My son is going to UNI in a couple of weeks (three extra years of financial support from me and the good lady).

So he wants a new laptop – not being particularly techy I go along to PC world who have told me the very least I need is a core i3 processor with 4gb ram (or £549.00 to you sir in plain english). I asked why and was told its the future. They had a very pretty dell or a nice HP to offer.

So for Office type programmes, I tunes and some photos is a core i processor really the future or could I save a little dosh and get him something with an AMD or intel dual core.

Any help appreciated, before you slag off PC world they are offering £100 part exchange on older laptops at the moment so that's why they have my attention.

Nick.

Could hold off and wait for his student discount to kick in. If you son has Dyslexia or similar you can claim for a free Laptop or similar via the Disability assist people… (well you used to be able to) but that takes some time to kick in.

Apple Uni discount can offer you a Macbook at about £720 currently offering a free ipod touch?!

With regards to the chips they're the newest generation which does mean old core duo chipped computers are selling alot less then they were this time last year. Windows 7 is relatively new so shouldn't be out of date by the time he graduates and that runs fine on core duo chips as does word so no reason to get anything more unless you want to keep it future proof or to play games.

Get your office software from softwareforstudents – save a fortune.

As for I3 – I've been running a core 2 duo 1.6ghz for about 4 years now and it's done me fine.

You don't need anything more than a Core 2 Duo for most things now.

My desktop has a core 2 duo and 4gb ram and it's more than enough, I'm selling it now as it just isn't needed for that anything other than games or specialist stuff.

I've been running office 2007 on a dual core 2.8ghz (the old 32bit ones as opposed to core2 and i procesors which are 64bit) which is even older, no problems, as for 'photos' are we talking photoshop of just "upload 200 pic of last night".

Unless he particulalry needs the extra power, maybe look at netbooks, my brother has one after he broke his dell (students detroy laptops, its a mixture of carelessness, beer, and using them everywhere, nearly everyone I know with laptops was reduced to some sort of mechanical bodge within 2 years to keep it working). Anyway, back to netbooks, they do everything a PC from 3 years ago could do, but have 10hour battery lives and cost £200 and fit in a (big) pocket. He has itunes (with an external HD), and photos, and any game over about 5 years old on his, even ones that my PC can't run.

netbooks are fine the but the folks that I know that use them don't find the screens big enough for writing full reports although they are good for reading stuff and a bit of web. 15in screen seems to be a good compromise at the mo

specialist stuff.

😉

As said, nice to have, but core 2 duos are fine. 2GB of RAM will be fine for normal student office/itunes/web/photos/downloading-porn duties, but 4GB doesn't add a lot to the price really.

If he'll be carting it around every day then there are some nice CULV ones with 12" screens now at sensible prices – eg. http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lenovo-ideapad-u450p-05306979-pdt.html . Not as quick but light and less battery-hungry.

If it will effectively be a desktop that can be folded up and moved if necessary, worth looking at the 17" ones like http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/hp-g72-110sa-04897035-pdt.html (which is an i3 anyway).

Above all – get it set up with some kind of online backup before he goes away. Mozy, Crashplan, Carbonite, Dropbox, etc – usually around £40 a year, backs up automatically whenever it's online, can be an utter lifesaver if something goes wrong. If you don't want to pay, dropbox gives you 2GB free, and that should be plenty for uni coursework.

Is this computer going to need to last him 3 years, or just get him through the first year perhaps?

I'd suggest it's probably likely to be 3 years or more, in which case, DO NOT scrimp and save £100 or so just because something will do now. The new Core i3 laptop processors really are a big step on from the Core 2 Duo's. So what does that matter you may think? Well… Core 2 Duo's are still fine for most people, but in say 2-3 years most software is likely to run slowly on them. The new core i3's are more likely to be much more useful in 3-4 years time.

I'm sat here typing this on my 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo laptop that is now 3 1/2 years old. It was practically top of the range when new, but it's starting to show its age. It's still quick enough, but my new work laptop which has a base model Core i3 330M processor can eat it for breakfast! So spending an extra £100 now will get you something likely to last another couple of years at least…

Also, I'd bypass PC World unless you absolutely must go there… You're likely to get a better deal elsewhere, and the £100 they might give you for your old laptop, well you're likely to get almost that much by selling it on ebay even if it's a load of old crap!

Spec wise, well you don't need an i5 or an i7, the i3 really is a big enough step forward… RAM wise, well 3 or 4 gig is nice, but 2Gig will do for now (it's easily upgradeable in the future for cheap, so somewhere you can happily save a few quid right now). You will want a 15" screen with a decent resolution if it's actually to be used for doing work on, preferably even bigger.

Oh, and from experience, when it comes to cheaper laptops, there's only 2 brands I'd recommend as the rest usually have BIG faults… Those 2 being unsurprisingly, Dell and HP (well, Toshiba, Acer and Samsung are ok too, but generally not as good value as the other two, steer clear of Lenovo for sure, they're shite!)… Here's a few to have a look at for not too much money…

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/194297
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/195973
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/dell-inspiron-n5010-black-laptop-06684301-pdt.html

Hope that's helped a bit…

i just bought a new laptop. You don't need a new i3 etc, but given that the price is hardly a step up from one with a core 2 or whatever it is, then it's futureproofing it to a degree as they are a match for core 2's easily, and in most cases faster and more efficient (something to do with virtual quad-core hyperthreading or some other shite I don't understand but sounds good).

