBook Pro.
A few days later, one of my oldest son's old roommates sent me an e-mail asking for help getting a computer. I have a corporate discount to one of the major laptop manufacturers and could save him about $100 on an $800 laptop. I mentioned that my daughter turned down my corporate discount option and went for the more expensive Apple computer. His budget wouldn't let him spend more than the $700 and he wasn't interested in a refurbished Mac. We played around with the configuration and kept the price withing his budget.
My daughter loves her new computer and has been using it constantly since her birthday. I will be interested in comparing the two computers over their respective lives. When I bought my oldest daughter her computer, I was confident it would last. Now I have two computers bought at the same time to compare against each other. Time will tell which is the best deal, but I'm betting on the Mac. My oldest daughter's MacBook has required an upgrade or two, but is still running strong.
It is now 3 years later and the MacBook is no longer an option. Apple has two models, the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro. Each one has a number of options ranging from screen size to memory. If you are really looking for the original MacBook, you can pick up a refurbished model from MyService. I sat my daughter down and gave her a choice between the Air, Pro, or a refurbished MacBook. Naturally, she didn't want the refurb and I can't say I blame her. I told her I would give here the difference in price to help pay for tuition and she still wanted the new computer. While the Air is a very light computer, my daughter wanted something with a little more horsepower. So I got her the least expensive MacBook Pro.
A few days later, one of my oldest son's old roommates sent me an e-mail asking for help getting a computer. I have a corporate discount to one of the major laptop manufacturers and could save him about $100 on an $800 laptop. I mentioned that my daughter turned down my corporate discount option and went for the more expensive Apple computer. His budget wouldn't let him spend more than the $700 and he wasn't interested in a refurbished Mac. We played around with the configuration and kept the price withing his budget.
My daughter loves her new computer and has been using it constantly since her birthday. I will be interested in comparing the two computers over their respective lives. When I bought my oldest daughter her computer, I was confident it would last. Now I have two computers bought at the same time to compare against each other. Time will tell which is the best deal, but I'm betting on the Mac. My oldest daughter's MacBook has required an upgrade or two, but is still running strong.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Why Are College Text Books So Boring?
I was busy minding my own business today when one of my coworkers engaged me in a very important conversation. He mentioned that there are some changes happening in the group that will require me to study up on my probability and statistics knowledge. There are one or two things that I remember about the subject from my days in college, most importantly that the O-ring failure on the Space Shuttle Challenger was a major topic of discussion. We also learned that lotteries are a tax for people that are bad at math.
Knowing that I will head into work on Monday with a need to know something more than basic definitions, I pulled out my old stats textbook and started going through it. What a bore. There must be some subliminal memories it stirred up because I immediately wanted to take a nap. Oh how I fondly remember sleeping in various rooms throughout the university's library. My particular favorite room was one with several fireplaces and overstuffed leather chairs, but I digress.
My coworker is also in the process of refreshing his probability and statistics knowledge. He recommended a different book and I have to say that it looks infinitely more interesting. I cannot yet recommend it because I have yet to see the entire book, however it does look promising. My coworker is enjoying it so much, he even has gone through and done the math examples in the first half of the book.
This has me asking the question: Why are college text books so boring? Maybe it is just the classes I had to take, but there are very few text books that I ever enjoyed reading. There is one that does come to mind though and it fits nicely with the theme of my Blog: The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder. It was suggested reading for one of my Electrical Engineering classes and took me two days to read. Sometimes professors do get it right but I believe that is more rare than common.
Knowing that I will head into work on Monday with a need to know something more than basic definitions, I pulled out my old stats textbook and started going through it. What a bore. There must be some subliminal memories it stirred up because I immediately wanted to take a nap. Oh how I fondly remember sleeping in various rooms throughout the university's library. My particular favorite room was one with several fireplaces and overstuffed leather chairs, but I digress.
My coworker is also in the process of refreshing his probability and statistics knowledge. He recommended a different book and I have to say that it looks infinitely more interesting. I cannot yet recommend it because I have yet to see the entire book, however it does look promising. My coworker is enjoying it so much, he even has gone through and done the math examples in the first half of the book.
