By Greg Kunkel
Gone... are many of the labs filled with off-white monitors, processors and keyboards.
Instead, black, stoic computers now reign in most computer labs on campus.
Matching black laptop computers are also now available to students to check out in the library.
'Checking out laptops is a new service this semester,' Jason Quincy, a computer technician, said. 'We have eight right now and check them all out everyday.'
According to Nyle Elison, product manager, almost 900 new computers were installed on campus. The old computers were made available for on-campus students to lease for a semester.
At first, only small shipments arrived in June, but after preliminary testing and set up, more of the new Dell Optiplex computers were ordered.
'Most people have been excited about them. People seem to really like the color,' Scott Hunt, Access Point manager, said.
The new computers are not only faster than the older ones, but they are equipped with larger ZIP drives, Windows 2000 operating systems and DVD drives that function as CD burners. Internal help systems that send instant messages to computer lab technicians have also been installed.
According to Quincy, the new Windows 2000 operating system is more stable than the standard Windows system.
'I don''t know of any new problems associated with the network,' Quincy said.
Yet, despite the apparent popularity and overall approval of the new computers, there are some students, such as Amy Mickelson, 21, a junior from Orem majoring in nursing, who are not entirely thrilled with the new computers.
'Our old computer was a piece of junk, and really slow, but the new one turned out not to be so great,' said Mickelson, who works as a receptionist in the History Department.
According to Mickelson, the new computer she uses at the receptionist desk doesn''t function properly.
'They''ve reinstalled it twice already,' Mickelson said. 'And it doesn''t seem to be any faster.'
Hunt oversees open computer labs in the Talmage Building, Harold B. Lee Library, the Wilkinson Student Center and the bottom floor of the Spencer W. Kimble Tower. He reassures that other than minor glitches, the computers work just fine.
'There are no problems with the computers themselves,' Hunt said.