Laptop/software for A level IT, Computer Science, Graphics etc?

didodo

DS1 is eyeing up £800+ models and I'm wondering if his suggestions are based on need or desire! Money is very tight and he's not heard whether there's any possible bursary as yet so I'm anxious not to overspend.

I know it needs to cope with:
Blender - free
Visual Studio - free through Dreamspark?
Photoshop & Illustrator - available via creative cloud but is there a cheaper way to get these?

I'm completely out of touch with the current range of processors, graphics cards etc - it's a good 10 years since I've needed anything more than a basic machine for Office and browsing.

Any suggestions for machines that will cope with the demands of the above (and similar) at a reasonable cost without running like an arthritic snail?

Many thanks in advance for any help/guidance you can provide.

Cycrow

Visual Studio can be abit of a Hog, especially in memory when you have large projects. But its unlikely you will need much for A Levels. as any programs made would be small, so any pc would do the job.

For the graphics side of things, lots of memory would be useful, but again you dont really need lots of power for the basic work he'll be doing at A Levels.

i would just decide on how much you would like to spend, then find the most suitable one in that price range

i personally would never consider using visual studio on a laptop.

most unis/colleges will have their own computer rooms, so technically, you can get away with not needing anything at all, althou its more convenient

closed

£400 should do it

jaydeeuk1

£400 more than enough. Although Blender can be taxing too, the level of work at A level and uni will not not be beyond a modern laptop.

£400 will get you an i5 easily, 4gb will be enough but aim for 6gb and a decent hard drive. If you can get an ultrabook with an SSD even better.

Visual studio is fine on a laptop - when I was at uni 10/12 years ago, only work stations at uni had dual or tri screen setups, I had to make do at 1024x768 on an old 14" CRT running 3d studio max, Macromedia director etc!

I would recommend you get a laptop with at least 1600x900 resolution, and preferably 1920x1080/1200, plus perhaps budget £90 for a cheap 21" monitor you can hook up to if you have none available.

didodo

Thank you.

My initial instinct was to get a desktop, especially as I already have a decent screen he can use - is it still the case that they're generally lower cost for better spec?

What's swaying me is that the availability of machines during study periods seems to be a bit of a problem, I've heard from students in the year above that they've struggled to get time on the macs and computers. With a laptop he can just get on with work wherever he can find somewhere to sit.

I'm looking at all the codes and acronyms and it's causing me to have mild panic attacks (I'm no technophobe, it's just the added financial pressure) which are stopping me from being being able to get to grips with what I need to understand.

didodo

Might be a silly question but... I already have this, how would it cope pro tem? Or is it just too antiquated now?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0049U3U4K/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1#productDetails

Jivesinger

In terms of software, can you get any advice from the school/college where he's studying?

They should be clued up on what's the minimum/recommended for the course, and they will know the links etc. for downloading the academic versions of software.

closed

any machine will work, the only difference between a £800+machine and the one you have is things like blender rendering will be a little slower, but what percentage of the next two years is going to be spent blender rendering, not much I'd imagine.