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Laptop Policy

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Student Laptop Policy

Purpose:  To ensure consistency of software and hardware across students’ personal computing devices while they pursue their Price College degree.

Personal laptop computers can be used to improve teaching and learning, and provide anytime/anywhere communication between students and faculty.  All students majoring or minoring in business are recommended to have a laptop computer that meets the minimum system requirements established by the Price College.  Many business courses now require and utilize software in and outside of the classroom, requiring students to have and use their own personal laptops for course work.

Laptop Requirements

Hardware:

Minimum

Recommended

Intel Core i5 Processor

Intel Core i7 Processor

8GB RAM

16GB RAM or more

256GB Solid State Drive (SSD)

512GB Solid State Drive (SSD) or more

1 USB 3.0, USB-C or Thunderbolt Port

1 or more USB 3.0, USB-C or Thunderbolt Ports

 

 

Recommended Computers, but not limited to:

  • Dell Inspiron or Latitude or XPS Line
  • HP ProBook
  • HP Spectre
  • Lenovo Thinkpad or Yoga
  • MacBook Pro (may need to use the OU virtual lab for some courses that require windows-based systems) 

Users of newer Mac computers with M1 processors and MacOS 11 Big Sur operating system will need to purchase “Parallels,” allowing Macs to operate in a Windows environment.  As discussed below, personnel in the Price College technology center can assist with the installation.

Note:  For laptops with smaller hard drives, we recommend having an external hard drive in case more space is required. Alternatively, we suggest that students save their files on OneDrive (cloud-based storage) which is provided to every student at OU free of charge.

Software:

Name

Details

Microsoft Windows 10 or 11

Windows can be installed on a PC or Mac
1 copy of Windows 10 free to OU students

Microsoft Office 365

Free to OU students on up to 5 PCs or Macs

Google Chrome web browser

Highly recommended

 

 

Student laptops should meet the above minimum hardware requirements.  If a student is purchasing a new laptop, we suggest that it at least meet the recommended hardware requirements.  In fact, it can be much better than those requirements.  The laptop should also be able to run Microsoft Windows and the Microsoft Office 365 suite installed on Windows.  Students who do not own a laptop can check one out from the Rath Scholars Technology Center, Room 105F, Adams Hall.

 


 

 

MIS Division Recommendations

For students planning to major or minor in MIS/MIT/BIA, or take several classes offered by the MIS Division, it is strongly recommended that students purchase a Microsoft laptop which meets or exceeds the recommended PC specifications. Proprietary software, often used by MIS faculty, and the updates on these software does not run on well Macs and/or has limited functionality. Additionally, proprietary software cannot be installed and/or licensed in virtual environments which removes the ability to use Parallels or VMware on a Mac. Finally, because of the heavy hands-on components and visual displays used in MIS/MIT classes, we recommend that, whenever possible, students have two large screens to facilitate the learning of course content.


 

Tablets:

We do not recommend students purchase and attempt to use a tablet in place of a laptop. While tablets may be thin and convenient, they are not fully functioning computers in the sense that they cannot run Microsoft Windows or MacOS, and many lack a physical keyboard or USB ports.