Ens1161 Computer Fundamentals Assignment Sample Answers

• Internal Code :
• Subject Code : ENS1161
• University : Edith Cowan University
• Subject Name : IT Computer Science

Introduction

The outbreak of coronavirus has led the employers permit their employees for working from home. Also, many of the schools of computing have permitted to work from home due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The staffs use their personal computers for their work. Some of the staffs are in need of computing devices for working from home. So, the school have taken the decision to give the staffs a computing device for working from home. The school will also provide the licensed copies of the needed software and it can help to handle the devices remotely (Priya, Ponniah, Seetharaman&Maran, 2018).

It will also help to maintain security. It is envisioned that the staff will use these devices when they will restart on-campus work. Due to the devastating effects of coronavirus on the economy, ECU desires to select a cost efficient but reliable device which will help to staff to work both remotely and on campus for their teaching, administrative, and researches. It is decided that the similar device is to be given to the staff for the maintenance and implementation. The school have requested for quotations from several vendors. On the basis of the provided quotations 4 devices are shortlisted. These devices include Apple Macbook Pro 13.3-inch, Microsoft Surface Pro X 13-inch, HP Envy X360 15.6-inch and Predator 15.6-inch laptop (Suresh, Priya, Ponniah, Seetharaman &Maran, 2018).

These are very beneficial devices which can serve the purpose. This report deals with the evaluation of these devices by comparing the devices. A recommendation is also provided in this report for the selection of the suitable device. As soon as the recommendation is finalized it can be provided to the ECU procurement department so that they can continue with the acquisition procedure for this device. This report is very beneficial since it comprises of all the technical and non-technical specifications of all the selected devices.

Quantitative Comparison of Relevant Technical Specifications and Non-Technical Criteria

The table shows a clear comparison among the four laptops which includes Predator 15.6-inch laptop, Microsoft Surface Pro X 13-inch. HP Envy X360 15.6-inch and Apple Mac book Pro 13.3-inch (Maithani, Rautela &Kamath, 2018). As per the comparison, it became known that the least cost laptop is HP Envy X360 15.6-inch and the highest cost laptop is Predator 15.6-inch laptop. The least cost laptop has low specifications and the high cost laptop has higher specifications. While purchasing a laptop it must be kept in mind that the selected laptop must be reasonable which means that the specifications must me according to the price. Secondly, the selected laptop must serve the specific purpose which means that if the laptop is selected for office use it should have the basic functionalities but if the laptop is selected for gaming or watching movies then a higher specifications are required for the laptop(Nigam, 2016). 

A laptop which is to be used in the office will require normal software’s. A laptop used for gaming will need heavy software’s. The processor of Predator 15.6-inch laptop is best out of the four laptops since it is Intel and Intel provides best processors. It has a speed of 4.50 GHZ (Mahapatra& Sharma, 2016). Also, this laptop has installed RAM of 16 GB which will help to run many programs simultaneously. As, its screen size is about 15.6 inches this laptop is suitable for watching movies and with the help of NVIDIA graphic card it can be used for gaming purpose. This laptop has a low battery backup which is around six hours. The laptop HP Envy X360 15.6-inch have higher battery back-up which is up to 13 hours and has a low cost but it does not have much advantages like Microsoft Surface Pro X 13-inchLaptop(Mgondah, 2018). When compared with the Apple Mac book Pro 13.3-inch laptop, the features are much more in the Microsoft Surface Pro X 13-inch laptop and it is more cost efficient than Apple Mac book Pro 13.3-inch laptop.

Analysis and Evaluation of Appropriateness of Each Laptop Device

The laptop is required for the staff to work from home which means that it must have basic functionalities. It should not be a gaming laptop (Mitra, Goswami&Parvej, 2019).These kinds of laptops do not require any heavy software’s to run on it. It should include some essential specifications as:

• Processor: The processor serves as the brain of the laptop which helps to indicate the performance of the laptop. Therefore, it is considered as the key laptop specification. While making decisions about purchasing a laptop, it is necessary to considered that the laptop has a powerful processor so that it can run faster and permit the user for running their required software programs easily. The Qualcommcontinuously make the finest

• RAM: RAM can be explained as the computer memory. It is observed that if the RAM is more than it is possible to run numerous programs on the laptop. Generally, normal laptops have around 4 GB RAM which is sufficient. In case of gaming laptops higher RAMs are required in the laptops(Lee & Lee, 2019). There are around 16 GB Ram laptops present in the market.

