Interior Design students should stick to Windows based PCs for their computer needs.  A primary reason is to run Autodesk AutoCAD ® software, which is the predominant CAD (Computer Aided Design) software in the design world today, and is only available for Windows.  See the Software Discounts page for advice on purchasing software.

I recommend purchasing a laptop for the reasons stated on the main Student Computers page.

I would recommend a minimum of 512 MB (Megabytes) of RAM for your system memory.  1 GB (Gigabyte) of memory would be even better.

You should get as large of a hard drive as you can afford so that you can fit as much of your work on it as possible.  Definitely at least 20 GB (Gigabytes) of storage space on a laptop, and at least 60 GB on a desktop.

Any new computer these days should have a fast enough processor to run the applications you need.  Get something mid-range at a decent compromise between price and performance.