Anyways, you don't need an i5, all it offers is a slight boost when it gets really really processing intensive – not really a likely scenario unless there's some seriously quick and intensive gaming required. i7 even more so.

Get an i3, get min 3MB ram (that's plenty really), and a 300MB ish hard drive.

As it was, I went for an Acer, got it from John Lewis for £560 as came with a 2 year guarantee. Quite happy with it.

Get your office software from softwareforstudents – save a fortune.

get your office software from openoffice.org, save yourself even more 😉

hell, get all your software from ubuntu and the ubuntu software centre

linux isn't as powerhungry as windows so you can get a sensibly priced laptop as well

All good advice, apart from this:

steer clear of Lenovo for sure, they're shite!

… which is nonsense, and the entirety of the previous post as it completely disregards the reason you're buying it.

Everything else pretty much I'd agree with. Core 2 Duo as a minimum, i3 ideally if budget permits, 3Gb RAM or over, named brand (HP-Compaq / Toshiba / Dell / IBM). The exception to the last point would be Fujitsu, which in my experience have been awful.

Cougar + 1

Lenovo laptops are ace.

Oh and IBM no longer manufacture Thinkpads, sold to Lenovo years ago, same build quality IMO (I use one daily)

Lenovo make 2 lines of laptops. Their own name stuff, and then the Lenovo ThinkPad line. 2 fairly different beasts, and the Thinkpads are still very good machines.

As to the original poster … you really need to be realistic about the needs of the laptop are … and that may mean waiting a month or so to find out what the Uni are expecting ( if anything ) in terms of input from your boy and his computer.

If its general office style work ( docs, spreadsheets, browsing, printing etc ) then any new laptop with Windows 7 will do the deed just fine, and will continue to do so for 3 years. It'll also handle itunes no bother too.

To give you an example, I have in the lounge a 2003 ThinkPad T41, with 1Gb RAM running windows xp … it still displays every webpage fine, runs office fine ( and open office ) and boots up quicker and feels just as nippy than my Core i7 desktop with 6Gb RAM.

A 2nd hand laptop, amd athlon 64 and 2gb ram will do fine on win xp or more than enough for ubuntu.

Around £150 for laptopp, plus free office software (openoffice) and avast for antivirus. More than enough

Running similar spec pc, bit old but use it for video conversion and decoding and games

Stay away from Dell, pc world and norton. Coming from a IT Technician

Wait til the student discount kicks in, 10% off most things afaik. I don't think there's much need for more than a dual core for normal student things, depends what course he's doing though. If it's anything video/graphics or audio based it'd be worth having the extra cpu power and ram.

fwiw my 4 year old dell with 1.73GHz processor runs internet/music/ms office and a bit of audio recording with no problems (apart from the audio when there are more than 5 channels with VSTs) so you don't even need a dual core really.

before you slag off PC world they are offering £100 part exchange

they are offering up to £100 – you are more likely to be offered £20 (I overheard the manager on shop floor 'training' on this). If they are offering £100 then what you are trading in is likely to be quite new and good enough anyhow.

I wouldn't buy anything less than an i3 / 4gb memory (probably an i5) at the moment.

I've got an Thinkpad X201i with the i3

I use office, surf the web, little photo use (picassa) and run Minitab (statistical software)

It's way more than I need, bit of overkill, so it's going last me quite a few years yet.

Ive got a medion akoya (aldi sell them cheaply)

I paid £299 a year ago, for a 4gb ram dual core 15" laptop, windows 7, hdmi outs

And its got a 3 year warranty, its on all day and the wife usrs it constantly it still looks like new.

Your son will want what ever loads porn the quickest. I'd like to know how PC World respond to that question.

If I know service departments, they'll probably have an extensive collection and several good leads.

Things that make a computer fast apart from processor:
– Fast OS i.e. Not windows
– Efficient apps i.e. Not Microsoft office.
– A good graphics processor – most of the internet stuff will benefit more from this than a fast main processor.
– Removing Nortons/Mcfee virus checker
– A fresh install of the OS – especially if running windows.

He does not need an i3 processor and anyone telling you as such is talking out of their arse. A current dual core intel processor is plenty fast.

Earl > funny, I break four out of those five tips, and my laptop screams along.

Any post that starts "things that make a computer fast apart from processor" without the next point being "1) RAM" earns my condescension.

Oh yes – definately RAM though most computers nowdays come with a min of 2gb RAM and that is plenty for most people.

Cougar – that processor do you have?

Earl, I think you make some very valid points. Many of the preinstalled windows setups (which include horribly virus checkers and tons of preinstalled junk) make even powerful computers work slowly.

