Laptop for 6th form/Uni

chocolatepennyfarthing

Looking for a laptop for my son to use last year 6th form then take to Uni. Budget is about £400 Max. Have seen the following and would welcome comments as to whether they were any good and also is it worth paying the extra £80, I think that just has extra memory.
http://www.tesco.com/direct/asus-x555la-156-laptop-intel-core-i3-4gb-ram-1tb-white/460-2834.prd?skuId=460-2834 £319


http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/asus-x555la-15-6-laptop-black-10135223-pdt.html £399 (reduced from £599)


Would welcome advice on above or any other recommendations you may have for my budget.
Also what is the cheapest options re getting Office installed.


Thanks

Cisco001

£400 machine have faster CPU and more RAM

Anne_Marie_2

If he's going to Uni, will he be likely to be carrying laptop around with him? Might make a difference as to what to buy as in terms of weight. Know that I wouldn't want to be lugging about a 2.3 kg laptop around all day.

chocolatepennyfarthing

I think he would be taking it to lectures, so weight may be something to think about too.

Anne_Marie_2

If it's not as a surprise, have a word with him about carrying it about, and also what he would be using the laptop for. Possibly an 11-13" laptop might be more appropriate. As well as laptops, you can get tablet with keyboard combo systems which might fit the bill too.
Might be an idea to visit a PC World/Currys/large Tesco to see what's available, and then he'd have a good idea of what he'd like within the budget. Then, obviously check online for the best price you can get.

Kernel_Sanders

Anne_Marie wrote: »

I wouldn't want to be lugging about a 2.3 kg laptop around all day.

If it's somewhere like Salford, I wouldn't want to be lugging a laptop around at all! Does he really need anywhere near that much spending on it?

prowla

It might be worth seeing if the Uni has any arrangements with suppliers - my son's can get Macs for 50%.

It is also highly likely that the uni will have a Microsoft agreement to get Office at a significantly reduced price.

gazter

Cheapest office is to buy this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Office-University-Licence-Computers/dp/B00A2ILXOC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445299798&sr=8-1&keywords=student+office+365

It is the full office for four years. You will need a university email to activate it though. You can buy it in anticipation.

Generally any laptop that has at least an i3 processor will do what you need it to do.

Word of warning, when you buy from PCWorld they will skin you alive on the extras that are unneeded. You dont need third party anti virus, you dont need their extra warranty, or for them to 'set it up'.

Get to argos, no sales pressure, pick up and go.

prowla

Echo that on not needing the "extras" from PC World.

In the MS Office pricing, you could try http://www.software4students.co.uk/t/categories/microsoft-office (which appears to be slightly cheaper than above); I've dealt with them in the past.