Computer Recommendations
The following recommended specifications are for students interested in buying a new notebook. These are minimum specifications designed to provide you with a basic notebook that should function well for 3 years. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Jane Chang, Assistant Director for Student Computing Services (jchang@law.usc.edu, 213/740-2630). For more information on obtaining financial aid to buy a computer, please contact the Enrollment Services Office at 213/740-2523.
USC Law does not recommend specific brands of notebook. However, we recommend you look at the latest PC Magazine Service and Reliability Survey that comes out every fall, and buy a brand of notebook which receives high ratings in this survey.
You can find the 2007 version at the following web site: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2184105,00.asp
Jane Chang is a Dell Certified Technician and can provide warranty parts replacement for Dell Notebooks only. Parts arrive next business day and are replaced in-house. You would never have to talk to tech support! Dell has priced out a notebook for our students with a 4 year warranty and 4 year Complete Care warranty1at a 3 year price.
Click here to purchase our customized machine from Dell at special pricing:
Dell's USC School of Law (Personal Purchases)
Make sure that you purchase a warranty that will cover you through the Bar exam the year that you finish Law School. The Bar exam is administered the last week of July every year in every state.
For exams, starting in Fall 2008, we will be allowing Mac notebooks with the Intel Core 2 Duo processor running Tiger (OSX 10.4.4) or Leopard (OSX v. 10.5) that can boot into 32-bit Windows (Vista, XP, or 2000) via BootCamp. You must purchase your own copy of Windows.
| Feature | Laptop |
|---|---|
| Processor | 1.73 GHz Pentium 4 or Pentium M, or AMD Athlon CPU or faster |
| Memory (RAM) | 1GB or more (recommend minimum 2GB for Vista) |
| Hard Drive | 80 GB or larger |
| Display | 14.1" or larger XGA display |
| Video Card | 32 MB or more |
| USB Ports | 1 or 2 USB 2.0 ports |
| Operating System | 32-bit Windows Vista Business or XP Pro SP2 |
| Warranty | 3 Year Warranty1 |
| Wireless Network Card | PCMCIA 802.11b/g compatible wireless network card |
| Standard Ethernet Network Card | Built-in Ethernet Card |
| CD-ROM / DVD | 8X DVD+/-RW, or faster |
| Options | |
|---|---|
| External Hard Drive | Useful for backing up the notebook |
| USB Flash Drive (aka Thumb Drive, Memory Key) | Useful for backing up the notebook |
- Most manufacturers now offer warranties which cover accidental damage (e.g., beverage spills, laptop being dropped, etc.). You should consider buying this additional warranty.
