About the Dell Latitude C810

The Jean and Alexander Heard Library makes this laptop computer available for checkout to all students, faculty and staff of Vanderbilt University. This computer is equipped with the Windows XP operating system, Microsoft Office 2000 Professional, network and internet connectivity through either an ethernet cable or wireless card (supplied), a cd-rom drive, and a 3.5" floppy drive.

Important Notice: All data and all settings beyond the original computer setup are erased from this computer each time it is restarted. Do not save data to the internal hard drive (also known as the C:\ drive), or your data is at great risk of being lost. To save data, use a 3.5" floppy diskette, a removable USB storage device, or save to your VUspace (see Connecting to VUspace).

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Turning the computer on:

To turn on the computer, open the display and press the power button, located on the upper left hand side of the base (labelled no. 13 in the front view diagram below). No log-on name or password will be required.

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Managing Power

This Dell Latitude C180 is equipped with one lithium ion battery. When fully charged, this battery should be sufficient to run the computer for approximately three hours of normal operation. Power intensive use, such as using a wireless network card or running the cd-rom, will reduce the expected time. The system tray, in the lower right hand corner of your display screen, includes a power meter icon which will indicate the charge left on the computer battery.

To connect the computer to a power outlet, plug the AC adapter to the back of the computer (see the diagram below), plug the AC adapter into the AC adapter cable, and plug the adapter cable into a properly grounded, three prong power outlet. The computer can be run indefinitely when properly connected to an AC power source. The computer battery will recharge in about 1 hour when the computer is off, or in a longer period of time if the computer is in operation.

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Using the Mouse

The Dell Latitude C810 includes two sets of built-in devices for managing the behavior of the computer's mouse: a track stick and a touch pad. Additionally, an external mouse (included) can be plugged into the mouse/keyboard port (see diagram below) found on the back of the laptop.

The track stick can be found in the center of the keyboard, between the G, H, and B keys (see diagram below). The direction of the mouse can be controlled by placing a finger on the track stick and placing mild pressure toward the desired direction, like using a small joy stick. For a clicking response, the left and right mouse buttons located under the keyboard space bar correspond to the left and right buttons on a standard mouse.

The touch pad can be found below the keyboard, between the left and right wrist rest areas (see diagram below). The direction of the mouse can be controlled by lightly tracing a finger across the surface of the touch pad. To imitate the clicking action of a standard mouse, the left and right mouse buttons under the touch pad can be used, or a light single or double click on the surface of the touchpad itself will trigger the clicking response.

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Connecting to the Vanderbilt University Network

Using the Patch Cord

To connect to the Vanderbilt University network and the internet, connect one end of a cat-5 standards compliant ethernet patch cable (included) into the network connector port, found on the right side of the computer, closest to the front of the computer, next to the right speaker (see diagram below); and plug the other end of the patch cable into an ethernet port. Many ports are available in all Vanderbilt University libraries. For library port locations, see the library staff at the reference or circulation desk.

Using the Wireless Card

Wireless access to the Vanderbilt network is now available in the Central, Divinity, Education, Law, Management, Music, and Science & Engineering libraries, as well as many other locations on campus (for a list of locations, see http://www.vanderbilt.edu/its/wireless/coverage.php). To connect to the wireless network, insert a wireless network card (included) into either the upper or lower pc card slot on the right side of the computer (see diagram below). The cards use plug and play technology, so Windows XP will recognize the presence of the card, and connect to any available wireless access transceiver. The system tray, located in the lower right hand portion of the task bar, includes an icon for the local area connection which will indicate whether or not the computer has successfully connected to a network.

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Saving Data

All data beyond the original computer setup are erased from this computer each time it is restarted. Do not save data to the internal hard drive (also known as the C:\ drive), or your data is at great risk of being lost. To save data, use a 3.5" floppy diskette, a USB storage device, or save to your VUspace (see Connecting to VUspace).

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Connecting to VUspace

To connect to VUspace in order to retrieve or save files in one's personal user space on the Vanderbilt network, double-click on the 'VUspace_Mounter' icon on the display desktop. Enter your VUnetID and VUnet Password. Notice: in order to connect to VUspace, your personal VUnetID must already have been activated, and your VUspace must already have been claimed. For more information about your VUnetID and VUspace, go to http://www.vanderbilt.edu/vuspace/. This page includes step by step instructions for activating your VUnetID and claiming your VUspace.

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Printing

This laptop has been pre-configured to print to one designated printer in the library from which it circulates, regardless of where the computer is connected to the network. For the location of the pre-configured printer, see the documentation enclosed in the laptop carrying case, or see a library staff person at the reference or circulation desk.

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Applications Installed

Microsoft Office

This laptop is equipped with the Microsoft Office 2000 Professional suite of productivity applications, including Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. These programs can be launched by clicking on the Start menu, choosing Programs, and then the desired application. For more information on using Microsoft Office applications, see the Help menu available in each program.

Important Notice: All data and all settings beyond the original computer setup are erased from this computer each time it is restarted. Do not save data to the internal hard drive (also known as the C:\ drive), or your data is at great risk of being lost. To save data, use a 3.5" floppy diskette, a USB storage device, or save to your VUspace (see Connecting to VUspace).

Other Applications

In addition to Microsoft Office 2000 Professional, this laptop has the following applications installed:

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Laptop Front, Side, and Back View Diagrams

Front View:

1 Display latch 8 Touch pad 
2 Display 9 Battery
3 System status lights 10 Modular bay
4 Air intake 11 Track stick and touch pad buttons
5 Keyboard status lights 12 Dell AccessDirect™ key
6 Keyboard 13 Power button
7 Track stick

14

Internal microphone

 

Left Side View:

1 Fixed optical drive pull-tab 4 Security cable slot
2 Fixed optical drive 5 Speaker
3 S-video TV-out connector

 

Right Side View:

 

1 Speaker 6 IR sensor
2 Optional network connector 7 IEEE 1394 connector
3 Optional modem connector 8 PC Card slots 
4 Security cable slot 9 Audio connectors
5 Hard drive bay 10 Air intake

 

Back View:

 

1 Fans 5 Docking connector
2 AC power connector 6 Parallel connector
3 PS/2 connector (for mouse, keyboard, or keypad) 7 Serial connector 
4 Video connector 8 USB connectors

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