Christian Academy of Knoxville Minimum System Requirements for Student Laptops 2013-­‐2014 Please keep in mind these are minimum requirements and that laptops may exceed any requirement. Most laptops available in stores will meet these requirements with no problems. Used laptops may be brought provided the meet these minimum requirements. iPads are not acceptable for use with the Laptop Program. Minimum Hardware Specifications Operating System Windows XP, Vista or 7 (all versions); Mac OS X Processor Intel or AMD RAM 2GB (4GB or more recommended) Hard Drive 40GB Graphics Integrated Graphics Input Device 10/100 Ethernet Card AND Integrated or PCMCIA wireless "G" card Touchpad or pointer stick Battery Should last at least 2.5 hours Networking Computer Recommendations Low For basic school computing, a low-­‐end laptop will satisfy the school requirements. Students not needing to do more than web browsing, email, and word processing should be fine with low-­‐end models. A basic laptop with a CD or DVD drive is typically between $350 and $700. Netbooks are not acceptable for school use. Medium* Students who want to do more than the basics, such as downloading and working with music or digital photography will need a more powerful laptop. Most standard laptops will meet this need without too much of an issue. Standard laptops can run between $500 and $1500. High* Students who plan on doing video editing or working with lots of graphics in addition to music and pictures will need a more robust laptop. High end-­‐laptops have add-­‐in graphics cards, faster hard drives and more memory. These laptops run between $1000 and $2000. Students do not need high-­‐end laptops for school however may want one if they want to do graphics work. * Students will use school computer labs for graphics classes such as Digital Design and Digital Photography. Students do not need medium or high-­‐end laptops for any classes but may choose to get them for personal preference or personal need. Mac vs PC? Deciding between purchasing a Mac and a PC is a personal choice. The school will accept either system to meet the laptop requirements. Apple’s least expensive laptop is about $1000, so budget-­‐conscious families should be aware of this. PCs start around $250 for a netbook or $400 for a standard laptop. With that said, Macs are less prone to viruses than PCs and typically have better battery life. The school recommends that if families choose to purchase a new laptop for their student, the student and parent work together to determine their individual needs and whether they are better served with a PC or Mac. Although not required, we recommend netbooks for Middle School students due to their smaller size which makes moving from class to class easier. Software Requirements In order to make effective use of the laptops, the following software is required. Office Suite Laptops must have a common Office Suite installed on their system. Office suites should include at minimum a Document Writer, Spreadsheet Program and Presentation Program. Some examples include: Microsoft Office (any edition) iWork Office (Mac) OpenOffice (free – http://www.openoffice.org) Recommendation: We highly recommend Microsoft Office 2007 or 2010 Home and Student Edition. If purchasing a Mac, we recommend the Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 Edition. This suite is most compatible with what our teachers are using and includes Microsoft OneNote, which is a powerful tool for taking notes. Web Browser Laptops must have Mozilla Firefox installed as their primary web browser for school use. While other browsers may be used on campus, the school will only support Firefox and students will be expected to have it installed. Mozilla Firefox is free and downloadable at http://www.firefox.com. Web Browser Plug-­‐ins To fully utilize the tools available on the internet, the following web browser plug-­‐ins must be downloaded, installed, and regularly updated: Sun Javascript – http://www.java.com Adobe Flash – http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ Adobe Shockwave – http://get.adobe.com/shockwave/ Apple Quicktime – http://www.apple.com/quicktime/ PDF Reader Many documents on the internet are in the Adobe Acrobat PDF format. In order to be able to view these, a PDF viewer is required. The following two viewers are recommended: Adobe Reader – http://get.adobe.com/reader FoxIt Reader – http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/addons.php Anti-­‐Virus (Windows Only) In order to protect a student’s computer from viruses, an adequate virus scanner must be installed on each student’s laptop. Virus scanners from major companies such as Symantec or McAfee are acceptable. Free virus scanners are also available and include: Microsoft Security Essentials – http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/ Avast! Antivirus – http://www.avast.com/free-­‐antivirus-­‐download AVG Antivirus – http://free.avg.com/us-­‐en/download-­‐avg-­‐anti-­‐virus-­‐free