• Hard drive: One of the major things to look for while purchasing a laptop for staff is hard drive which stores the data. There are mainly 2 types of hard drives which includes HDD and SSD. HDD can store large amount of data but SSD will store less amount of data. It is observed that SSD is considered as faster than HDD therefore individuals are purchasing laptops with SSD storage.

• Screen resolution: Previously, laptops were having screen resolution as 1366x768. This is an older resolution which makes the images rough and it cannot fit numerous texts on the screen. Nowadays reasonable laptops with the higher screen resolution are available which allows working on it easily and comfortably.

• Normal Screen size: A laptop has a normal screen size if it is around 13 inches. If the screen size is smaller then it will allow moving and working on the laptop easily. Higher screen size can be used for watching movies on the laptop.

• Battery Life: This is the main feature which should be considered while purchasing a laptop. Since the laptop is a portable device and it runs on battery therefore it should have a good battery life (Vochin, Vulpe, Marcu&Suciu, 2019). For working on a laptop it should give a 7 hours plus battery life.

• Ease in carrying: The laptop which has fewer dimensions that is its width (cm) and depth (cm) will be much easier to carry and work on. For working on a laptop low dimension laptops are considered more.

• Low weight: The weight of the laptop is another significant factor which should be considered. The laptops are considered as portable machines so, it is important that they should have low weight.

• Manufacturer’s warranty: Since the laptop is used in work from home therefore there are chances that it can fall or get damaged if there are children at home. Therefore while purchasing a laptop is it important to check for the manufacturer’s warranty. Generally, manufactures provide 1 year warranty (Lee, Su, Chen & Fu, 2017).

The 6 most important specifications criteria which are based on the necessities include:

• Screen resolution: If the screen resolution is higher than it will provide higher quality of screes view. A normal to high screen resolution is better for the laptop which is considered for work purpose.

• Product width (cm): The width of the laptop which is considered for the work purpose must be low so as to make the laptop easy to carry.

• Product depth(cm): The depth of the laptop which is considered for the work from home purpose must be low so as to make the laptop easy to carry.

• Weight (kg): The laptops are considered as versatile machines along these lines, it is significant that they ought to have low weight.

• Manufacturers express warranty (months): Since, mostly the laptop is utilized for work purpose accordingly there are chances that it can fall or get harmed if there are youngsters at home. In this manner while buying a laptop, it is critical to check for the producer's guarantee (Hariadi&Kuswardayan, 2016).

• Estimated battery (hour): Since the laptop is a versatile gadget and it runs on battery thusly it ought to have a decent battery life to ensure continuous workflow.

These are the main features which creates difference in the selected laptop verses other laptops.         

Table 1 Comparison

Screen resolution: The screen of the laptop is built with numerous pixels. It also constructs the picture by altering the colours of the tiny square components. With the help of screen resolution the number of pixels can be known which can be displayed vertically and horizontally. Therefore, the screen resolution specification is of utmost importance for a laptop. Generally, the pixels are written in a particular way that is like 1,920 x 1,080. Higher the screen resolution better is the quality of the images. Microsoft Surface Pro X 13-inch has a screen resolution as 2880x1920.

Product width (cm): The width of the laptop is important since it can increase or decrease the ease of carrying a laptop. The laptop should be of midsized so as to make it easier to use. Generally, a screen size of 13 inch is considered right for work. A larger screen size and hence larger width of the laptop will create difficulty. The width of the Microsoft Surface Pro X 13-inch is 28.7 cm(Bud, 2018).

Product depth (cm): The depth of the laptop is significant since it can increment or decline the simplicity of using a laptop. The laptop ought to be of moderate sized in order to make it simpler to utilize. Therefore, this specification is important. The depth of the Microsoft Surface Pro X 13-inch is 0.73 cm.

Weight (kg): This is one of the main important parameter of the specification since it can affect the portability of the laptop. It the laptop is heavy in weight then it will not be easy to carry or use it. Always a laptop should be light in weight so as to handle it easily. The weight of the Microsoft Surface Pro X 13-inch is 0.77 kg(Dempsey, 2018).

Manufacturers express warranty (months): Warranties are important since they provide quality and reliability for laptop. If the laptop ha longer warranty period then it means more reliability of the laptop. The warranty will provide assurance to the consumers against any defects which are present in the laptop. Since laptops are used more and therefore there are more chances of its damage. The Manufacturers express warranty of the Microsoft Surface Pro X 13-inch is of 24 months.