This has me asking the question: Why are college text books so boring? Maybe it is just the classes I had to take, but there are very few text books that I ever enjoyed reading. There is one that does come to mind though and it fits nicely with the theme of my Blog: The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder. It was suggested reading for one of my Electrical Engineering classes and took me two days to read. Sometimes professors do get it right but I believe that is more rare than common.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Which Printer for College?
My previous posting talked about which computer is best to send to school with your college-aged kid. When I was done, I realized that I left out one very important peripheral: a printer.
When I was headed off to college back in 1986, you had a choice between dot-matrix or daisy-wheel printers. Nobody had a laser printer as they were just being created. As luck would have it, my Dad was doing advertising for a new laser-printer company and they couldn't afford to pay his fee and so they gave him four units. We were living in San Jose, California at the time and were able to trade a couple of them for new computers at a local high-tech swap meet. I was headed to school with a brand-new IBM PC and a laser printer. As far as I was concerned life was perfect.
I headed off to train at Mt. Hood with the college ski team while my family packed my car and drove it to Utah for my Freshman year. When I got done with a great week of skiing, I headed down to school and met my family. As I was unpacking my stuff with my Dad, he pulled out a brand-new dot-matrix printer. I asked him what happened to my laser printer and he told me he had traded it for a new x286 computer. It was twice as fast as his old PC and I would have to survive with the dot-matrix printer.
I was heart-broken. Sure the dot-matrix printer was what all the other kids were using if they were lucky enough to even have a computer and printer. However I really wanted that laser printer and still regret not having it. So when it came time to get my daughter a printer to go with her new MacBook, I looked at all the options. Today you basically have three types of printers to choose from:
Black & white laser printers are not much more than the color inkjet printers. However they don't print in color. They do have a toner cartridge that lasts a lot longer though. My black & white laser printer that the kids have used for doing school papers goes about a year between cartridge changes. As for quality, there is not contest. The laser printer is significantly higher quality than the inkjet printers.
Finally there are color laser printers. At the time I was getting ready to send my daughter off to school, they were three to four times as expensive as the black & white laser printers. It was already starting to be a costly month and so I quickly dismissed the option.
In the end my wife and I decided that the black & white laser printer was the best option for our daughter. My wife found an inexpensive HP and purchased it at a local office-supply store. I probably should have been there to help decide on the purchase as the printer only worked with Windows. The night before my daughter was headed off to school, I was stuck trying to figure out how to make a Windows-only printer work with a Mac.
The internet is a wonderful tool and I was able to find help from someone else who had gone through the same pain. We had to download a driver to the computer and another program for the printer. When my daughter turns on the laser printer, she has to download a program from her computer to the printer but then she is able to print.
Now after two years of essays and papers the laser printer is still going strong. Furthermore, several of her roommates have had to rely on her printer late at night when their inkjets have failed or run out of ink. One problem that inkjets have is that the ink can harden and clog the jets. Cleaning the jets at 3am when your paper is due at 8am can turn a sleep-deprived-college coed into a raving lunatic.
So far my daughter and I are happy with the choice of a laser printer for college. If I had the money I would have prefered to send her to school with a color-laser printer so she could produce those stand-above-the-rest papers. However we chose something that was a good value, has worked and continues to work. As for her toner cartridge, the original one is still being used but she has a spare for when the time comes to replace it. Toner cartridges make great Christmas gifts, in case you are interested.
When I was headed off to college back in 1986, you had a choice between dot-matrix or daisy-wheel printers. Nobody had a laser printer as they were just being created. As luck would have it, my Dad was doing advertising for a new laser-printer company and they couldn't afford to pay his fee and so they gave him four units. We were living in San Jose, California at the time and were able to trade a couple of them for new computers at a local high-tech swap meet. I was headed to school with a brand-new IBM PC and a laser printer. As far as I was concerned life was perfect.
I headed off to train at Mt. Hood with the college ski team while my family packed my car and drove it to Utah for my Freshman year. When I got done with a great week of skiing, I headed down to school and met my family. As I was unpacking my stuff with my Dad, he pulled out a brand-new dot-matrix printer. I asked him what happened to my laser printer and he told me he had traded it for a new x286 computer. It was twice as fast as his old PC and I would have to survive with the dot-matrix printer.
