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Show bu/ine// MONDAY'SEPTEMBER 26*2005 B7 Beyond pencils and erasers Richard A. Smith Business Writer Today's students can't compete without having a knowledge of the newest technologies. So to help you in this quest, we present a few tips to help you be a little more like the guys and gals who inhabit the Computer Science building, and still be cool! bility is worth it. Some keys, such as the delete key and cursor keys, are in different locations on a laptop. You'll have to get used to the change if you decide to go portable. Never, ever, buy a laptop without touching it and trying it out first. A laptop is a very personal thing. Check the feel of the keyboard and pointing devices and their arrangement to make sure that you are comfortable with it. Most also Cellphone Everyone needs a cell phone. I remember several years ago, before cell phones were so cheap and common, sharing a phone with my roommates. Each month having to divide up the bill and regularly getting shortchanged and having to pay the difference. Those days are gone. Now you can ditch the land-line entirely and go wireless anywhere, anytime. Ann! The freedom! When looking at cell phones, you need to keep in mind what you really want: camera or not, personal information management (PIM) features or not, analog roaming or not. Or, to keep it cheap, go with the one that they are giving away for the lowest price. These usually include a one or two year contract, so choose the company carefully— you'll be stuck with them for a while. Compare rates, features, and service. Talk to other people about their service, rates, and reliability. Go online and check out their customer service ratings. Some companies offer good discounts for students, ask around. Computer When choosing a computer you want to be sure that you will be covered in case something goes wrong. Check the warranty and know exactly what it covers. As far as hardware, know exactly what you want to do with it. A person who's using a computer for graphic editing or programming (or gaming) will need a lot more computing power than someone who's just writing papers and surfing the internet. A sales person at your local computer or electronics store can help you choose the right one for you, but beware. Ask the salesperson if he or she works on salary or commission. If they work on commission, take everything they say with a grain of salt. Your best weapon is knowledge, so learn as much as you can about the technology and what you need. The price depends on what you're getting, but plan on paying $300-$ 1000. Laptop A laptop is a great way to take everything with you. But, keep in mind that it will cost you more, about twice as much as a desktop computer. The purpose of a laptop is to be portable, not luggable, so look for something small and light. You want something that you can put in your backpack and that won't take up any more room (or weight) than a book (hence the other name for a laptop computer: notebook). Look for something less than five pounds (it doesn't sound like much, but they seem to get heavier the longer you carry them) and try the keyboard. If you are a touchtypist, the smaller keyboard will take some time to get used to, but the porta- 1 VolcenaU 1-650-555-1234 have a Secure Digital (S D) slot, USB port or built-in network interface for easy data sharing. Again, knowledge is essential, so do your research and know what you want or need. Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) An alternative to a laptop or notebook computer is a Personal Digital Assistant or PDA. (They have nothing to do with Public Displays of Affection, though some guys [and gals] in the Computer Science building have been known to be quite fond of their PDAs.) These very tiny handheld computers can be as limited as basic PIM fimctions or might do as much as a laptop. Some have built-in cameras, cell phones, or both. Most have expansion slots, too, for additional memory using SD cards and such. Again, you need to know what you want or need, and be familiar with the technology. Most PDAs use the Palm OS or a version of Microsoft's Windows operating system. The choice of which operating system is not as important as choosing what works best for you, so, again, try some out, ask around, check with the people at the store. Two other tips from above hold true for PDAs as well: 1) don't buy without physically trying the product, and 2) knowledge is power. Price: $100 to $1000 Color is a necessity for printing pictures. The other choice is inkjet or laser technology. The difference here is that inkjet is cheaper, but not necessarily permanent or waterproof. Laser is more expensive and relatively permanent. For most documents and presentations, print quality is about equal. Some laser printers also produce ozone, so you might want to go with inkjet. Even though inkjet is cheaper, the ink can still be expensive: around $35 per cartridge. Depending on the printer and what you're printing, an ink cartridge can a last about three months. It's no longer a secret that inkjet printer manufacturers make more money from the ink cartridges than they do from the printers, so you might get a printer for a very nice price ($100+, or free with a system) only to find out that you must spend a week's worth of grocery money to replace the ink cartridges. Portable Flash Memory Device Also known as a "thumb drive" or a "USB flash drive" or simply "a USB," these are small memory devices that can be worn on a lanyard around your neck or on a keychain. They come as small as 32 MB, and as large as 1 GB or larger. You can save your data to one of these, take it to another computer (like in the computer labs on campus) and copy or print out your documents on that computer. They are thumb-sized and very handy, which is why I like the term "thumb drive," Another alternative here is a flash memory device such as a Secure Digital card (SD), Compact Flash card (CF/CFII) or Sony Memory Stick, so you can use it in many other devices like your laptop, PDA or digital camera. However, you may need to get a little USB card reader for it, too. You might want to keep a record of your college experience or take a picture of that creepy person your roommate is going out with, just in case you need it for the police. For this, I recommend a digital camera. The best thing about a digital camera is that if you take a bad shot, you can delete it and try again. No more wasting money on bad prints. The next best thing about a digital camera is that you can email the pictures a whole lot easier than with physical photos. When choosing a digital camera, resolution is everything. Consider that you • might want to print your pictures on your home printer (to give to the police, remember). For this, you need at least three megapixels (MP) of resolution; anything less and the print quality will suffer. Of course, you'll also need a decent color printer, but we already covered that. I hear you saying, "But I can get a digital camera built-in to my cell phone or PDA, why do I need another one?11 Again, resolution. Most digital cameras built-in to other devices are less than one MP, which is okay for a quick shot or" your buddy kissing a statue, but for real photography you'll want something better. And finally, a few overall tips to wrap up: Knowledge is power, so do your homework. Research on the web and in magazines (library), make lists, comparison shop, carefully consider features vs. price. Consider asking your friendly neighborhood geek to help you shop, learn and check things out. Just.be warned that they can easily overwhelm you with techno-jargon, so be ready to have them back up and explain. Or you can just run out and get something and take your chances. Richard A. Smith is a UVSC graduate in Computer Science and English, currently working on a secondary ed teaching certification. He can be reached at seronac@gmail.com Digital Cameras wr.-r* "• Vnii f^AM'T TCvT Printers You might occasionally need to print a paper or a letter of application or something. For this, you need a printer. The major choice here is color or black and white. Most printers for sale currently are color, but black and white is cheaper. •4k-- L$gan College of Chiropractic... | Sign up for an elective that's truly a test of what you're made of. 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