Is laptop a must-have item to study in the program?

Andy Nguyen

Andy Nguyen

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Several students are asking me if they need to buy a laptop. I have conflicting answers from people in the program.

Some say that there is no need, there are available computers throughout campus to use.

Some say that you should get a laptop, especially when you are a full-time student, so you can do assignments on it everywhere and to use it during the final.

I have a laptop so I need no answer. For me, it's inseparable and has helped me tremendously during my study in graduate school.

This is the reply by Prof. Dan Stefanica
When I taught 9821 two years ago, of the 38 students taking the in-class midterm, 26 had the codes they wrote on their laptops. That was very useful for them.

There is not laptop requirement, but I think it is a useful tool (and people do not necessarily need the fastest gadget to do the work).
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We would like to hear more from all of you, specially current students.
 
I'm thinking of getting a laptop. I think Baruch students get offers discounts on Dell products. Forgot link, when I find I'll try and post it
 
I'm thinking of getting a laptop. I think Baruch students get offers discounts on Dell products. Forgot link, when I find I'll try and post it
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Mike,
I think the link you mentioned is this

The discount they provides pales in comparison with others you could find via deal boards like www.slickdeals.net or www.fatwallet.com/c/18/

If I can, I'll try to prevent anyone from buying a Dell. Friends don't let friends buy Dell.Dude, you not getting a Dell :D

This is from my personal experience and from fixing many of my friends', relatives' Dell. There are reasons Dell laptops are so much cheaper than other brands. I have used several Dell laptops, desktops, HP, Compaq, Sony and even built my own desktops from scratches.

I would personally vouch for IBM Thinkpad laptops, even the old machines. I'm using a 5-year old Thinkpad T23 model and it runs perfectly and surprisingly well. I'm planning to upgrade to a T60 model later this year.

If you want to get a Thinkpad, send me a PM, I can get you a discount.
 
For those thinking of getting a IBM/Levono Thinkpad. There is a pdf file called Tabook that contains every detail about every model currently for sale. You may not see the model you want online or in store but you can call IBM and order them directly.

Here is the link for Tabook.pdf

I recommend the T models, anything from T42, T43 or T60 is a workhorse.
 
What are the range of prices for Dell's laptop?
 
Sangfroid said:
What are the range of prices for Dell's laptop?
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While in general I do not encourage my friends to buy Dell laptops (Dell desktop is another issue), if you insist I can tell you that you can get a Dell laptop anywhere from $400 to less than $1000. This is after using rebate, mail-in coupons, special deals, etc

In my humble opinion, Dell laptops are just unbelievably cheap that I have no idea how they make money or quality,reliable machines for that little money.

Here is a prime idea of a Dell laptop after discounts, coupons becomes $391 plus tax. Click here to see it.

The best time to buy is just before schools start in Sept. During that time, companies bring out new product lines with discounts, incentives to excite parents to spend.
Max and I have discussed this and as much as he likes to save money, he finally bought an IBM Thinkpad T60 model.

There is a wave of sale among various T60 models now. Here is one example. $999 is a very good deal for a T60 machine. You don't have to worry about your computer frozen during the final week. T thinkpads are designed for business with very high quality control. I can tell this from experience because I'm still using an 5-year old T23 model almost 24/7 and it never gives me any trouble.

If budget is a priority, I think you will wisely choose Dell. If reliability, quality is your top concern, then go for another brand. I would stand behind Thinkpad T models and I heard good things about Fujisu laptops too.
Mac laptops are cute and all but I don't know how easily you can find software for what you need on OSX.

Let me know if I can be of any help, this is the single area I have some experience with.
 
Are laptops required? Not really. But you need a computer at home. There is alot of coding involved especially in the first year, Numerical Linear Algebra and PDE.

Jimmy
 
waterox said:
Are laptops required? Not really. But you need a computer at home. There is alot of coding involved especially in the first year, Numerical Linear Algebra and PDE.
Jimmy
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Thanks Jimmy, this is exactly what you told me before and it makes sense. A computer (not neccessary laptop) is required for everyone in this program to do coding. If you are a fulltime student and stay at school most of the day, you would want to code on your laptop anywhere you want, not having to go to the library (crowded,etc). Also there are software you need but not available on the lab computers.

If you are a part-time student and just go to class after work, I don't think you really need a laptop.

And if you don't have one and don't want to have one, I guess the only solution is to live in the lab. :D
 
There are many computer labs in Baruch. We also have a math computer lab which is very nice; it has MATLAB, MAPLE, Visual C++, BloodShed C++ etc.

The main one is open till very late, but the rest of the computer labs close around 7:30 pm. If the math lab is needed after hours, one can find Prof Stefanica, and he will open the math lab.

NOTE THAT THE MAIN COMPUTER LAB MAY NOT HAVE A C++ COMPILER.

=================================================

Software needed on your computer
-------------------------------------------
1) C++ compiler

a. I used this one, and it's free and good:

http://www.bloodshed.net/devcpp.html


b. Visual C++ 2005 Express is free as well. I never used it, but it should be good:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/


2) Microsoft Excel

You should be surprised; but, it is one of the most powerful and productive development environments. It is heavily used in the structured finance and risk mgmt classes. Industry uses Excel heavily. And forget about OpenOFfice; the VBA language in Excel is proprietary - so, there is no transfer.

I am not sure, but I think the Mac version of Excel may not be 100% comptaible with the Windows version (in terms of VBA functions and coding), but I could be wrong.



Jimmy
 
Valuable indeed. I guess I will hold-off buying a laptop until September as I do have a computer at home.
 
Just food for thought. This is a quote from CMU program regarding the laptop.
All MSCF degree students are required to have a laptop computer available for use for the duration of the MSCF program. A fully supported, laptop computer, pre-loaded with the software needed for the MSCF program and configured for either wireless or Ethernet access to the internet and CMU networks, is available for purchase through the MSCF program.
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Even there is no such requirement at Baruch and there are hundred of computers on campus, having a laptop will definitely give you an edge and in this competitive program, you will need every inch of it.
 
So as we prepare to enter the program, what kind of programs you installed on your laptop/desktop? If you think there are some essential softwares we all need to get, please share.
On my laptop, I have installed these
Programming:
  1. Dev-C++ IDE
  2. Visual Studio C++ 2005
  3. Matlab
  4. Excel
Editor
  1. Emacs
  2. Miktex
 
Andy,

I'm installing Ubuntu this weekend on my desktop at home. What software do you have installed on it? What packages do you recommend?

This is what I have installed in my laptop (Win XP):

- Cygwin development with all bells and whistles
- Visual Studio .Net 2003
- Matlab 5.0
- MS Office XP
- Rational Application Developer 6.0 (Java Development)
- TortoiseCVS (Source Control)
- MikTeX
 
Alain,
On my Ubuntu drive, I have
  1. Anjuta (for C++ development)
  2. Emacs (latex and coding)
  3. Compiz and Xgl (eye candy, vista effect)
  4. Matlab (model validation, financial package, calculation)
  5. Open office
  6. Thunderbird (email)
  7. Firefox (browser) + several plugins (adblock, customizegoogle,etc)
  8. other audio/video software
  9. Gaim chat client
 
I have Ubuntu working on my old desktop. So far it is ok. Anjuta works but is not compiling my programs. I can use it to edit the code but I have to compile outside on a terminal window using make or g++.

I'm using make all the time now because it is fairly easy after you get the hang of it.
 
Alain, I think the problem with anjuta not compiling is you didn't install build-essentials package. You can type sudo apt-get install build-essentials
These are the packages you need to compile. let me know how it goes
 

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