Minimum Technical Requirements for Laptops Used in the SUNY Downstate Medical School Curriculum

CPU speed of 1.7 Ghz or faster

2.0 GHz or faster

Windows operating system-based laptops:

• Windows XP (Professional or Home Editions), 32-bit version with Service Pack 3 or later; or 64-bit version with Service Pack 2 or later.

• Windows Vista (Ultimate, Enterprise, Business, or Home Editions), 32-bit or 64-bit versions, Service Pack 2 or later.

• Windows 7 (Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate Edition), 32-bit or 64-bit version.

Mac OS X operating system-based laptops:

• Two operating systems: Mac OS X and Windows XP or Vista or Windows 7. Certain applications require Internet Explorer/Windows. Apple laptops must have installed a licensed copy of Windows.

• Dual boot configuration using Boot Camp: Apple laptops must be configured to use Boot Camp to ‘cold-boot’ directly into either Windows XP/Vista/7 or Mac OS X. Use of Parallels Desktop, VMWare Fusion or other third-party software to switch rapidly between Windows and OS X on an Apple laptop will not be allowed for some applications.

• Partition: The hard drive will need to be divided into two 'partitions' in order to install Windows with Boot Camp. A minimum of 80 Gb is recommended for the hard drive partition used to install Windows.

• Standard laptop with built-in keyboard and mouse input (e.g., track-pad, mouse pointer)

• A Tablet PC is acceptable only with use of wired, USB-connected keyboard and mouse.

• Wireless keyboards and mice are not acceptable for use with tablet or standard PCs.

• Certain laptops and tablets are not acceptable as they do not meet one or more required technical standards. These would include ultra-small ‘netbooks’ whose screens are smaller than 13 inches and the Apple iPad.

At least 4 Gb

4 Gb or more

At least 250 Gb hard drive capacity; at least 80 Gb free drive space after installation of operating system(s), programs and files

250 Gb or more hard drive capacity, with 80 Gb or more free drive space

At least 13 inches (diagonal measurement). Screen sizes smaller than 13 inches, such as found on certain ‘netbooks’, are not compatible with applications used by the College of Medicine.

14 inches or more (diagonal measurement)

Video system capable of displaying

• 24-bit color;
• 1024 × 768 pixels resolution or better;
• 60 Hz or faster refresh rate

Video card/processor with 256 Mb or more of its own video ram (VRAM)

NOTE: both wired (Ethernet) and wireless (Wi-Fi) networking capability are required

• 100 Mb/sec or faster Ethernet port
• 802.11g wireless (Wi-Fi)
• Ethernet cable, 5 ft

1 Gb/sec (Gigabit) Ethernet

Ethernet cable, 5 ft

• 4–5 hour battery or 3 hour battery life with spare battery
• Not all laptops may allow users to remove and replace batteries. Please check.
• Students will be required to bring their AC/DC adapters to activities that require the use of the laptop.

• Microsoft Office (Student Edition)
• Symantec Antivirus ( Available free to on-campus users. Other antiviral software will not be acceptable and users will not be able to log onto the campus WiFi network without Symantec Antivirus.)
• Adobe Acrobat Reader
• Internet Explorer (v7 or 8) and/or Firefox (v3, 4 or 5) ( Note that other browsers such as Apple's Safari or Google's Chrome may not function properly with systems in use at Downstate.)