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Hardware Requirements

From 2008, UNE requires students to have access to an internet enabled computer for their studies at UNE. Below is some information on the recommended minimum requirements that your computer should meet (together with links to download sites for some of the software), as well as two checks you can run on your computer to see if your browser is configured correctly and if your internet connection is adequate. Please contact the IT Service Desk if you have any questions.

Step 1: Recommended minimum specifications:

Operating System:

A computer that can run Mac OSX or Win XP or higher

Peripherals

• CD-ROM or DVD drive capable of playing CD-ROMs
• Headphones or speakers
• Microphone 
• Webcam (currently optional)

Software

• Open Office 2 or higher (download from here)
• OR Microsoft Office XP or higher (available for UNE students at a special educational rate of $129 from Microsoft/SI)
• Adobe Acrobat Reader at or above version 6.0 (dowload the latest version from here)
• Flash player 7/8 or higher
• Java 5 or higher (download from here)
• Anti-virus software (such as AVG - external link)
• Adware scanner (such as Spybot - external link)

Browsers (at least one from the list below)

• Internet Explorer 6 or higher (download from here)
• Firefox 2 or higher (dowload from here) - Note: Firefox 3 is currently not supported!
  
• Safari 2 or higher (download from here)

Step 2: Browser check:

UNE's browser test will check your browser to make sure that all relevant settings are set to allow make full use of our electronic resources. Please click this link to start the test - it will take a few seconds to display the results.

Step 3: Bandwidth check:

http://www.zdnet.com.au/broadband/speedtest.htm

A connection speed of 56KB modem or below will be sufficient for email and basic webpages, but will make downloads of large files (such as electronic readings) slow.

A connection speed of 128 KB will give you a reasonably fast connection to the internet and will should cause little delay with downloads of large files (such as electronic readings or podcasts) and give you acceptable speeds for low quality audio streams. Video streaming (such as videoconferencing) or high-quality audio streams may not be possible.

A connection speed of 256 or higher should give you sufficient bandwidth for all online teaching tools used at UNE.