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20030909: New PC's for CCNY

>From: "Edward Hindman" <address@hidden>
>Organization: CCNY
>Keywords: 200309091621.h89GKwLd024019 platforms

Hi Ward,

>We have been awarded a Unidata equipment proposal for 
>$7000 to upgrade our geoscience computer lab that features 
>McIDAS.

Congradulations!

>We would like to replace as many of our 1997-98 
>vintage PC's with newer machines.

OK.

>Our PC requirements are as follows.  The heaviest use is 
>during certain classroom sessions when a student might 
>have McIDAS running through an Exceed window (hooked to 
>our McIDAS-X server) as well as MS Word, EXCEL, POWERPOINT 
>and an image analysis package running.

My assumption from your comment is that you are not looking to replace
your server.  Am I interpreting this correctly?

>Thus, the new PC's 
>should have sufficient RAM and speed to handle all this 
>multi-tasking.

OK.

>Also, we would like to buy the largest thin-screen monitors possible.

This can add significantly to the cost of a system especially if the
size exceeds 19".

>What would you recomment we buy and who from (who has the 
>best education discount)?

First, it would be helpful to know how many machines you have that you
would like to replace.  The reason I ask is that it is always a good
idea to buy as powerful a machine as possible so that they will last as
long as possible.

>We look forward to your guidance.

The following is not our final recommendation.  I will provide that
after I learn as much as possible about what you have now and where you
hope to end up after the purchase.

Guidelines:

- as fast a machine as possible: 2.4 Ghz P4 or equivalent (e.g., Athlon 2400+)
  with fast memory bus (e.g., 533 Mhz or faster Front Side Bus)
- at least 512 MB RAM (more is always better)
- at least 80 GB hard disk (120 GB now appears to be commodity)
- 10/100 Mbps Ethernet
- decent video card (not onboard video) with sizable memory (examples:
  Nvidia GeForce4 MX440 w/64 MB; Nvidia GeForce4 Ti4200; etc.) and,
  if possible, onboard support for OpenGL
- CD-RW capability
- USB 2.0 ports some of which are accessible from the front
- 17" LCD display

I seem to recall that you have your students save data/assignments on
CDROM.  This is the main reason for a CD-RW machine.  I would also like
to propose consideration of them using USB FlashDrives (know as
JumpDrives by Lexar and others).  These are USB devices that fit on
your key chain and can hold varying amounts of data: 32, 64, 128, 256 MB,
etc.  The more the unit can hold, the more costly it is.  I bought a
256 MB Lexar JumpDrive on sale at CompUSA for right around $50, and
I love its utility.

For $800, I purchased a recertified machine (new, but returned by a
customer that had second thoughts) that exceeds all of the above
criteria, except it did not come with a LCD display, from a place named
TigerDirect (www.tigerdirect.com) for home use.  The machine I got was
actually a 2.8 Ghz P4, and it included a DVD ROM drive and had the
GeForce4 MX440 video and a 120 GB hard disk.

The same machine machine (except brand new) with 17" LCD panel can be
found at Costco (at least here in Boulder County) for $1198 (before
tax).  The brand name is Medion, a huge German company that has gotten
very good reviews for its machine's quality (they use only the highest
quality components).

Whether or not we will recommend this machine for university use is
still being debated informally here in the UPC.  My experience with it,
however, has been very positive.

Another thing you should consider purchasing is a UPS for each machine.
This is especially important if the power in your lab is known to
fluctuate (or go out in widescale blackouts ;-).

>Sincerely,

Please get back to me with the number of machines that you need to
replace.  This will dominate the recommendation for what to buy.

>Prof. Ward Hindman
>EAS Dept./CCNY
>NYC, NY

Cheers,

Tom