I was heart-broken. Sure the dot-matrix printer was what all the other kids were using if they were lucky enough to even have a computer and printer. However I really wanted that laser printer and still regret not having it. So when it came time to get my daughter a printer to go with her new MacBook, I looked at all the options. Today you basically have three types of printers to choose from:
- Color inkjet
- Black & white laser
- Color laser
Black & white laser printers are not much more than the color inkjet printers. However they don't print in color. They do have a toner cartridge that lasts a lot longer though. My black & white laser printer that the kids have used for doing school papers goes about a year between cartridge changes. As for quality, there is not contest. The laser printer is significantly higher quality than the inkjet printers.
Finally there are color laser printers. At the time I was getting ready to send my daughter off to school, they were three to four times as expensive as the black & white laser printers. It was already starting to be a costly month and so I quickly dismissed the option.
In the end my wife and I decided that the black & white laser printer was the best option for our daughter. My wife found an inexpensive HP and purchased it at a local office-supply store. I probably should have been there to help decide on the purchase as the printer only worked with Windows. The night before my daughter was headed off to school, I was stuck trying to figure out how to make a Windows-only printer work with a Mac.
The internet is a wonderful tool and I was able to find help from someone else who had gone through the same pain. We had to download a driver to the computer and another program for the printer. When my daughter turns on the laser printer, she has to download a program from her computer to the printer but then she is able to print.
Now after two years of essays and papers the laser printer is still going strong. Furthermore, several of her roommates have had to rely on her printer late at night when their inkjets have failed or run out of ink. One problem that inkjets have is that the ink can harden and clog the jets. Cleaning the jets at 3am when your paper is due at 8am can turn a sleep-deprived-college coed into a raving lunatic.
So far my daughter and I are happy with the choice of a laser printer for college. If I had the money I would have prefered to send her to school with a color-laser printer so she could produce those stand-above-the-rest papers. However we chose something that was a good value, has worked and continues to work. As for her toner cartridge, the original one is still being used but she has a spare for when the time comes to replace it. Toner cartridges make great Christmas gifts, in case you are interested.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
The Best Computer for your College Kid
My oldest daughter heads off to school this week to start her Junior year of college. That has me thinking about my decision to buy her a computer before she left for her freshman year. I am one of those technical guys that has one of everything (PC, Mac, and Linux) and I wanted to get my daughter a computer with the following requirements:
At the time I actually considered all of the computer options. I looked at getting her a PC laptop running Windows as well as one running Linux. I quickly decided against Linux because of the ubiquity of Microsoft Office. While OpenOffice.org is a great alternative to MS Office, it is not perfect. My fear was that one of her teachers would send her a Word file that OpenOffice.org couldn't understand and that would be a contributing factor to bad grades.
I thought I could save some money by getting a PC Laptop running Windows instead of the Mac. So I pulled up one of the popular PC brand's website and did a feature-by-feature comparison with the lowest-priced MacBook. I was surprised that the costs were exactly the same. Aren't PC's supposed to cost less? When you compare processor speed, RAM, along with size and speed of the hard-disk, the low-end MacBook is the same price as a comperable PC.
When I saw that the pricing was the same, I went with the Mac. You see, my daughter has always had the talent of infecting the family computer with all sorts of malware. I knew that I would be getting countless calls from my daughter wondering why her computer was running so slow. While there are virus programs out there for the Mac, there are many more for Windows and that was a headache I didn't want to deal with.
When I ordered the MacBook I also ordered the latest student version of Microsoft Office. Since the computer was for a college student, Apple threw in a free iPod and knocked $50 off the price of the computer which helped pay for the Office software. Their only requirement was that I identified the school my daughter was attending. My daughter then gave the iPod to her little sister whose iPod she had run through the washing machine a month earlier.
One concern I did have with a Mac was that there are several websites that only work with Windows and Internet Explorer. While they do exist, they are few. My daughter has figured out which ones they are and uses the library or student computer center to access those sites and doesn't consider it to be a hassle.
