ITS Computer Recommendations

The following recommendations will meet the needs of the general UH staff and students for email, web browsing, word processing, spreadsheet and other office productivity software. The systems listed are ITS minimum level recommendations. ITS recommends purchasing the systems listed below or systems that exceed these specifications.

UH students should consult with their respective college/school/department for specialized hardware/software requirements for their field of study, that are not covered under these general recommendations.

PC Desktop:

12th Generation Intel Core i5 Processor / 5th Generation AMD Ryzen 5 (or better)
8GB RAM (minimum); 16GB RAM or more (recommended)
500GB Solid State Drive (recommended)*
10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Connection
Webcam with microphone
Backup device - External hard drive and/or USB Flash Drive
Windows 10/11 Pro
3-year On-site Warranty

PC Laptop:

12th Generation Intel Core i5 Processor / 5th Generation AMD Ryzen 5 (or better)
8GB RAM (minimum); 16GB RAM or more (recommended)
500GB Solid State Drive (recommended)*
10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Connection
Webcam with microphone
Wireless 802.11N or AC built-in
Backup device - External hard drive and/or USB Flash Drive
Windows 10/11 Pro
3-year On-site Warranty (recommended adding complete hardware coverage to protect from accidental damage)

Most laptops no longer come with an internal optical disc drive. If one is needed, purchase an external USB DVD+/-RW drive.

* If additional storage is needed and read/write speeds are not a concern, storage can be expanded via additional internal drives (solid state or mechanical) or by external drives. If additional storage is needed and read/write speeds are important, consider upgrading to a larger primary SSD.

Macintosh Desktop:

Apple M1 chip with 8 core CPU/GPU
8GB RAM minimum; 16GB recommended
256GB Solid State Drive minimum; 512GB Solid State Drive recommended
10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Connection
Webcam with microphone
Backup device - External hard drive and/or USB Flash Drive
macOS 12
Applecare (3 year warranty)

* iMac and Mac mini no longer come with a SuperDrive. If one is needed, an external USB drive would have to be purchased.

Macintosh Laptop:

(if used as a primary computer)

Apple M1 chip with 8 core CPU/GPU
8GB RAM minimum; 16GB recommended
256GB Solid State Drive minimum; 512GB Solid State Drive recommended
10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Connection *
Webcam with microphone
Wireless 802.11ax built-in
Backup device - External hard drive and/or USB Flash Drive
macOS 12
Applecare (3 year warranty)

* MacBook/Air/Pro requires purchase of a Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to ethernet adapter.
**MacBook/Air/Pro do not come with a SuperDrive. If one is needed, an external USB drive would have to be purchased.

Printing:

UH administrative systems no longer require special printer requirements, e.g. postscript. Documents can be printed to any locally attached printer.

For printers being used by a single individual, a printer with a USB connection should suffice.

For printers being shared amongst a number of staff, a network-capable printer with wired Ethernet connectivity should be considered. Wireless printing via the UHM WiFi is not supported or recommended. When setting up the network-capable printer, follow the recommendations for securing network printers and multi-function devices listed in https://www.hawaii.edu/askus/1357.

Purchasing:

PC's can be purchased through the UH Dell Store or the UH Bookstore and Mac's can be purchased through the UH Bookstore. HP Printers are available locally. If you need help deciding on a system, please contact the ITS Help Desk (call 956-8883 or email help@hawaii.edu) .

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Article ID: 585
Created: Wed, 12 Apr 2006 11:21am
Modified: Tue, 09 Jan 2024 9:39am