Bringing a Computer to Eastern

Your personal laptop or desktop is a valuable tool to be used during your time here at Eastern. We want you to use technology to the fullest!   Your professors will use Brightspace and EU email to communicate with you, and you will be able to research, write, and produce documents and projects for class. You can form valuable collaborative and social relationships here at Eastern while in your residence hall room, or in Warner Library, or in the dining commons.  Our Library setup includes ample electrical ports for recharging laptops.

Considering a Computer Purchase? Please Keep these Points in Mind:

1. We welcome both PC and Mac products to our networks. Minimum specifications:

   • (PC): Pentium i3, 8 gigs of RAM, 500 GB hard drive, or 128 GB SSD drive, wireless, Windows 10 or above is required.

   • (Mac): at least 8 GB of RAM, 500 GB hard drive, OS 10.0 and above.

   • Chromebooks/iPads/Tablets can be helpful supplemental devices but do not have all the capabilities required for some classes and are not recommended. They do not meet requirements for secure testing used in many courses and Computer Science/Data Science majors will not be able to complete their assignments.

2. The Campus Bookstore has a selection of computers that meet these requirements.

   • You can order the computer online and have it shipped directly to your house.

   • You do have the option to purchase one of these computers through the bookstore and charge it to your student account bill.

3. All residence halls and main buildings provide wireless coverage. All residence hall rooms have a wireless access point and 3 ethernet jacks.

4. A three (preferably four) year warranty is strongly recommended for your computer, as our Tech Services cannot perform hardware repairs.

5. Our standard software package is Microsoft Office Professional, which includes Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint. Eastern has contracted for a free version of Microsoft Office 365 that contains Word, Excel and PowerPoint for all students, faculty, and staff.

6. Active, updated antivirus software is required on each computer accessing our network. Eastern provides Carbon Black EDR and Anti-virus for all on-campus students. For online students, we strongly recommend current antivirus software on your machine, such as Symantec or Malware-bytes.

7. Wireless printers are not supported on our network. If you bring a printer, use a USB cord. There is low-cost printing (first 50 pages per semester are free) available in the Library, Walton Hall, Sparrowk Lobby, and the Guffin Breezeway.

Disclosure of Online Learning Expectations