Estimated battery (hour): A laptop should have high estimated battery time. Once the charging is done then the laptop should work for more than 7 hours (Galeso, 2017). The greatest needed laptops are those which have the best battery life. The Estimated battery of the Microsoft Surface Pro X 13-inch is Up to 13 hours.

Price: A Laptop having all the important features with a high price is not considered good. Laptops are the best appliances for perfuming the professional and personal work. So it is important that the price pf the laptop should be reasonable as per the features. The Price of the Microsoft Surface Pro X 13-inch is $2149.00 which is reasonable (Smith, 2020).

The analysis reveals that as per the usability, features and price range, the best laptop for the staff which the company should procure is Microsoft Surface Pro X 13-inch.

Final Recommendation

As per the analysis it became clear that for the usability, provided features and price range, the best laptop for the staff which the company should acquire is Microsoft Surface Pro X 13-inch. There are various features of Microsoft Surface Pro X 13-inch which makes it suitable for purchase by the company. The price of the laptop is also not very high which makes it appropriate for the staff since the company will purchase the laptop in quantity. Microsoft Surface Pro X 13-inch has a QUALCOMM brand of processor. The processor type of Surface Pro X is Snapdragon. QUALCOMM Snapdragon builds processors with multi-core CPUs which have cutting-edge characteristics and it supports for universal net connectivity with high speeds and incredible power efficacy.

The speed which the processor provides is 3 GHZ. There is an installed RAM which is of DDRA type is of 8 GB (Galeso, 2017). The Primary storage capacity is of 256 GB and the type of storage is SSD which is faster than HDD. The laptop has a screen size of 13 inches and a pixel sense screen. The selected laptop Microsoft Surface Pro X 13-inch is touchscreen and has a high screen resolution which is 2880 x 1920. The wireless networking which the laptop provides is 4G and Bluetooth5.0 technology. The laptop Microsoft Surface Pro X 13-inchhas a lithium battery with a battery backup of up to 13 hours.

The operating system which the laptop provides is Windows 10 Home version. There are 1x surface connect port, USB Type C for connectivity present in the laptop. The laptop has a width of 28.7 cm and a depth of 0.73. The total weight of the laptop is 0.77 kg which means that the laptop is light weight. The company provides a warranty of 24 months (Galeso, 2017). Laptop is reasonably priced which is $2149.00. These features make the laptop unique and suitable for the staff. Microsoft Surface Pro X 13-inch is recommended for the purpose of the company.

Table 2 Key Features

Conclusion

It can be concluded that the laptop Microsoft Surface Pro X 13-inch is selected as one of the best laptops for the staff and the company. This laptop comprises of numerous features which is beneficial for the company as the company is willing to provide the laptops to the staff for working from home. Due to the epidemic the work has been disturbed. Some of the workers are working with their own laptops and some of them are facing issue therefore the company decide to give laptops to the staffs so that the work can be done smoothly and here are no hindrances on the work. After procuring the laptops the company will have to incorporate the licensed copies of the required software and it can assist to manage the devices remotely.

It will also assist in maintaining security. As soon as the lockdown will stop the staffs will be able to resume their work from office using the provided laptop. It was the requirement of the company to analyse, evaluate and select a cost efficient as well as a reliable laptop because of which the company requested for quotes from different shops. Out of those quotes the company came to a conclusion by selecting 4 different laptops. This report helps to evaluate the four laptops on the basis of their technical and non-technical aspects. As a result, it became known that Microsoft Surface Pro X 13-inch will serve the purpose in a better way than others. The final recommendation is provided in this report by explaining all the key features of the Microsoft Surface Pro X 13-inch laptop. This recommendation will be followed by the company and it will start the procurement of this laptops. This report explains the features of other three laptops also and a comparison is provided among all the four laptops.

References

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Priya, A. S., Ponniah, V. M., Seetharaman, R., &Maran, K. (2018).A STUDY ON CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE MODEL FOR ONLINE PURCHASING OF BRANDED LAPTOP. International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, 119(12), 16699-16709.

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Suresh, V., Priya, A. S., Ponniah, V. M., Seetharaman, R., &Maran, K. (2018).A Study on Conceptual Framework of Technology Acceptance Model for Online Purchasing of Branded Laptop. International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, 118(20), 735-743.

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