Student laptop advice

meanmum

I want to buy a laptop for my daughter to take to university. She'll be in hall, where space will be at a premium, so we are hoping she can use it as a TV too. She'll be using it mostly for surfing the net, listening to music (iTunes & Spotify) & watching TV. She may even occasionally use it for writing essays (so I guess will need at least Word, probably the rest of the MS Office package).
I don't want to spend a huge amount of money on something that may get damaged or stolen - but I want it to be powerful enough, & have the features & software that she needs (& not have to pay for those she doesn't).
Do they come with an operating system already installed? & what about software? Might she be able to get student discount on microsoft office?
Can anyone advise me what to look out for, or any good deals.

[Deleted User]

meanmum wrote: »

Do they come with an operating system already installed?

Yes. The majority of Windows based laptops will come with Windows Vista, and Mac ones OS X

& what about software? Might she be able to get student discount on microsoft office?

There's a Home and Student edition available for about £60-70, although you may be wise to contact the university she will be attending and make enquiries to see if they are enrolled in any of the schemes that Microsoft offer that make software available for free, or very little.

Can anyone advise me what to look out for, or any good deals.

From what you've said you don't need anything particularly special, but what budget have you in mind?

[Deleted User]

meanmum wrote: »

so we are hoping she can use it as a TV too.

There'd be no problem with the iPlayer and a TV license (I think, correct me if I'm wrong - link here) however to watch actual TV they'd need extra kit (a quick google found this)

meanmum wrote: »

She may even occasionally use it for writing essays (so I guess will need at least Word, probably the rest of the MS Office package).

Either MS Office, look here or a free suite is here.

meanmum wrote: »

I don't want to spend a huge amount of money on something that may get damaged or stolen - but I want it to be powerful enough, & have the features & software that she needs (& not have to pay for those she doesn't).

What's your maximum?

meanmum wrote: »

Do they come with an operating system already installed?

99% of the time yes. It should be noted there's a new OS coming out on October 22nd. If you buy a PC now you should be given an upgrade voucher for a free upgrade. I'm personally waiting untill October / November.

meanmum wrote: »

& what about software?

It'll come packaged with some rubbish which most people uninstall straight away. All anyone really needs with a new laptop is anti-virus software. For that I'd choose Avira. Again this is free and one of the best.

meanmum wrote: »

Can anyone advise me what to look out for, or any good deals.

*****Option 1*****
If they're not bothering about gaming how about this:

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=&c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&kc=NRS15451&l=en&m_30=136643&oc=N0054505&rbc=N0054505&s=dhs
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T6500 (2.1GHz, 800MHz, 2MB)
3GB RAM
250GB HDD
£398.99

*****Option 2*****
A slightly cheaper version of the above (the only noticable differences are this one has a 15.4inch compared to the above 15.6 screen but is £10 cheaper):
http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=&c=uk&cs=ukbsdt1&kc=N4X15202&l=en&m_30=143259&oc=N0715217&rbc=N0715217&s=bsd
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T6570 (2.1GHz, 800MHz FSB,2MB L2 cache)
3GB RAM
250GB HDD
£389.00

*****Option 3*****
http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=&c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&kc=NRS15354&l=en&m_30=111789&oc=N0053503&rbc=N0053503&s=dhs
If they are bothered about gaming then here's the above with a proper graphics card and more RAM:
Intel® Pentium® Processor T4200 (2.0GHz, 800MHz, 1MB cache) (Marginally worse than the above, shouldn't be noticeable)
4GB RAM (Better than the above)
320GB HDD (Better than the above)
512MB ATI Mobility RADEON HD 4570 (Better than the above)
£499.00

*****Option 4*****
http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=&c=uk&cs=ukbsdt1&kc=N4X15203&l=en&m_30=143259&oc=N0715207&rbc=N0715207&s=bsd
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.4GHz, 1066MHz FSB,3MB L2 cache) (Better than all of the above)
4GB RAM (Better than the first two, same as the third)
320GB HDD (Better than the first two, same as the third)
256 MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 9300M GS Graphic Card (Better than the first two, worse than the third)
£499.00

If you can afford it I'd go for Option 4 if they're not a gamer or option 3 if they are.

