MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Daughter has just got into her chosen uni so now mum has decided we need to get her a laptop (bang go my new wheels)
I'm not that techy when it comes to IT stuff so what should I be looking for, brands to avoid, RAM minimum etc etc.
Budget less than £300 I reckon...any advice much appreciated, ta...
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Unless they're doing something with specific needs like video editing or big number crunching CAD/rendering.
Oh. Bang goes the get a Mac advice. Prioritise keyboard, screen and RAM. don't worry too much about storage - uni should have ubiquitous WiFi and a blazing fast connection, so easy to keep stuff in cloud.
Keyboard and screen because they're the bits she'll interact with most, RAM because it makes biggest performance gains.
Just had that conversation over dinner
I assume:
She isn't going to get one for being dyslexic etc?
That the course has no particular requirements IT wise?
We are waiting on both of these things
If she will carry it into university to take to lectures consider spending more for something lighter. If its not all text based and envolves diagrams or maths consider a tablet she can write on
As an addition, make sure she has either a cloud service or an additional drive for back-up, and back up at least every day. I knew two lads who lost their entire third-year work last year because they didn't have back-ups.
Cheers for the advice folks. She's doing modern history so just office and Internet stuff I'd expect, nothing techy, graphic based etc. the hp one above looks good but she's fussy about it being manufacture refurbished, personally I've got no qualms with that. Anybody got any experienced of these ? Ta
It usually means it's ex display or returned as someone decided they didn't want it.
I'm typing this on a now 4 year old 'refurbished' Acer.
There wasn't anything other than the invoice to show that it was refurbished.
OTOH I've bought other refurbished IT stuff and it's come in jiffy bags without a manual, just a printed bit of A4 with the web address on it.
Whatever you get you'll be able to upgrade to windows 10, then download a clean installation file form microsoft and do a completely clean install to get rid of the bloatware that'll inevitably be on there.
As above, if she doesn't have any specific needs beyond microsoft office and a web conection, then just get the one with the most usable keyboard and biggest/best screen, or even get a cheaper one and a docking station (or just get a monitor, keyboard and mouse). Laptops are great if you're moving about but an ergonomic nightmare when you're 20,000 words into your dissertation hunched over the kitchen table.
Only thing I'd add to the above is, stay away from "budget" / in-store brands, you're setting yourself up for a fall when you need support down the line. Lenovo / Dell / Toshiba / HP etc are usually safer bets.
Give her the cash to get smashed in freshers week.
That's what the student loan is for.
Physical engineering more important than processor speed. The case is everything and it needs to be really well built - no flex etc.