Computing Equipment¶
Most of the computing in the lab happens ‘remotely’ (e.g., the lab’s servers), so your machine mostly serves as a portal to these servers, and locally, you will use it to write and test code, read and write papers, make figures, communicate (slack, email, zoom, etc), make presentations, develop web servers, etc. For portability, in general, laptops will be the most convenient, and in the office, each student will have a workspace with external monitor(s).
As of 2020, the Rice CS department is offering incoming PhD students grants of $2,500 for work-related computing equipment or conference travel, to be spent in the first 2 years. We recommend that you spend $2,000-$2,500 on a nice laptop for work; it is your choice to get a mac or pc, but at minimum, beyond the obvious presentation and word processing software, you will need to have:
- access to unix shell (most convenient in mac os and linux distributions)
- vector graphics editing software for figures (e.g., Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape) - note that Rice already offers free Adobe subscription to all faculty and staff, and is soon expanding this to students as well! (More information / instructions to apply here)
- at least 16 GB of RAM for future proofing
Personally, we find the Apple ecosystem most convenient, and would recommend the current Macbook pro 16” with AppleCare for right around $2,500.
To purchase the laptop, you will need to work with the IT help desk (helpdesk@help.rice.edu) to get a quote. Remember to cc Vicky (vy@rice.edu) to keep her in the loop regarding the purchase. After the quote is sorted out, Saray Ortiz (saray.ortiz@rice.edu) in the department will help you place the order.
Postdoctoral researchers, staff, and other non-CS graduate students will work with Vicky to purchase any necessary computing equipment.