Although Windows 7 had good reviews on release, I think that they have to be taken in context of the fact Vista was so bad, reality is, for everyday use, Win 7 still uses a lot more resource than XP.

Your son wants a MacBook really.

And by the time you've faffed around installing things, getting other things to work, uninstalling things, fiddling with arcane configuration screens for no apparent reason and untold other mysterious Windows nonsense, you'll want one too.

Another good reason to get a Mac for your son is Scrivener. If he's going to be writing essays, it will be much better for him than Word.

If I was carting a laptop around all day I would go macbook. After lunking my 15.4" HParound London for a week (3 miles+ of walking) I was cursing the damned thing 😆

I'd ask your son what he wants (It sounds simple but my dad used to think he knew best and waste money on the wrong things)

Cougar – that processor do you have?

Core 2 Duo.

Your son wants a MacBook really.

Depends on his course, probably got a point if he's an art student.

Depends on his course, probably got a point if he's an art student

…although when I was at Sun half the engineers used Macs. A lot of the software developers I come across seem to prefer them too.

Point is, my comedy stylings aside, there may be prerequisites depending on his course.

My mate ran a prog called decrapifymycomputer on my new PC World machine and it killed off all the nasty bloatware which came pre-installed. You can download it free from c-net.

Worth doing for the genius name alone….

there may be prerequisites depending on his course.

Oh yeah. Hadn't thought of that. What course is it?

He does not need an i3 processor and anyone telling you as such is talking out of their arse. A current dual core intel processor is plenty fast.

For now… Yeah fair enough… Why buy an old technology when newer ones are available that are much faster (for barely any more money) and will last a lot longer?

My mate ran a prog called decrapifymycomputer on my new PC World machine and it killed off all the nasty bloatware which came pre-installed. You can download it free from c-net.

Or just go into "add/remove Programmes" and uninstall them all for yourself! Simple really… 😉

I bought a top of the range laptop in 2006 for £1400.

Its been fine and now showing its age but I do work on it, Office 2007, IE, 720p HD movies (1080 bit slow framerate) and I play older games from PS2/PSX which is rare.

Most laptops will beat it easily and only £500 and I'll never buy a top end again because it will be out of date easily.

If you want your son to do work – buy any dual core laptop with HD graphics and a built in cam to save space and play the odd movie and webcam home/porn sites.

If you want him to play games-get him PS3 or Xbox360 or £1400 laptop.

I would set a budget and stick to it.

It will last him 3-4 years easily if he doesn't drop it.

If he is doing engineering then yes he might need i5 but if its just essays then you could get away with anything in PC world.

In September I'm getting a £400 netbook that will play HD movies online, dual core and decent graphics and games on low settings with USB 3.
Its not powerful, but its portable and if something else comes out then I won't cry too much and buy something else in 2 yrs.

BTW student discount 10% of laptops? Where!!!

Besides Unis have tons of PCs dotted around normally.

You can get a rather good laptop for £500 or less nowadays.

Just saw this one at Curry/Dixon/PC world and the specs are good for what you pay. HP is good but not as flash as some other brands so unless you want some Ferrari red etc then go for this one.

£399.97
HP G62-107SA

Intel® Core™ i3-330M (2.13 GHz), Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 2048 MB , Hard drive: 250 Gb, DVD-RW DL rewriter with Lightscribe, Designer shell, 15.6 Widescreen

Note: Please check if the above is Windows 7 32bits or 64bits operating system. For 32bits Windows 7 the maximum RAM is 3GB so I would add another 1GB. For 64bits I would go for 4GB as the minimum but then 3GB should be enough for him.

You can get it here.

Since your son is going to Uni you might as well invest in a FULL Microsoft Office 2010 Package for him at a massively knock down price at this site. This is a perfectly legitimate site. If you are concerned about security go to WH Smith to buy some of the 3V Gift Card and then buy the Office Package online. You can only buy ONE copy and the site would need to verify him via his University Email. Then you can download a copy from the website and later the site will send you a Microsoft Office backup CD.

Buy your Office Package (Complete set) for £49.99 from here.

Office Package for student/education only

Some laptop reviews here:

Laptop review

🙂

For 32bits Windows 7 the maximum RAM is 3GB

Eh? 2^32 = 4Gb. (Further proof, I'm looking at it right now.)

For 64bits I would go for 4GB as the minimum

For x64, I'd agree that 4Gb is a minimum, it's utterly pointless otherwise (and arguably pointless at 4Gb unless you've a specific reason for moving to 64 bit, and ZOMG SOME OF MY RAMS ARE TEH MISSINGS! is not good enough.)

£399.97
HP G62-107SA

Intel® Core™ i3-330M (2.13 GHz), Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 2048 MB , Hard drive: 250 Gb, DVD-RW DL rewriter with Lightscribe, Designer shell, 15.6 Widescreen

That's a hell of a good find chewk. Beats any of my suggestions by about £50!

It's only 2GB of RAM, but to be honest, that'll be fine to start with. Plenty enough for any emails, MS office use, internet browsing etc. You'd only really need more for any RAM hungry applications, but the RAM can be upgraded cheaply in the future anyway if necessary.