The vast majority of students purchase PC laptops rather than Macbooks.

A good warranty: covers the likely life of the laptop, three years is recommended.

We recommend Windows 10 and minimum of 16 GB of memory.

For advanced graphics work: a generous amount of memory is important.

As a guide a dedicated Graphics card with its own on-board memory of at least 4GB that supports OpenGL 3.0 or higher is recommended.

For advanced 3D work or Graphics programs: such as Photoshop, the graphics card is very important and cannot generally be changed after you have bought the unit.

There are three key points to consider when buying a computer for advanced work: You must balance the weight of the computer with the features you need. In general, the lighter the weight of a laptop and the more compact it is, the more expensive it is. We have a few contacts through the University for discounts: Our recommendations assume you will want to use more advanced software for rendering and 3D modeling. Laptops are preferable because they allow you the greatest flexibility.

We recommend buying the best computer you can afford - but do not forget about servicing. Go to your computer manufacturer website Downloads section, select your computer model, and check for newest version of the driver. To minimize the instability of the wireless environment in studios, you must keep your wireless card driver software up-to-date. Any hardware or software issues, unless it is software downloaded from our website, should be resolved with your computer manufacturer.

Please note that the Faculties IT Department is not responsible for your laptop. There are a number of faculty resources available for your laptop. Our lab computers should only be used for tasks you cannot perform on your own laptop. Software From Daniels (Rhino,V-Ray, RhinoCAM, Adobe CC)Īll students must have their own laptop.Data, Map & Government Information Services.

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