Student Laptop offer

jennyq

Just noticed the offer on the website for student laptop packages and wondering if it's in any way worthwhile? It's offering HP & Dell laptops I think, dunno about what HP are like but I don't think I want to get a Dell based on what I've heard from people about them. Is it a good way of getting a laptop with all the student-orientated programs & stuff or is it better to just source your own?

Also if I'm looking to get one myself, is there any particular features or software that would be essential or good to have? I'm doing Actuarial Maths if that helps.

mickmickh

whats d link cos i couldnt find it on d website?? thanks

jennyq

mickmickh wrote: »

whats d link cos i couldnt find it on d website?? thanks

http://www.dcu.ie/studentlaptop/

I only saw it on the Student Portal page as I was nosing around on it while I wait to actually start

rugbug86

That was last years offer and IIRC the dell one was cancelled - you'll get used to out of date crap on your portal page! But there will probably be a new deal soon, other options include a trip to a puter store - good value at the minute.

irish_boy90

I just ordered a laptop off dell.
Like how I can buy,customize it all online and they will even deliver it to me

I like dell, everyone i know hates them, dunno why they never let me down yet.

mickmickh

jennyq wrote: »

http://www.dcu.ie/studentlaptop/

I only saw it on the Student Portal page as I was nosing around on it while I wait to actually start

thanks jennyq....ye they dont look too great!!...hopefully they will bring out better ones for this yr!!....
im thinking of getting this dell laptop...it seems fairly good!

http://ecomm.euro.dell.com/dellstore/basket.aspx?itemtype=CFG&s=dhs&l=en&cs=iedhs1&c=ie&&details=false

irish_boy90

mickmickh wrote: »

thanks jennyq....ye they dont look too great!!...hopefully they will bring out better ones for this yr!!....
im thinking of getting this dell laptop...it seems fairly good!

http://ecomm.euro.dell.com/dellstore/basket.aspx?itemtype=CFG&s=dhs&l=en&cs=iedhs1&c=ie&&details=false

It shows me my own basket

What latop are you getting?
I am getting a studio 17
upgraded the battery, got a 8gb memory stick, a mike ming cover and a mouse and a bag as extras.

Looking back I should have also gotten a backlit keyboard and the fingerprint scanner.
Don't mind about then too much though just taught they would have been cool ^^

jennyq

It'd be good to hear from some continuing students who might know whether those on the offer are any good or not and if not any recommendations, I've heard Acer are meant to be fairly good? Also just wondering if there'd be any particular programs that'd be needed that you wouldn't have on your standard home PC, especially as I've got a computing module, Computing for Mathmatics (CA167).

mickmickh

irish_boy90 wrote: »

It shows me my own basket

What latop are you getting?
I am getting a studio 17
upgraded the battery, got a 8gb memory stick, a mike ming cover and a mouse and a bag as extras.

Looking back I should have also gotten a backlit keyboard and the fingerprint scanner.
Don't mind about then too much though just taught they would have been cool ^^

sorry bout dat!!ha.... em hope this works!! :P

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspnnb_1525?c=ie&cs=iedhs1&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn

im prob gona get d inspiron 1525 euro699...seems fairly reasonable!

d Studio laptops look kool!!....ye d mike ming covers look savage dont tink i can get it 4 d inspiron tho?!

dont tink i can afforf one tho!!....e699 is pushing me budget like!!ha:P

irish_boy90

mickmickh wrote: »

sorry bout dat!!ha.... em hope this works!! :P

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspnnb_1525?c=ie&cs=iedhs1&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn

im prob gona get d inspiron 1525 euro699...seems fairly reasonable!

d Studio laptops look kool!!....ye d mike ming covers look savage dont tink i can get it 4 d inspiron tho?!

dont tink i can afforf one tho!!....e699 is pushing me budget like!!ha:P

yeah thats not bad.
You can't get those mike ming covers.
it's 3gb ram. I would up that to 4gb.
costs 40 euro but you would have spent that on a cover anyway.
(i think ram is important you see ^^)

Thats a fine laptop though

mickmickh

irish_boy90 wrote: »

yeah thats not bad.
You can't get those mike ming covers.
it's 3gb ram. I would up that to 4gb.
costs 40 euro but you would have spent that on a cover anyway.
(i think ram is important you see ^^)

Thats a fine laptop though

il just have 2 design my own cover!! lol

speaking of ram....whats its purpose n wats d adv of having extra ram??!!..all i kno is dat u need a gud bita ram havnt a clue y tho!!:P

Alanstrainor

3Gb of RAM will be plenty, upgrading with Dell is ridiculously expensive, so i wouldn't recommend spending 40 quid on for 1Gb extra. And just something to note, Dell have pretty long delays on most of their machines at the moment so you could be waiting a couple of weeks. And also check out the Dell small business site, and look at the vostro machines, great value for money and anyone can buy them, not just businesses.
Another one to check is Dell outlet www.dell.ie/outlet, Great deals can be had on various machines, best bet would be to wait for the best deal to come up on Outlet as they change every day.