[Deleted User]

parsley_the_cat wrote: »

Toshiba Satellite Pro 1400
Price £149.00

30 GB HDD (1/10th of the one's I suggested)
Intel Celeron 1.3 - 1.4 GHz (A very very poor CPU)
256 MB (1/12th of mine)
14.1 Inches (small)

Overall not great... I'd save my money and wait until I had three times this for a Dell.

Rikki

She will need a tv licence to watch tv in halls. Not worth it.

Son had a cheap desktop for his first year in halls and second year he also bought himself a netbook (light and compact) to transport back and forwards to university.

Desktops are less desirable to steal and can be locked to the desk.

4743hudsonj

option 2 of davidmt32's post looks ok


the others arnt worth it

who needs 4gb of ram and a gpu with 512 dedicated when you only have 4gb of address space?

cpu and everything is just right as long as you dont go into too intensive games

as for the tv

http://www.tvcatchup.com/

i personally use that

its brilliant when your away

it streams live (give or take a 30 second lag) freeview

all it takes is a very simple online sign up


ive also heard reccomendations of this site

http://www.channelchooser.com/us/about/

i think its more where you pick particular programmes rather than channels but worth a try

just make sure he signs up to a internet service provider that has unlimited downloads or a bottlenecked one like virgin to avoid costly bills due to streaming so much hq content.

or do the university provide it at an extra fee? not sure how that works

EDIT: ps the best part about those sites it no tuner needed, so no tv license!

meanmum

Thanks so much everyone for all the advice (which I'm sure will also be very useful for others) - I think I'll go for davidmt83's option 1 - actually cheaper than option 2 as includes VAT & shipping, so seems like a better bet. Now my only decision is whether to buy now, or wait until they are selling with windows 7 upgrades installed......although maybe the prices will go up then!
& thanks 4743hudsonj for the great tip on TV viewing - seems she could use tvcatchup.com to avoid getting a TV tuner & a license.

PS. I'm not really mean, I just like a bargain!

4743hudsonj

meanmum wrote: »

Thanks so much everyone for all the advice (which I'm sure will also be very useful for others) - I think I'll go for davidmt83's option 1 - actually cheaper than option 2 as includes VAT & shipping, so seems like a better bet. Now my only decision is whether to buy now, or wait until they are selling with windows 7 upgrades installed......although maybe the prices will go up then!
& thanks 4743hudsonj for the great tip on TV viewing - seems she could use tvcatchup.com to avoid getting a TV tuner & a license.

PS. I'm not really mean, I just like a bargain!

ok in that case go for that

after a quick search

intel claim a T6500 processor doesnt exist

not on their processor finder site anyways

http://processorfinder.intel.com/List.aspx?ParentRadio=All&ProcFam=2643&SearchKey=T6500

so i guess thats a typo

so for a slightly bigger screen and cheaper price

go for it

and for the tv, you will have to sign up, but its nothing dodgy and ive used it for ages now and never got a single email

do check up on what broadband she will be using though!

we dont want to add to student debt!

Marty_J

meanmum wrote: »

Thanks so much everyone for all the advice (which I'm sure will also be very useful for others) - I think I'll go for davidmt83's option 1 - actually cheaper than option 2 as includes VAT & shipping, so seems like a better bet. Now my only decision is whether to buy now, or wait until they are selling with windows 7 upgrades installed......although maybe the prices will go up then!
& thanks 4743hudsonj for the great tip on TV viewing - seems she could use tvcatchup.com to avoid getting a TV tuner & a license.

PS. I'm not really mean, I just like a bargain!

Just because I'm obliged to mention it, with a student discount you could get this Apple MacBook for about £600 including a three year warranty, all this software, and also get a free iPod Touch.

[Deleted User]

meanmum wrote: »

Thanks so much everyone for all the advice (which I'm sure will also be very useful for others) - I think I'll go for davidmt83's option 1 - actually cheaper than option 2 as includes VAT & shipping

I completely didn't notce that! I'm sure it makes sense to someone not including VAT on the business models (which can be bought by the general public)

meanmum wrote: »

Now my only decision is whether to buy now, or wait until they are selling with windows 7 upgrades installed......although maybe the prices will go up then!

I'd wait. From the pricing structure I've read I can't see how prices would go up.