Laptop for student

StockportGerbil

My son needs a new laptop for when he starts Uni. I want something that will last three years probably in a less than ideal environment. Therefore I want something robust, reasonably performant with a decent screen.

Remembering back to my uni days I remember last minute late nights getting coursework done and my son has inherited the tendency to do stuff at the last minute. For that reason I wonder if a 14 inch screen is too small and I ought to be looking for at least a 15 inch screen? (He's doing a sports science degree so I don't think we need anything exceptional in terms of processor / memory.)

Is the Dell Inspiron 15 good enough and tough enough to cope with Uni life?

Thanks

Kevin

OnlyTheBestWillDo

Who can answer your question seriously? Buy the Two year Premium On-Site warranty for £52 and the One Year Accident Damage warranty for £20 if you want some kind of guarantee. They have 15% currently, taking the Ryzen 5 3450U model to £399(£445 with the two year on-site warranty).

Ant555

My two have just finished Uni - they have told me over the years that hey have rarely needed to take lap top to Uni and very few people they know take their lap tops to uni at all - although I do realise that different courses may have different requirements. 

Most of their coursework, notes and reference material was available on their student portal so they didnt need to ask for lecturer to email them etc, everyone just got everything.

 - Two different city universities and two completely different courses.

Their use was exclusively doing Uni work in bedroom and watching Netflix (the ratio of each of those uses may be skewed towards Netflix though!)  Year 1 may not be an issue if living in Uni Halls but year 2 onwards if in rented accommodation will definitely need an HDMI port as they are likely to link lap tops to the telly for housemate viewings of films and sport.

Software - Some Unis provide Office 365 to all students so as long as its compatible with that then all good - a new lap top will almost certainly be compatible though.

So, the lap top may be transported less often that you imagine if weight was part of the thinking. I wonder if the Sports Science degree also includes online lectures during a typical week and if so then a screen with decent resolution of whatever size may come into play to be able to read things on the whiteboard easier if they use LectureCapture or similar.

>Is the Dell Inspiron 15 good enough and tough enough to cope with Uni life?
Answer - Yes, but you have options.

Hope this helps.

prowla

In addition to the deals on MS Office, some Unis have deals for laptops too..

Of course, every student wants a Macbook, but they aren't the cheapest on the market.

Regarding Dell; they are one of the more respected brands, but they do a lot of options, which vary the price.

If this is the one you were looking at, it should be fine for general use (web, documents, etc.).

https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/laptops/new-inspiron-15/spd/inspiron-15-5510-laptop/cn51503sc

If the course includes intense graphics, video editing, etc., then a more powerful option might be required.

Also get a good case/backpack for it.

However, first check out whether the uni does deals.

Doshwaster

I would have thought that a 15" laptop would be too heavy and bulky to be carrying around all day between lectures. Maybe better to get something smaller and an external display which he can use in his room.

OnlyTheBestWillDo

Doshwaster said:

I would have thought that a 15" laptop would be too heavy and bulky to be carrying around all day between lectures. Maybe better to get something smaller and an external display which he can use in his room.

You missed Ant555's post?

StockportGerbil

FWIW we went for a Asus Vivobook which seemed to be the most solidly constructed of the laptops at our price range with the features we thought woud be needed for the next three years. This was on the basis of looking at what was available at PC World / John Lewis. It's a 14 inch screen. but I can rustle up a spare bigger screen as suggested above. Thanks again for the comments and thoughts.