Laptop and PDA Requirements

Laptop Requirement

We recommend that all students enrolled in the Podiatric Medicine Program matriculate with a laptop computer that meets or exceeds minimum departmental standards. These standards were arrived at to insure that each student has equal learning opportunities including access to materials, viewing, and storage. Thus, we have carefully designated a single machine that incorporates all of the necessary features, speed, capacity, etc. that would be required.

If you are considering a purchase different than this particular brand and model, you must pay particular attention to the various details of this list to insure that your own laptop meets or exceeds this standard. Anything less will put you at a decided disadvantage, may be incompatible with some of the things you will be expected to do, and will not be supported by Barry University.

The following is the minimum standard laptop with the current available price:

Additionally, you may want to consider (but are not required to purchase):

• An optional upgrade to the Module Bay Devices that would include a DVD writable drive. This would give you the ability to record 4.7 GB to a single DVD disk rather than the limitation of the 650 MB capacity of a CD-ROM.
• A printer. Black only or color inkjet is sufficient for most needs. Consider the cost of replacing ink cartridges in your purchase. Many low-cost printers have very high-cost ink replacement cartridges. Look at estimated pages per cartridge to fairly compare costs.
• Anti-theft devices. Consider insurance and locking cables. Nothing beats keeping the computer with you at all times.
• Software. You will want to consider productivity software (like Microsoft Office, which includes Word, Outlook, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint). Before buying any software, consult the Barry University Division of Information Technology (DoIT) at helpdesk@mail.barry.edu for student prices. DoIT, by subscribing to the Microsoft Academic Student Select program for example, is able to obtain licenses for Microsoft Office Professional 2007 (in the English language only) and assign/transfer them to our Barry students at significantly discounted prices. Barry University uses MS Outlook as the standard e-mail communications tool. You’ll also need a good anti-virus program with a subscription to updates. We recommend McAfee or Symantec. You’ll need an Internet browser (like Internet Explorer (free from Microsoft) and Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.1.1 (free) or the Adobe Creative Suite (purchase).

Finally, each student will need Internet access at their place of residence. This will be necessary for communications, assignments, research, and maximizing your learning experience.

PDA Requirement

It is a mandatory requirement of the program that students must obtain a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant or handheld computer), within designated specifications, prior to the start of the 2nd semester. The technology is advancing at such a rapid pace that it is our strong recommendation that students NOT obtain their PDA before matriculation. Those who already own a PDA prior to matriculation may be advised to purchase a replacement model within the designated specifications. If you are in doubt, we will answer your questions on a case-by-case basis after matriculation. The point is not to rush out and buy one needlessly before you get here.

While the specifications could change prior to the start of the second semester, the following current specifications should serve as a guideline. First of all, the equipment should be Palm OS compatible. We have had too much trouble in the past with Pocket PC operating system devices (Dell Axim, HP-iPacs, and the like) to recommend them for our purposes. For compatibility of use, software availability, general support and guidance, we must insist that your PDA be Palm OS. Currently, this means Palm brand in the U.S.

The model will probably need to be no more than two years old to be compatible with all current software, must have expansion memory capability, and should have at least 16MB of Internal (device) memory.

Currently, a good model with these specifications is the Palm Tungsten E, for which you should budget about $200. If your budget allows, you might want to look at other, more expensive, and more feature-laden Palm models (like the current Palm Tungsten C or Tungsten T5, each at about $400). However appealing other features may be, you will not require any more than the basic ones described above for the purposes of your Barry PA education.

You will also need at least one expansion memory card, SD, at least 64MB, for which you would budget another approximately $35. You may want to add other optional software program titles (like specific medical text titles), but these are not requirements of the Barry PA Program currently, just options.

We require you to obtain your PDA for the second semester so that we can begin to help you learn how to use it prior to your Clinical Year. At that time, you will also need to have a cell phone or pager for instantaneous and necessary communications, back-and-forth, between the program and every clinical student. This suggests an alternative to such communication devices and a separate PDA. Happily, one such alternative exists. This is the PDA/cell phone convergence device. While there are a growing number of such “Smart Phone” models, currently only two fit the aforementioned PDA specifications. These are the Treo 600 and Treo 650, both by Palm. They fit the Palm OS criterion, have expansion memory capability, AND work equally well as cell phones. You would eliminate the need to have two separate devices, but would carry one instead. This option, while handier, could be more expensive. You would have to check into calling plans, and weigh the costs for yourself. We just suggest it as an option.

Once more, PDA’s are changing rapidly. If you don’t yet own one, please wait until closer to the December holiday season. By then, you’ll likely get more for less. If you already have a PDA, let us know at matriculation and we will inform you whether it will be necessary to purchase a different model to meet the current required specifications. We can tell you now that, if your PDA is a Pocket PC model, you should expect to replace it with a Palm.