Student Laptop

bitsandpieces

I'd wait until you have started the course, unless you need one now - you will have a better understanding of your needs once you have started. You may also qualify for a student discount.

Mankysteve

Agreed with above especially if you've already got a pc. As much as i despise Apples and the way they work they do very good student discounts.

Kit603

The high-street stores like Comet, PC World, Tesco etc tend to do "back to school" promotions later on in the Summer holiday and there's a bank holiday in August which could be a winner as they usually hold sales then too!

I'd recommend that you make a list of what you want out of a laptop:

- Screensize
- RAM
- Processor

etc

Then compare different laptops that tick all of your criteria from different shops. See who (if anybody) does student discount, who offers the best warranties (do you want to extend it and if so, can you?), finance deals might be a bonus if you want to go for a higher spec and pay for it over the 3 yrs you're at uni (defnitely get extra warranty in this case or you might end up paying for something for 3 years that breaks after 1!) .

Oh and check if you're entitled to cashback if you purchase online or order online to collect in store

Gracie10_2

I am being an eager beaver and will take on board the advice given to be patient and wait until this summer

I'm not that clued up on computers/laptops...

I'd like a screensize that not too big or small...what's the average/standard size? Something to carry in my rucksack if I need to will be good.

RAM ... not sure about this one and what it means for a laptop?

...same for processor...?

Lokolo

You want around 15" or 17" if you want to easily carry it around.

RAM:

Windows 7 64bit: 4GB
Windows 7 32bit: 2GB-4GB
Windows Vista: 2GB
Windows XP: 1GB

They are my recommendations anyway!

Processor, that depends whats on offer.

Gracie10_2

Thanks for that info!

With regards to processor, what should I be looking for? I don't know what it means...

Alcmene

You might want to ask at your University as I know mine do refurbished deals, as well as rental schemes.

Also any chance you could stick to a readable font? My eyesight is bad enough as it is.

Mankysteve

Don't get 17" far too big I had one bad idea also serouly effect battery life. 15.6" is best sized screen.

Intel Core duo is the best wouldnt both with Amd processors( I used to be AMD Fanboy)
Minimum 4gb

atypical

It is difficult to compare CPUs, I find this site useful:

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php

west18

Advice from a fellow student, currently in my 2nd year...a laptop is so much more handy than a pc, the amount of times you will need to go to the library to use books etc and all the computers are being used, plus if you have group projects etc, you can take a laptop anywhere. I would advice to get an external hard drive but you can pick them up fairly cheaply

I bought a dell inspiron 1525 when I started in 2008 and its still working great now, and only cost me £320...there is no point forking out £800+ for a macbook, there just is no point at all, makes like hp and dell do the job needed! Hope this helps