Non Standard Computers
The Kenan-Flagler IT Department requires that faculty, staff, and PhDs only purchase university-owned computers that are enterprise level or higher rather than consumer level computers in order to provide the best performance and the longest lifespan.
If you are a mobile user or frequently work from home we recommend using a laptop.
- Dell Latitude laptops
- Lenovo ThinkPad laptops
- Microsoft Surface Pro and SurfaceBook laptops
- Apple desktops and laptops
If you are not a mobile user or have intensive graphical or data processing needs we recommend choosing a desktop.
University-owned computers (including laptops and tablets) must be purchased with a 4 year accidental damage warranty. Apple computers are an exception as the longest warranty they offer is 3 years. Apple laptops purchased before 6/5/17 do not come with accidental damage warranties. Those purchased after that date come with a limited accidental damage warranty. Please keep this in mind if you choose to purchase an Apple computer.
Our minimum hardware specifications are as follows:
- Latest or second latest generation Intel Core i5 or greater processor (current generation)
- 8GB of RAM (memory) or greater
- 256GB of hard drive storage or greater
- We are strongly recommending the new m.2 PCIe NVMe type hard drives rather than older SATA drives (HDD or SSD)
- 4 year accidental damage warranty (with the exception of Apple computers. Please see the previous paragraph for more info)