One benefit with the Mac vs Windows is that there are not nearly as many games available for the Mac. My daughter doesn't really play a lot of computer games but I didn't want her being distracted by games when she should have been studying. This is something to keep in mind when either of my two boys head off to college as they love computer games.
Now as my oldest daughter is heading back for her third year of school and the MacBook is still running. It may not have the fastest processor or largest hard drive, but it is more than adequate for all her school needs.
I was helping my daughter pack this morning and asked her about all her friends that showed up at school with a Windows PC as freshmen. Most of the PC laptops had stopped working before the end of the first year. My concern about malware and virus software was well founded. The other problem was a lack of durability. My daughter's Mac has survived countless falls and other mishaps that have killed off many of her friends' computers. Those MacBooks just keep going and going.
After reading this you might think there have not been any problems with my daughter's computer. For the most part, that has been true. However in the middle of last year I had to replace her hard drive because it failed (probably because she dropped it one too many times). Overall I am more than satisfied with the durability of the machine and am happy with the purchase. The new hard drive was about $150 and week without a computer. That beats the $600 her friends were shelling out for new computers at the beginning of their Sophomore years.
Yep, when it comes time for my son to head off to school next year. It will be a Mac for him as well.
- Low cost
- Maintenance free
- Useful for school work
- Would last all through college
At the time I actually considered all of the computer options. I looked at getting her a PC laptop running Windows as well as one running Linux. I quickly decided against Linux because of the ubiquity of Microsoft Office. While OpenOffice.org is a great alternative to MS Office, it is not perfect. My fear was that one of her teachers would send her a Word file that OpenOffice.org couldn't understand and that would be a contributing factor to bad grades.
I thought I could save some money by getting a PC Laptop running Windows instead of the Mac. So I pulled up one of the popular PC brand's website and did a feature-by-feature comparison with the lowest-priced MacBook. I was surprised that the costs were exactly the same. Aren't PC's supposed to cost less? When you compare processor speed, RAM, along with size and speed of the hard-disk, the low-end MacBook is the same price as a comperable PC.
When I saw that the pricing was the same, I went with the Mac. You see, my daughter has always had the talent of infecting the family computer with all sorts of malware. I knew that I would be getting countless calls from my daughter wondering why her computer was running so slow. While there are virus programs out there for the Mac, there are many more for Windows and that was a headache I didn't want to deal with.
When I ordered the MacBook I also ordered the latest student version of Microsoft Office. Since the computer was for a college student, Apple threw in a free iPod and knocked $50 off the price of the computer which helped pay for the Office software. Their only requirement was that I identified the school my daughter was attending. My daughter then gave the iPod to her little sister whose iPod she had run through the washing machine a month earlier.
One concern I did have with a Mac was that there are several websites that only work with Windows and Internet Explorer. While they do exist, they are few. My daughter has figured out which ones they are and uses the library or student computer center to access those sites and doesn't consider it to be a hassle.
One benefit with the Mac vs Windows is that there are not nearly as many games available for the Mac. My daughter doesn't really play a lot of computer games but I didn't want her being distracted by games when she should have been studying. This is something to keep in mind when either of my two boys head off to college as they love computer games.
Now as my oldest daughter is heading back for her third year of school and the MacBook is still running. It may not have the fastest processor or largest hard drive, but it is more than adequate for all her school needs.
I was helping my daughter pack this morning and asked her about all her friends that showed up at school with a Windows PC as freshmen. Most of the PC laptops had stopped working before the end of the first year. My concern about malware and virus software was well founded. The other problem was a lack of durability. My daughter's Mac has survived countless falls and other mishaps that have killed off many of her friends' computers. Those MacBooks just keep going and going.
After reading this you might think there have not been any problems with my daughter's computer. For the most part, that has been true. However in the middle of last year I had to replace her hard drive because it failed (probably because she dropped it one too many times). Overall I am more than satisfied with the durability of the machine and am happy with the purchase. The new hard drive was about $150 and week without a computer. That beats the $600 her friends were shelling out for new computers at the beginning of their Sophomore years.
Yep, when it comes time for my son to head off to school next year. It will be a Mac for him as well.
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