Standard / High-end / Monitors / Laptop Standard / FAQs / Minimum PC Configurations / Procurement Policy

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Minimum Hardware for Productive University Use:

Desktop computer hardware and the software that runs on it change rapidly - very rapidly. Due to this rapid change, equipment over time becomes ineffective and difficult to support. According to the Gartner Group, an IT industry analyst group, PCs have a useful life of 4 years for most users and 3 years for high-end/power users. Laptops have a useful life of 3 years for most users and less for high-end/power users. We continue to support equipment well beyond these useful lifetimes.

The minimum PC configuration that is to be used at Cleveland State University for Desktops is a Pentium 4, 2.6 GHz single core, 512MB RAM unit. If your machine has a 2.6 GHz or better single core processor with only 512MB RAM and is experiencing performance issues, we may ask you to purchase additional RAM to bring it up to 1 GB RAM.

The minimum PC configuration that is to be used at Cleveland State University for notebook computers is a Pentium 4, 1.73 GHz single core, 512MB RAM unit. Again, we may ask you to purchase additional RAM if your machine is having performance issues.

With Gateway Computers, Inc. having gone bankrupt, we are finding it very difficult to locate replacement Gateway parts. If you do have a Gateway computer that meets our minimum hardware requirement, we may not be able to repair it. If that is the case, we will tell you it is time to purchase a new HP unit.

If your equipment configuration does not meet these specifications or is non-standard, we will be unable to service your computer.

Supported Operating Systems:

Information Services and Technology can only effectively support Operating Systems that are still under active support of the OS Vendor. We have in-house expertise to support active levels of the Windows and Mac environments. Microsoft currently supports Windows 2000, XP, and when released, Vista. Apple currently supports OS X 10.2 or higher.

University Standard Vendors and Hardware for New Purchases:

The University has standardized on Gateway Companies and Apple Computers to provide for all PC and Mac and notebook purchases. Please visit the Personal Computer Procurement pages for standard configurations, pricing, and ordering information.

Updated: 07/12/2007