Tech Prep for College

[Skandha]

So starting late August I'll be off to the dorms for college and I need advice on stuff to bring

• I've decided that I'm going to leave my rig at home
  • To be honest, I don't games very much so I don't need all that horsepower
  • Frankly I don't feel comfortable bringing such an expensive thing into a dorm just yet, maybe next year.
• Dell Latitiude 6510 (As a Desktop Replacement, Windows 8.1)
  • I have the dock so I can hook it up my 2 27" IPS monitors that I'm bringing
    • http://i.imgur.com/XqKy8NRl.jpg
  • It has 8GB ram, 126GB SSD, and Nvidia NVS 3100, I've used it as my main machine before and it's pretty capable for my uses.
• Macbook Air (Windows 8.1)
  • Can't be lugging around a heavy Dell all the time
  • File sharing between Windows and Mac is annoying as all hell
  • 126GB SSD, 8GB RAM
• Wireless N Router
  • Rooms will have ethernet so I'll be able to hook it up.
  • Just In case the room has bad wireless signal.
  • I'll turn off SSID broadcast to be safe.
• iPhone 5 and Note II
  • Best of both worlds
  • Just In case I run out of battery I can swap SIMs
• PSVita, PSP, & Xperia Play
• Misc.
  • Already have a VPN,   Hotspot Shield FTW
  • Already have cloud storage, so I'm set for that.
  • College gives me Office 356 for free

So I need help deciding on a few things

• I want to bring a good storage drive, what kind should I get?
  • My Dell has an extra 250GB Seagate in the DVD drive slot, maybe replace that with a 1TB Drive?
  • I'm planning on Sharing the drive on the network so I can access it from my other devices too
• Kensington lock
  • I've seen a bunch of stuff on ebay and Amazon but I have no clue what to pick, suggestions?
  • though it's less secure i'd prefer one with a key rather than combination
• Headset
  • I mainly listen to podcasts and J-pop so something that sounds good with that stuff
  • Not sure what brand, I don't want anything really expensive
    • I think Logan made a video on cheap headsets, I was going to just buy one of those
• Ethernet Adapter
  • for the Macbook Air just to be safe?

 

Any suggestions on what else I should look into bringing? I'm sure many of you would have advice from experience.

[Primal]

How would you use the kingsington lock exactly?

[Skandha]

How would you use the kingsington lock exactly?

I was planning to use it to hold the Dell laptop down, The dock can use the kensington lock to prevent the laptop from being ejected.

[Dopey]

I don't currently dorm at this very moment, I drive down everyday but I'm literally at my friends' dorm all the time and have stayed many nights... enough to basically live in the dorms. I'm dorming next year if that helps but I have enough experience to tell you the basics of what you'll need as a techy.

 

This is what I have:

My ultrabook, extra iphone USB cables, smart phone (my 5s), external gaming mouse, mousepad, a headset along with a good pair of in ear earphones..

What I've learned is that you should always have extra usb cables along with an extra set of earphones.

 

I see you've got the router..

For the ethernet adapter, its better to be safe than sorry. It's great knowing you have it and it just being there in case, rather than worrying about not having one.

I personally replaced my 1tb hdd in my ultrabook with a 120gb ssd which I'm planning to upgrade to a higher capacity soon. Obviously bring a storage drive to back up all your data, if not it's a good idea emailing major projects and such to yourself so you KNOW they're there.

Kudos on the free office, I'm using kingsoft D:

 

In your backpack, and trust me on this, keep a usb cable for your phone w/ charger, a backup battery bank for your phone or something, a nice pair of earphones.. aa extra laptop charger would be much more convenient because I only bring my ultrabook to class without the charger and I run it pretty close at times (I never bring it because its situated in a pretty tight spot and its a hassle to constantly grab and put back).

 

Props to you leaving your rig at home. You aren't going to touch that thing once second semester comes around because you'd probably be playing smash bros or something with a bunch of friends, or studying.. or along the lines of having a life (;

 

Maybe bring a nice pair of speakers/subs? I don't have any but my friends both got some logitech z313's (I think) in their dorm and they pound.

HDMI cable to hook it up to a tv for movies and such?

 

Just keep in mind spares are key. You're also going to be on your smartphone A LOT.. they are life savers.

I don't know if this applies to all dorms, but the dorms at my school are quite small. So keep that in mind if the dorms you are moving into are also small.

 

If I can think of anything else, I'll add more.. I just got off a long day of school/work so my mind isn't quite fully here baha.

[Skandha]

I personally replaced my 1tb hdd in my ultrabook with a 120gb ssd which I'm planning to upgrade to a higher capacity soon. Obviously bring a storage drive to back up all your data, if not it's a good idea emailing major projects and such to yourself so you KNOW they're there.

Ya I have a Samsung 480 128GB SSD as the boot drive on my dell, even though it's only SATA 2 capable it still helped a lot, Obviously that's not enough space, which is why I have the 250GB drive in the DVD drive bay,.

 

I'm also an avid Skydrive user, my documents and pictures folders are directed to there so everything is always backed up.

 

In your backpack, and trust me on this, keep a usb cable for your phone w/ charger, a backup battery bank for your phone or something, a nice pair of earphones.. aa extra laptop charger would be much more convenient because I only bring my ultrabook to class without the charger and I run it pretty close at times (I never bring it because its situated in a pretty tight spot and its a hassle to constantly grab and put back).

