Open University course - PC needed... I haven't a clue!

eamon

You will be doing serious keyboard bashing. You will have a slow undignified death typing a 2000 word essay on a laptop. A PC will be more comfortable and better from a health point of view. If your space is really at a premium then at the very least use a plug in keyboard for your OU work and work at a table and sit on a proper chair.

Pound

europeanpol wrote: »

Hi, I have been given a PC grant for £135 and plus my course grant of £265 it makes £400. My problem is I would like to buy a HP laptop which costs £429.99 and I do not mind paying for the remaining £29.99 from my pocket but Am I allowed to do that? or do I have to buy a computer that is exactly £400 or less? I have tried to call the OU but they are on holiday until the 4th January.

Well, it does say towards the cost of a computer.

rich_jtg

europeanpol wrote: »

Hi, I have been given a PC grant for £135 and plus my course grant of £265 it makes £400. My problem is I would like to buy a HP laptop which costs £429.99 and I do not mind paying for the remaining £29.99 from my pocket but Am I allowed to do that? or do I have to buy a computer that is exactly £400 or less? I have tried to call the OU but they are on holiday until the 4th January.
This is what it says in the OU pc grant information:
"The PC grant offers students a conditional grant of £135 to add to their course grant, giving them up to £400 towards the purchase of a compouter."
Please help me anyone as I need to purchase one asap to avoid paying a higher price after the increase of VAT next week.

It has been a couple of years since I've received a grant from the OU, but when I did, the money came as cash directly (paid into the bank IIRC) as it could be used for such things as broadband access as well.

You could therefore use the money as you see fit and add to it if required.

The spec of any computer you buy these days will be better than the dated specs mentioned above so don't worry too much.

A couple of things to consider...

You might not get the grant money straight away.

Depending on what you're used to, you might want to buy some office software. Open Office is probably fine, but some people prefer the Microsoft version which is another £39 from somewhere like software4students.

Good luck with the course!

Owain_Moneysaver

Deleted_User wrote: »

I can work a computer, but the suggestion for PC/Laptop spec may as well be written in ancient greek for all I understand of it:

The OU state:

We suggest buying a machine with, at least a 3.0GHz processor,

How fast the processor is in gigaHertz. However, newer processors with a slower speed may be faster than an older processor with a slower speed. So a laptop with a new Intel Corei3 processor is probably going to be more than ample even though at 2.4GHz it appears slower.

Deleted_User wrote: »

1GB RAM,

the amount of working memory in gigabytes. For using Windows, 2 GB would be preferable, 4 GB ok, more than 4 GB unnecessary.

Deleted_User wrote: »

a DVD-ROM or combi drive,

So you can load programs from a DVD or watch tutorial DVDs

Deleted_User wrote: »

100+GB hard disk drive,

So you can store the operating system, applications and your files, in gigabytes. 100 GB is now quite small, most computers will come with more.

Deleted_User wrote: »

17" LCD screen and all the other common items, if your budget allows.

Keyboard and mouse. If you want to do conferencing with other students or tutors you might want -
- headset microphone/headphones
- webcam

rygon

Also you can buy very cheap microsoft (+other) software with a student email address http://www.software4students.co.uk/
I bought a new pc without any operating software. Downloaded windows 7 for £30 from my mums pc and put in on disc to install on my pc. I also installed office by downloading it onto my pc. Saved quite a lot doing it this way. If you know anyone who can do this it may be worthwhile. (downloading part is very easy, the burning to disc may be trickier if youre not used to it.)

Hammyman

Any computer built in the last 4 years will more than suffice.