Tiroskan

the outlet is really worth checking out. I'm rocking a fully specced XPS M1330 which I got at half price thanks to it and my mam picked up a fully specced XPS M1730 like overclocked and **** for a little less than half price. the only problem is mine is pink =/ but I've a friend who's an art student and I'll just get her to like paint it or something, lol.

mickmickh

Alanstrainor wrote: »

3Gb of RAM will be plenty, upgrading with Dell is ridiculously expensive, so i wouldn't recommend spending 40 quid on for 1Gb extra. And just something to note, Dell have pretty long delays on most of their machines at the moment so you could be waiting a couple of weeks. And also check out the Dell small business site, and look at the vostro machines, great value for money and anyone can buy them, not just businesses.
Another one to check is Dell outlet www.dell.ie/outlet, Great deals can be had on various machines, best bet would be to wait for the best deal to come up on Outlet as they change every day.

cheers for that mate!!....just had a look at d vostro n its a nice machine!!its good value too tho its expensive 2 upgrade it.....il keep an eye on the outlet store for a bargain!!:P

Choc123

my sister got a dell and it blew up..dont worry she survived without injury but just warning yas..
Acers all the way!!!!
only 9 days til we begin a new chapter in our lives..how exciting!!!:D

mickmickh

Choc123 wrote: »

my sister got a dell and it blew up..dont worry she survived without injury but just warning yas..
Acers all the way!!!!
only 9 days til we begin a new chapter in our lives..how exciting!!!:D

poor Karen!!..is she alrite??!:)

Attol

irish_boy90 wrote: »

it's 3gb ram. I would up that to 4gb.
costs 40 euro but you would have spent that on a cover anyway.
(i think ram is important you see ^^)

Erm... for basic computing there is no way in hell you'll need 4gb. I'd advise 2gb for Vista as it is quite a resource whore. That would be more than enough for basic use such as surfing, taking notes, assignments etc. I'd seriously doubt you'd be using anything that requires more. Unless you're trying to run very high spec programs I'd stick to 2gb. For XP 1gb should be sufficient.

irish_boy90

Attol wrote: »

Erm... for basic computing there is no way in hell you'll need 4gb. I'd advise 2gb for Vista as it is quite a resource whore. That would be more than enough for basic use such as surfing, taking notes, assignments etc. I'd seriously doubt you'd be using anything that requires more. Unless you're trying to run very high spec programs I'd stick to 2gb. For XP 1gb should be sufficient.

O I will be doing more than basic computing on it for sure. will be trying vista, got the xp cd here too so I can swap it if i want.

Never heard of a dell exploding before :eek:
what happened exactly?

Attol

I think for the others on thread it'd be totally excessive as they seem to just have basic needs.

Just out of curiosity, what do you need 4gb for?

DemocAnarchis

The concept of requiring 4Gb of ram on a €699 laptop is pretty absurd. Your ram is not going to be your systems bottleneck, your CPU/GPU is. Heck, most laptops at that price range dont even have a GPU, or have some crap one. Not to mention the fact that a 32bit OS wont see 4Gb of ram, due to reservations for the bios and whatever GPU you have etc, i think 3.25-3.5 is about all that your system could actually access (open to correction on that, but its usually at least 256mb), unless you have a 64bit os (which wont come supplied, although there are 64bit versions of various linux distros), and even then its a waste of money imho.

acidstorm

I got a Fujitsu Siemens laptop from Dunnes Stores a couple of weeks ago and i aint complaining.Got vista & Ubuntu running on it. Vista is still on that thing cos of its power management. i also got the Nokia n800 for general purpose stuff. Why would u need a 64bit OS if u're not doing really intensive video editing or extremely hardcore gaming (crysis, i'm looking @ u). if u're running vista 64, some of ur devices might not work cause they need signed drivers, flash support is non existent on 64bit linux unless u use 32bit firefox which defeats the purpose, or ne c'est pas?.Anyways, i'll probably be the guy with the n800 in hand on orientation day!! open to correction! woohoo!

irish_boy90

i don't do hardcore gaming, my computer can't so I can now :pac:
I will be buying crysis to play will also be getting sony vegas to edit.

I may not need 4gb.
3gb will do but programs change and in a year or 2 4gb will be needed.

DemocAnarchis

irish_boy90 wrote: »

i don't do hardcore gaming, my computer can't so I can now :pac:
I will be buying crysis to play will also be getting sony vegas to edit.

I may not need 4gb.
3gb will do but programs change and in a year or 2 4gb will be needed.

Crysis on a laptop? Funny stuff

Thing is, 2gb is more than fine for now, and when it gets to the stage that 3gb is required, the rest of your laptop will be obsolete.

acidstorm, the point about the 64bit os was that he would need one to recognise 4gb+ of ram. Completely pointless to have a 64bit os on a laptop obv.

NiSmO

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andrew163

The only reason that I can see for needing 4GB of RAM in a laptop is if you want to run a cluster of virtual machines on it (which, I guess, is a possibility with some people).... if you're thinking of gaming on a laptop, it'll either be a 17" monster that gives you back pains, or it'll run hot enough to burn through your trousers.

Also, I wouldn't go bigger than 14" (15" at a stretch) if you're planning to carry it around campus regularly. 13.3" machines are just lovely.

Attol

I agree with not getting a big laptop. I bought a 15.4" Dell Inspiron last year and it destroys my shoulders carrying it around in my bag. The new Inspiron's are smaller than mine but I'd say they'd still be a pain to carry around all day.

mickmickh

for CA or EC wat sorta spec/stuff ,programmes etc...wud u need on a laptop??

Attol

I doubt you'd need anything too intense. All the CA people I know seem to use basic spec laptops and a fair few have EEE-PCs. I'm only going into first year CA myself though so don't take my word on it.

NiSmO

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