Yup, already do that, Micro USB cable and wall charger for my Note II and a Micro USB to Lightning adapter in my wallet so I have both covered.

 

Another Laptop Charger is a good idea, Though I don't want to be robbed by Apple so I'll check elsewhere for the Magsafe charger

 

Props to you leaving your rig at home. You aren't going to touch that thing once second semester comes around because you'd probably be playing smash bros or something with a bunch of friends, or studying.. or along the lines of having a life (;

Ya I figured that I already don't do much gaming as it is, and all the CPU intensive stuff can be handled by my dell, if not I can always remote to my machines.

 

maybe bring a nice pair of speakers/subs? I don't have any but my friends both got some logitech z313's (I think) in their dorm and they pound.

Ya I'll probably bring my speakers, nothing special but they work. http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-970264-0403-X-140-2-0-Speakers/dp/B000IF4788/

 

HDMI cable to hook it up to a tv for movies and such?

Good call on the HDMI cable, I'll bring my Thunderbolt to HDMI adapter too!

I got one from Monoprice that has Displayport, DVI, and HDMI so I'm covered! 

 

Just keep in mind spares are key. You're also going to be on your smartphone A LOT.. they are life savers.

Hence why I'm bringing 2 phones, if Verizon doesn't have signal, I have T-Mo, if one drains, I can use the other!

I'll probably bring some spare assorted cables, obviously some USB sticks, spare headphones

[Skandha]

Anyone else have any thoughts/suggestions?

[Naruke Alpha]

the TB hdd is a good idea to have ... im in 11th grade so i cant help much lol 

[Almercenary]

A knife, baseball bat...wait no, no. Umm maybe a 3DS and Ipad for FTL.  FTL is fucking awesome one IPAD.

[Aelrikom]

A nice pair of IEMs wouldn't be a bad idea.

[Wtalk2]

I would suggest getting yourself set up on Google Drive or Dropbox or a similar service (Even the free versions would be alright) and use it to have your important school work files across all your devices.

 

PS: For $2 a month you can get 100GB of storage on Google Drive if you need more than the free 15GB. You can also get 1TB for $10 a month if you need it.

 

Also I would suggest getting some decent over-ear headphones for comfortable use when you are just relaxing and maybe some budget IEM's for when your on the go.

[spartansmagic]

Can't stress enough that you should have offsite backups. Whether you backup to a dedicated cloud service, backup manually to a drive you leave at home or just put your documents and whatnot in dropbox/google drive, you NEED to have an offsite backup solution. 

[SadTech]

I would suggest getting yourself set up on Google Drive or Dropbox or a similar service (Even the free versions would be alright) and use it to have your important school work files across all your devices.

 

PS: For $2 a month you can get 100GB of storage on Google Drive if you need more than the free 15GB. You can also get 1TB for $10 a month if you need it.

 

Also I would suggest getting some decent over-ear headphones for comfortable use when you are just relaxing and maybe some budget IEM's for when your on the go.

I was just gonna type that... definitely get google drive and/or dropbox. I use both for work and for school they would be more than helpfull! Just put your word documents and projects on the google drive and dropbox so you don't fill them up fast..

 

I am sure you have parents that give you money, have them invest in like 50GB for Dropbox or Google Drive then you will be set. 

[Guest]

A knife, baseball bat...wait no, no. Umm maybe a 3DS and Ipad for FTL.  FTL is fucking awesome one IPAD.

$500 for the $10 FTL

[Skandha]

I have 130GB of Skydrive so that should be good, and I have a server setup at home too, so all that along with the 1TB Drive I plan to buy should be good in terms of storage.

120GB of that Skydrive storage expires next year so I'll probably buy more storage then.

I only use it to store pictures and Documents, so +50GB (Total 60GB) for $25/year is good enough for that.

 

Any suggestions on what 2.5" drive to get? Reliability is going to be the main point on this one.

 

Some nice headphones are a good idea, I'm just using some Samsung In-ears right now, which work fine so I'll look into some comfortable over the ear ones.

[Almercenary]

$500 for the $10 FTL

But it's wurf it

[legopc]

get a knife

[Skandha]

 

A knife, baseball bat...wait no, no. Umm maybe a 3DS and Ipad for FTL.  FTL is fucking awesome one IPAD.

I have a 3DS but I'm probably not going to bring it, I don't play anything besides Pokemon on it and that's only when a new game comes out.

Not getting an iPad just for a game I don't recognize the acronym for, plus I don't really want one, I have a Note II to fill that purpose.

get a knife

I'll pass on that

[Skandha]

Are these good choices for a hard drive and Kensington lock? 

 

Kensington Lock - http://www.amazon.com/Kensington-K64699US-ClickSafe-Portable-Computer/dp/B007582AK8/

 

Seagate 1TB SSHD ST1000LM014 - http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Solid-Hybrid-2-5-Inch-ST1000LM014/dp/B00B99JUBQ/

 

Are there any benefits to going with an SSHD besides speed? Because if not than I'll probably just go with a regular drive.

 

I was looking around for a 7200RPM Sata 3 2.5 inch 1TB drive and I keep running into these HGST drives, whether it be amazon or newegg, I've never heard of them. but I'm not going to ignore them just because I don't know/trust the brand, the drive is priced pretty good,

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145875